Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Complaining about uptime
OK, below I decided to write about how efficiently my Linux PVR box was running while watching and recording programming.
Here on February 10, 2004, here is my current Linux box uptime:
14:24:29 up 30 days, 27 min, 2 users, load average: 2.43, 2.38, 2.30
Of all the wonders of Linux, one of the most mysterious parts is getting an honest answer from the computer just how much it is doing at a given time. One way to start investigating how hard the PVR is working is to run an uptime query. The one-line enrty shows the current time, and the uptime for the box, now over 30 days. I have 2 user logins running right now, and then we come to the 1-minute, 5-minute, and 15-minute load averages on the box right now.
At least on a Windows box, you get an idea in % how much a particular program is eating CPU cycles. To approximate how much Law and Order: SVU and Match Game PM below used the box, consider that I was quoting, inaccurately, the 1-minute load averages.
Is "2.43" 100% then. I have seen higher. But, consider that I am now running at 2.43-2.38-2.30 because I signed up with distributed.net to use the lost cycles on the machine when it isn't transcoding the shows. Statistics from my participation also include the P4 2.4GHz Windows machine on my desk, so it isn't all from the Linux PVR. So, approximate 2.43 as "100%". This would imply that watching Match Game PM below took only 4% of my CPU and that adding the recording of Law and Order: SVU shot it to 11%. Not much at all.
So then, was 933 MHz overkill? No, transcoding occurs shortly after recording and it gets done rather well.
After one month of use, our Disk Usage:
And will all apologies to Ice-T, who is an excellent actor, we stopped watching Law and Order: SVU. As we watch TV during supper often, it just wasn't condusive to winding down while eating. The refinement of our TV schedule, this box gives television freedom AND helps solve mathematical problems (through distributed.net).
Here on February 10, 2004, here is my current Linux box uptime:
14:24:29 up 30 days, 27 min, 2 users, load average: 2.43, 2.38, 2.30
Of all the wonders of Linux, one of the most mysterious parts is getting an honest answer from the computer just how much it is doing at a given time. One way to start investigating how hard the PVR is working is to run an uptime query. The one-line enrty shows the current time, and the uptime for the box, now over 30 days. I have 2 user logins running right now, and then we come to the 1-minute, 5-minute, and 15-minute load averages on the box right now.
At least on a Windows box, you get an idea in % how much a particular program is eating CPU cycles. To approximate how much Law and Order: SVU and Match Game PM below used the box, consider that I was quoting, inaccurately, the 1-minute load averages.
Is "2.43" 100% then. I have seen higher. But, consider that I am now running at 2.43-2.38-2.30 because I signed up with distributed.net to use the lost cycles on the machine when it isn't transcoding the shows. Statistics from my participation also include the P4 2.4GHz Windows machine on my desk, so it isn't all from the Linux PVR. So, approximate 2.43 as "100%". This would imply that watching Match Game PM below took only 4% of my CPU and that adding the recording of Law and Order: SVU shot it to 11%. Not much at all.
So then, was 933 MHz overkill? No, transcoding occurs shortly after recording and it gets done rather well.
After one month of use, our Disk Usage:
- Total Space: 130,938 MB
- Space Used: 85,120 MB
- Space Free: 45,818 MB
And will all apologies to Ice-T, who is an excellent actor, we stopped watching Law and Order: SVU. As we watch TV during supper often, it just wasn't condusive to winding down while eating. The refinement of our TV schedule, this box gives television freedom AND helps solve mathematical problems (through distributed.net).
