IvanKatz

Hey there! Sorry I've been gone from SR. Today is week 3 clean and doing GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been SUPER busy with clients this week. Been working till from sun up to midnight all week. Got a new client that is setting up a new business and he hired me to aquire/purchase all his computers, Servers, Internet, routers, etc. Setting up two dozen workstations each with a different software load - blah blah blah.
Thank GOD because I made some SERIOUSLY good cash this week IT consulting - need the cash!!!!!!!!! I put in nearly 70 hours this week despite the lethargy.... But hey, after working so much - today I really didn't even notice and lag!
THanks SR for everything I I will be certainly be hanging around to "give back".
Missed you guys this week!
Wife was ecstatic when she saw the jumbo sized check I brought home today : )
@ a hundred an hour who wouldn't be?
Looking at starting the gym next week as soon as I get the OK from my pain doc. Gotta be SUPER careful with that!
Seeing my shrink twice now has seriously helped too! If anything, just being able to unload to another human being did wonders for me! I was so busy thins week, didn't even occur to me to use.

bval

Oooh ... someone to geek out with!

Wanna know what I have in my monster gaming rig, the one I talk to you guys from?

Mobo: Asus ROG Rampage III Extreme
CPU: Intel i7 930 (overclocked to 4.02GHz)
GPU: SLI (2x) MSI GTX465 Limited Golden Edition, both unlocked to GTX470 and OC'd to 700 core/3760 [email protected] (via bios flash) ... I LOVE THESE CARDS!
PSU: ABS SL 850W (internally, it's actually an Enermax Revolution ... for way less cash), w/70A on a single 12V+ rail
Case: Silverstone Raven (RV-03)
HD's: WD 150GB Raptor X (Windows 7), Hitachi 2GB (Apps), Samsung F1 Spinpoint 1GB (Storage)
Memory: 6GB Tri-Channel Corsair XMS @ 1600MHz
CPU Cooling: Corsair H50 with push/pull Coolermaster Excalibur Fans
Addt'l Case Fans: Enermax Magma x 4
Monitor: asus vw266h 25.5" (1920x1200)

Oh ... did I mention I'm a Forum Moderator over at Overclock.Net?

Congrats on the new, profitable gig Ivan! That always feels good, a bit of success in recovery. Keep on keeping on, dude.

Impurrfect

(((Ivan))) - so great to hear how well you are doing...physically, mentally AND financially!!

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

JFD

IvanKatz, great job. I'm also just starting my journey back from hell, with 40 days clean. So you can look forward to feeling better and better as time passes. I'm starting to notice that days don't seem like week's anymore either, like they did for the first 3-4 weeks of my ongoing recovery.

Best of luck.

england

Congratulations on 3 weeks - life will get even better

IvanKatz

I laugh in your general direction!
Mac Pro - 12 Core Xeon 2.93 Ghz 16GB Ram. SAS Hardware Riad w/ 4 300GB 15K RPM SAS HD's

Dell Precision T3500 8 Core Xeon 3GHz Nahalem processors. 16GB Ram. SAS HW Controller w/ 2 300GB 15K RMP HD's. TWIN Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 ti's.
Atto UL5D SCSI Controller for the AIT-5 Tape backup.

I have two XServe's running web and FTP. Another Dell Precision 4 Core Xeon running my Dell TL4000 Tape Library...
TWIN LTO-5 Tape Drives and 48 tapes in the library. Holds 78TB of data.
All on a massive 10Kva APC battery backup system.
I have a full height APC rack for all the server equipment : )
I'll send ya a pic if you'd like : )
Funny thing is, people come over and look at my basement and they're life... WTF? You running a NASA substation here? LOL!

That's just what I have downstairs!

keltie

IVAN! What an inspiration you are!! I am so happy for you. Thanks for sharing your message of hope.

heyitsme

Hi Ivan,

Thanks for giving me hope that this will get better!! I am on day 4 -- after several failed attempts to detox from the terrible drug. I cannot wait for the day where I feel somewhat back to normal and thoughts of pills do not consume my mind!

