servers

An Inferno on the Head of a Pin

processor

An Inferno on the Head of a Pin

Today’s processors contain billions of heat-generating transistors in an ever shrinking space. The power budget might go from: * 1000 watts on a specialized server * 100 watts on desktops * 30 watts on laptops * 5 watts on tablets * 1 or 2 watts on a phone * 100 milliwatts on an embedded system

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Building Servers for Fun and Prof... OK, Maybe Just for Fun

hardware

Building Servers for Fun and Prof... OK, Maybe Just for Fun

In 1998 I briefly worked for FiringSquad, a gaming website founded by Doom and Quake champion Thresh aka Dennis Fong and his brother Lyle. I can trace my long-standing interest in chairs and keyboards to some of the early, groundbreaking articles they wrote. Dennis and Lyle were great guys to

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Best (or Worst) Geek Christmas Ever

hardware

Best (or Worst) Geek Christmas Ever

I was thrilled to discover that Santa Claus left a little unexpected present on my doorstep on Christmas Eve: the two Lenovo ThinkServers that I ordered for stackoverflow.com! They weren’t supposed to arrive until sometime next week. I immediately began unboxing the servers with all the eagerness of

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Hardware is Cheap, Programmers are Expensive

hardware

Hardware is Cheap, Programmers are Expensive

Given the rapid advance of Moore’s Law, when does it make sense to throw hardware at a programming problem? As a general rule, I’d say almost always. Consider the average programmer salary here in the US: You probably have several of these programmer guys or gals on staff.

By Jeff Atwood ·
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