oVer the clock we go

Tuning a Google Compute Engine (GAE) Micro Instance for WordPress

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 23:45:00 +0000

Google Compute Engines click to deploy Wordpress deployment has recently added the ability to deploy to a micro instance stacked with a whopping 512k ram. Yep, this is less than cell phones from like 10 years ago... but for people like me who want to host blogs without all the costs (I mean who doesn't... ), I decided to tune out this GCE Wordpress install. Infact after a great tune up, the site is able to do 10k or so traffic easily a day. For 5$ a month, not too shabby...

First things first if you haven't already signed up for google's free trial, give it a try, When you have made an account, click on over to "Cloud Launcher" in the menu. I am sure google will change this several 100 times after I write this blog, so in general look for google's click to deploy solution.

As of this writing the click to deploy solution has 3 different options for Wordpress and 6 different options in different categories:

Click on the single site icons until you find the click to deploy for a micro instance. The price should be somewhere around 5$ a month.

Google changes the setup frequently so I won't walk through much of this. Select the correct disk type you would like, I prefer at time of writing the SSD persistant disk, the speed seems a little better. But of course this changes frequently. Also make sure to click the allow http and https traffic for the site.

Now at this point, google spins up a VM with pretty standard configurations. Sadly too standard, and the instance won't run stable for very long after you setup WordPress. It loves to run out of memory, so lets start configuring this first.

First thing to attack is our main memory hog, Apache. Apache loves to launch multiple processes and sit in RAM waiting to be called. Lets limit these down to needed processes only, and if you need to configure the tuning some, that is ok.

Configure your apache2.conf with the following information:

<IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
    StartServers          1
    MinSpareServers       1
    MaxSpareServers       3
    MaxClients           10
    MaxRequestsPerChild 3000
</IfModule>
 
<IfModule mpm_worker_module>
    StartServers          1
    MinSpareThreads       5
    MaxSpareThreads      15 
    ThreadLimit          25
    ThreadsPerChild       5
    MaxClients           25
    MaxRequestsPerChild 200
</IfModule>

Also make sure to adjust the KeepAliveTimeout to 10 or 15.

UPDATE:

So we ran for a week or so on this, seemed to work for awhile and then finally it failed again. Don't worry! We have quite a few options we are just going 1 by 1 to determine what is most needed and what is just extra tuning. Next up, lets limit Innodb memory allocation. Our error clearly states SQL has requested unavailable memory, so lets go ahead and change that.

Lets go ahead and tune innodb's memory usage.

Open my.cnf and add this line: innodb_buffer_pool_size = 64M

Save it and back up the system, and lets see if that finishes the job.

Installing Wordpress Templates on Google Compute/App Engine

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 20:04:00 +0000

It was quite maddening to discover after using Google App Engine's one click deployment solution, I didn't have an easy way to upload files. I was used to using the App Engine's app appcfg.py tool to upload to App Engine itself, but Google Compute is an VM, and needs to be accessed via one of several different ways.

So adding the Template to Wordpress actually wasn't terribly difficult once i figured out how to connect to the VM. For me the easiest was to connect via GCloud, using the compute command. I could then SSH into the server and determine where I was, and where I needed to upload.

At the time of writing, the Wordpress install has the template folder located in wp-content. The full path /www/htrml/wp-content/themes .

Better than Apple IPad?¿ - Meet the Onkyo NX Netbook/Netpad

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:43:00 +0000

(This video was edited with windows 7 video editor on this PC.)

This review manifested from something a little different than most reviews or posts within this blog, which is normally reserved for rantings on my home PC. I recently picked up this Onkyo and I don't actually intend on buying an Apple IPad. My main goal was to get the smallest PC I could find that wouldn't drive me to drop kick it after typing a short email. I backpack various countries & book rooms day before or day of visiting, and I wanted something I could carry thats as lightweight as possible, but usable.

