Software Developer and Performance Engineer
Archive for May, 2009
Support Your Favorite Dealer
May 20th
I have to side with the dealers when it comes to whether they should be in business or not. Why should a auto manufacturer headquartered in one location decide the fate of family-owned dealerships across the nation. Our free market should decide who lives and who dies. It is true that in bankruptcy all contracts are null and void. But that protection should only be extended to the company and not give it the power to bankrupt thousands of other businesses in the process.
When Encron and Worldcom fell years ago, they took down a number of companies with them. There was not much shouting, but in this case, we are talking about thousands of companies, many of which have been in business for decades, and deserve a fighting chance if they can make it work.
Password Management Web 2.0
May 18th
A problem all of us share is dealing with too many passwords. There are accounts for everything on the web, and each one wants a different login and password. One way I have dealt with this issue is to install KeePass (www.keepass.info). It is a free password safe that supports triple password protection. It does a great job of generating passwords as well which means I can use strong passwords, and not have to remember them.
The other problem is always having my passwords available for lookup. I use a number of different computers throughout the day and using USB drives at customer sites is taboo. A great solution I found is to use DropBox (www.getdropbox.com) which sets up a special folder where you can place files and they will automatically be updated onto all your computers. I put the KeePass database file there and anytime I update it, all my other computers get updated as well. My passwords end up on all my computers, and because the files are on multiple computers, I don’t have to worry about backing the files up. The password database is protected by encryption, and the transfer of files to other computers is encrypted as well.
Best Car Dealers May Not Survive
May 16th
I read an article Sunday in my local newspaper about how a bad dealer is being kept by GM while a dealer they liked is being let go. I thought about this for a minute and realized that it makes total sense. GM is going to keep the dealers that sell lots of cars. Those dealers that sell fewer new cars are not as good for GM. It turns out that the good dealer does great repairs, has good people working the used car lot, and lots of customers like them. They make plenty of money and do a great job for their customers. But because they don’t sell as many cars for GM, they will be let go. Whenever I see something that doesn’t make sense, I always look for the money reason. In this case, the money reason is simple. GM wants dealers that sell lots of new cars. Customers want dealers who take care of them. So it is safe to assume that a number of great dealers are not going to make the cut.
Managing Testing Data
May 15th
Performance testing has an almost insatiable thirst for data. When executing thousands of tests to put load on servers, each of the tests needs data that is given to the server. In my experience, I have noticed 3 types of data that are needed.
- Unchecked – Values that must be filled out but for the most part are not checked by the server. These values can be randomly generated, selected from a list, or simply entered as fixed data that doesn’t change from test to test. Managing this type of data is very simple and requires relatively little work.
- Checked – Values that are checked by the server and must match for a test to execute properly. These values are different based on a test type, but may be the same every time the test is run. A great way to deal with these types of values is to look them up by test type or name, and a description of the value. Properties files, spreadsheets, or some other simple mechanism can easily accommodate this type of data. The data can still be random, but it must be grouped together so that random selections choose all the pieces of data that go together.
- Consumable – Values which are consumable cannot be used again and are lost once they are used. These values are the hardest to manage because not only do they behave like checked data, they disappear and new data is needed to execute a second test. When trying to put a server under heavy load, lots of unique data will be needed. The best way to manage this kind of data is with a database. The sheer volume of data, and the fact that it needs to be marked as used is best handled by a tool made for the purpose.