hmurchison

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hmurchison
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  • Nest Wi-Fi, Nest Mini, Pixelbook Go updated during 'Made by Google' event

    hmurchisonhmurchison
    If you have a capable router and new stuff comes that "ISN"T" Wifi-6 just pass it up.   There's zero point in investing in a Wifi system that isn't Wifi-6.     No on gives a sht about turning off guess networking or Google Mini (which Google gives away during the Holidays). 


    watto_cobra

  • Apple clarifies Safari Safe Browsing feature following Tencent data reports [u]

    hmurchisonhmurchison
    Sensationalism 

    If you're connected to the Internet and running apps your data is going EVERYWHERE. 
    lkrupp

  • Inside Apple's fantastically fast new Mac Pro

    hmurchisonhmurchison
    JustSomeGuy1 said:
    sdw2001 said:
    I can't get over what a monster this thing is.  Apple's "pro" machines have always been more marketed to prosumers/power users rather than true workstation users.  This machine changes everything.  

    I'm not up on PC workstation class machines, so a question for someone who is:  Is there anything even close to this?  

    You need to do a lot more reading, and you can start with the link you provided. You are confused about the relationship between CXL and PCIe5. PCI5 does not use any aspect of CXL. Rather, CXL leverages PCIe 5, with its major selling point being memory coherency between CPUs and attached coprocessors of various sorts (GPUs, FPGAs, NNPs, etc.). It's roughly similar to CCIX, and somewhat similar to GenZ (though CXL and CCIX use PCIe5 mechanicals, whereas GenZ doesn't).

    You are similarly confused about the state of play in NVMe SSDs. Not one person who understands the technology thinks that "existing PCI-E limitations limit the benefits of  that extra speed". The limitation comes from the only PCIe4-capable controller that's on the market currently (the Phison PS5016-E16), which was a quick patch job on a previous controller to add PCIe4 compatability. Better controllers are coming soon, and they should be able to push read and write speeds up to ~7GB/sec... that is, if you're moving bulk data. For most people, random I/O is more important, as is latency, and the PCIe version doesn't make any difference for that- it's the flash and the controller.

    As for 100Gbps Ethernet, a single PCIe3 x16 slot is almost but not quite adequate to saturate the link. A PCIe4 x16 could handle a dual port card. By the time you get to PCIe5, a single x4 slot could handle a single port. PCIe6's bandwidth will obviously be welcome for anyone using 100Gbps Ethernet, but it's far from necessary.

    JSG1 -   Thanks for the cleanup.  I'm no Engineer admittedly but love to catch up every now and then.  A few days ago I was looking some PCI-Sig videos about what they're doing with version 4, 5 and 6.   The roadmap has incredible bandwidth increases.   I totally misspoke and alluded to PCI limitations with NVME.  It's not the limitation of PCI that I really wanted to say was that a NVME SSD on PCIE4 doing 5Gbps is going to differ in real world results depending on usage case.  

    I for one and really glad Apple has a 6k Mac again.   I'm old now...I remember when the IIFX was around $8k in a zero/zero config.    For years Apple straddled the prosumer/workstation arena with PowerMac G4, G5 etc and many got used to these tweeners.   The near future should be interesting as the Mac Pro internal design evolves with higher bandwidth solutions.  It's never going to be cheap but if you make your living with that Mac you can often justify the purchase ...just hire a good accountant. 

    JSG1 let me ask you about your personal feelings about the future of tech like Optane. 
    chiaphilboogie

  • Inside Apple's fantastically fast new Mac Pro

    hmurchisonhmurchison
    sdw2001 said:
    I can't get over what a monster this thing is.  Apple's "pro" machines have always been more marketed to prosumers/power users rather than true workstation users.  This machine changes everything.  

    I'm not up on PC workstation class machines, so a question for someone who is:  Is there anything even close to this?  
    Yes and no.   Don't expect a lot of innovation coming from Intel they're likely to skip next years PCI-Express 4.0 evolutionary step and refresh most of their Xeon class hardware with PCI-Express 5.0 which employs a lot of new technology chiefly a new CXL Interconnect  .  NVME SSD on PCI-Express 4 are already doing 5Gbps reads and very fast writes but many people feel like existing PCI-E limitations limit the benefits of  that extra speed  After PCI-Express 5 you're going to see 4-Level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) which will not only get PCI-E 6.0 to 64 Gigatransfer but it'll be key in 100Gbps Ethernet for Data Centers and more. 

    The obvious question is who needs this bandwidth?  AI,  8K and VR encoding,  Machine Learning,  Databases as always and even gaming.   I think Apple has designed or workstation form factor that is going to be able to scale with the insane amount of bandwidth increases we have coming in just 4-5 years. 
    fastasleepzhirosdw2001watto_cobra

  • Linksys Aware uses mesh Wi-Fi network for motion-tracking in the home

    hmurchisonhmurchison
    dewme said:
    peterhart said:
    Unfortunately, I’m no longer using my Velop system. Can’t use HomePods in Stereo mode  with them when the Velop towers are assigned to different rooms and Home Sharing constantly has issues. Anyone else have a mesh system but have issues with inconsistent Apple product connections? 




    Back to the topic at hand... Linksys is trying to be opportunistic by exploiting a side effect of their signal monitoring to detect motion. No big deal and good for them. The only issue I have with the likes of Linksys/Netgear and their contemporaries is based on the poor reliability and useless tech support I've experienced with them. They drove me to Apple and its Airport products and I never looked back. Now that Apple has exited this market I figured I'd be better served by just taking personal responsibility for maintaining my own networking gear. I knew going in that Ubiquiti is much more of a community supported model, so resolving a technical or usability issue requires some online investigation and reaching out to peers. I'm okay with that because Ubiquiti provides you with the tools you'll need to be self sufficient and there's an online community to tap into. With Netgear, Linksys, Cisco, Apple, etc., you "think" you're getting a company to back you up and hold your hand, but Apple is the only company that really does it, and Apple's gear requires almost no support. Good luck with those other companies. Yeah, this is my personal opinion and your experience may be much different than mine.

    Netgear only really cares about their product outside of retail.   They have their Insight software platform for the SMB space  but I still like the Unifi Network Management software much better.  Ruckus is too expensive,  Cisco is Cisco,  

    What gives me hope about the potential return of an Apple Router product is that they've never gone on record as saying out the sector for good.   Plus a vast majority of the Mesh systems use Qualcomm's WifiSON architecture and we know Apple's relationship with Qualcomm is anything but friendly.  I suppose if they get back into the game it'll be with custom hardware that is forward thinking (Ultra Wideband?) with HomeKit and more.  
    watto_cobra