After checking out an array of different products on the market I must confess when getting into the 7 inch screen size, you really don't have many choices for a large keyboard. Most keyboards are "mini" with much smaller keys. The market is also been dominated by Asus and their Eee Pc's. Unfortunatly they run 8.9" and larger and don't have alot of the features the Onkyo NX or Kojinsha(discontinued) sport. Items such as Touchscreen, GPS, and non solid state HD's are to name a few differences.

A few weeks ago Apple announced here the Ipads specs. The display is 9 inches, a pretty large screen, though they say it will run 10 hrs on a battery. It got me thinking of other ways this Onkyo NX beats the Ipad even before it makes it to market. Below, a few items off the top of my head:

Keyboard as well as touch screen
Win 7
Flash works!
Open (in the sense I can run Ubuntu if I wanted to, and as much as you can say Windows is "open" in comparision to Apple)
Micro Flash Card
80 gb hd
Multi task ALL apps (Ipad will most likely multi task only native apps)

Now not to be unbiased, below the ups for the Ipad (that has so far been released) in comparison:

Battery Life (supposedly 7 hours more)
Mobile 3g
Larger Screen
Do not know about the proc, the theory is that it will be (or equivalent to) its 1GHZ A4 making it slower than the current ATOM 1.33

Repost Sapphire Display

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:25:00 +0000

Sapphire Display Port to DVI Dual Link Adapter

Sapphire Review on New Egg

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:28:00 +0000

I posted about the sapphire adapter from below on Newegg. After a week they disapproved my review?? I guess they didn't want to admit its just repackaged junk. Only hype reviews allowed:

New Egg Sale Link

Sapphire Display Port to DVI-D Dual Link Adapter Model 100915

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:39:00 +0000

Here is really what SUCKS about the below setup. And I mean a capital SUCKS on this POS. First, let me explain why you need this shit filled waste of space. The 5870, or I think most of the ATI 5000 series use a "display port" as one of the connectors for the screen. So they have moved 1 of the connectors to a "display port" connector, and 2 of the others are dvi-d connectors. For some reason they can't fit 3 dvi-d connectors into the card.

Now the fun part. Find a decent monitor (not a Dell pos that burns out after a year) using Display Ports. Suprise!!! THERE ARE NONE! Because NO ONE GIVES A SHIT. Display ports aren't the standard today and anything we push into DVI is going to be max for our monitors right now. It's like jumping on the hybrid car bandwagon, in 1985...

Anyways the real fun begins when you get to shop for a Dvi to Display port adapter. Not a problem right? Well the adapter has to be powered, something about the display port adapter setting the clock signal into the adapter. So you can't get the 10$ plug changer for this one. You need a Active display port adapter, one that stays powered on by USB.

Now prior to Dec 09, the only company to make these were these guys. Dell sells one here and you can see the reviews are less than flattering. Who wants the "loose your mouse in a garbled mess" every once and awhile...

Dells Display Adapter

So I read that Sapphire, a maker of Radeon cards released they were going to have the "solution" to the DVI to Display port adapter issue. Sounds awesome! A company finally stepping in and filling the void. After about a months wait, this appeared at Newegg:

New Eggs Sapphire Display Port

So I order it in anticipation. I know it looks almost the exact same as the dell one, but hey, maybe thats just a coincidence right?

I get it and lo an behold, its just had a sapphire sticker stuck over the original manufacturer. What a bunch of crap. And of course the issues in the Dell one, are the exact same issues I get with this one. I currently have a CPU fan on it and when it gets too hot, I turn the PC off for a bit. Awesome job Sapphire, Fuck you too.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta on Eyefinity

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Well it didn't take me long to put together what I needed to play some awesome games. First up this is Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta. All 3 screens are running at 1920 and are NEC's attached to a Radeon 5870. In addition to the 2 screens below I bought a NEC 2490WUXI-SK screen running in the middle. Let me show you the game in all its glory and then I will post my thoughts on adapters and problems I had with the setup.

Here is the Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta

New Stuff Added

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:30:00 +0000

It has been quite awhile since I made any changes to the old rig. It has been running FANTASTIC! A few months ago I started reading about Eyefinity, ATI's new multi-screen gaming setup. Who on earth doesn't want MORE screens? MORE viewspace! I mean DAMN YO!!

Here is the desktop.

Long time no post is good

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:27:00 +0000

The only issue I have had so far with this system has been the power supply. Amazingly it went out on me about 1 month ago, and it was a serious pain in the ass to get fixed. Not because it should have been, but because I did the the complete idiotic way to go about it. I bought a new Mobo, then chip, only to find it was the power supply that had gone bad. It was really an smooth move.

Outside of that I have added another pipe to the board (connecting both chip and northbridge resevoir.). I also like to run the case on High most of the time due to the temperature around the system. Seattle summers get around 80`f (26`c) so its best to cool it down with water.

This sytem has been playing Crysis on full blast, no scale downs. I play TF2 alot as well. Warhammer will be the next to be tried!

Here she is!!

Getting it Together

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:50:00 +0000

I ordered most of the parts from various retail outlets online. I figured the 3870 Radeon cards would be the hardest to get, but I was wrong. The Corsair Ram I had to order from 3 different outlets before I could ever get it shipped. One of them ANTONLINE was the most annoying vendor to deal with. After a week and 1/2 of "Sir we have possibly shipped your item" I received an email saying the order was cancelled.... I mean in this day and age you can't tell me for a week if an order went out...

I wound up getting almost everything from Tigerdirect and Newegg. Let me say Tigerdirect RULES! Fast shipping and always in stock. NewEgg did great as well.

Installation of the hardware was pretty easy from the start. The hardest portion of the Asus Maximus Extreme board is probably figuring out how to attach the back Standard ATX faceplate. I just wound up bending most of the prongs off and slapping it on there. One the board was all strapped into the case, I added the CPU and the rest of the components within several minutes, twas a breeze.

Finally I booted the system up without a fan or the waterblock on the CPU unit and was quite amazed at how hot the chip got almost immediately. This baby turned HOT! A few minutes of fooling with the BIOS got me to the temp of the core, running at 100`C at this point. I hadn't added the "coolant" to the case yet ( the coolant reservoir is ontop and requires you to poor the blue coolant into it to start circulating the system). I wanted to make sure I had the system setup before adding the water. Given this is my first water cooled system and having water running around any components has always made me squeamish. Days of old, sitting in my "shack" with my amateur radios had only 1 rule, leave the beverage outside...

The Rig

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:32:00 +0000

Lets see the specs!

Asus Maximus Extreme MOBO

2 Diamond Radeon 3870 (to be used in Crossfire mode)

4 - 1gb Corsair Twin3x2048-1800c7dfin G DDR3

Intel Core 2 Extreme x9659 (base clock at 3ghz)

2 Seagate Barracude 500gb SATA drives

2 NEC 24 HD panels. These are incredible, but after seeing these
I wonder if I shouldn't have waited.

And of course 1 lonely Panasonic DVD R/RW drive

The case is a 3d Mercury Gigatbyte Chassis with a Watercooling system in it. A great video for it is here:

The joy of building a PC

noreply@blogger.com (ekowalc) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:22:00 +0000

What could be more enjoyable to a geek than the fresh smell of plastic bubble wrap or that first opened motherboard smell. 2 pm (right after the UPS man arrives) sitting in your office putting together your newly gotten booty rules! And before we go further, let us praise this UPS man, for all that he does. For without him, we would have to drive to the store 10 times before we got all that we needed...

So I embarked on building a PC for myself, no dells, no hp's. And not just any PC, but the ultimate gaming rig as of Dec 07. Something that I could sink my hard earned time into playing COD4 or Crysis or Unreal, whatever... This is the story of one man, Vista 64 (and 32), a dream, and 6k