Keep up the good work -- I wish you the best of luck in your recovery!!

IvanKatz

Thanks for the words of encouragement folks!
I'm having a little trouble with pain management (chronic back pain). Ive been taking motrin 800's in the day and that's been doing the trick.

Hey BVAL, as for the computer thing... Been doing this for 18 years! I have quite few a few high end clients and always end up with some good stuff. I'm kind of like the local Computer pawn shop LOL! I buy, sell, trade every day.
My friends call me the Mr. Haney of the computer world (Mr Haney from Green Acres : ) LOL!
I spent a considerable amount of time on Craigslist and eBay looking for serious deals. Of course I low ball everyone but at least 1 out 10 people will take the low ball offers.
As I mentioned in the previous post. One of my best pieces of equipment is my Dell TL4000.
I bought that for $800.00 cash! Retail on that Tape Library is $27,500.00!!!!!!!
The unit has TWO LTO5 tape drives (they're like 4-5K each). It holds 48 LTO5 tapes.
The I/O is not fiber but rather 2 twin Serial Attached SCSI controllers. When it comes to backing up,It is FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can backup over a terabyte in less than 30 minutes - that is SMOKIN fast!
I bought this unit from a huge medical imagining facility. I got it along with the 10 TB XRAID. I paid $1600.00 for both units. That's like buying two ferrari's for the price of one compact car!
I also bought 4 (YES FOUR) APC 2200VA UPS's WITH the ethernet modules AND each with ALL NEW BATTERIES for $150.00.... These cost $1000.00 EACH new!!!!!!!!
This facility couldn't sell these units because who the heck is going to buy this stuff off Craigslist?????

All my servers and workstations use either Fiberoptic cable or Dual gigabit NIC's. The dual ethernet NIC setups are using LCAP on my Asante IntraCore IC39480. If you're unfamiliar with LCAp, basically is combines the the ethernet NIC and turns them into a 2GB per second connection vs 1GB. My IntraCore IC39480 has 4Gbics on it that allows me to connect the servers with Fiber Optic cable.
This makes a HUGE difference on file transfer. You see, I'm running several 30 amp and 20 amp electrical lines to my server rack. This much amperage causes a lot of Electromagnetic fields that causes regular copper ethernet cable signals to degrade. With Fiber Optic, NO PACKET LOSS!!!!!!
I've optimized the IntraCore switch to allow the highest possible data transfer possible. It's programmed so that when the tape backup begins, the IntraCore switch provides the highest bandwidth priority to the backup server and target device.
I have 4 high end workstations and 4 Servers (two xServes, a 10TB XRAID and two PC servers. Between my wife and I, we have 3 Macbook Pro's, 2 iPads, 1 Iphone, and a couple of iPods.
2X per day, everything backup to a 10TB XRAID. 2X per week, everything backs up to my Dell TL4000 (tape backup).
I never have to worry about power issues either. My best friend is an electrician and a few years back, He ran new cabling in my basement so that I had 6-20 amp, and 2-30amp circuits. The 30AMP circuits provide the juice to my 2 managed Eaton 9250 5Kva UPS's. If we have a power outtage, the UPS's automatically shut down the servers if the power is not restored within 20 minutes.

Now.... People ask me, why do you have all this equipment????? Well, besides the fact that IT consulting is my business, it is my hobby, and it also provides me with the ability to keep current with technology.
I use the giant tape library to not only backup my stuff (which about 15TB) but I use it to provide secure off-site backups to some of my higher end clients. A couple of doctor and lawyer offices. I only charge them $100.00 per month.... That's CHEAP to those guys to have a second off-site backup. It brings in an extra $800.00 a month to me which covers my internet cost wich is high...
I have TWO Time Warner Wide band internet lines. Each line is 5MB Up and 50MB Down. My router combines the two to have 10MB up and 100MB down.
My internet bill is $200.00 a month alone. But let me tell ya... it's dang fast.
As a side note, it has spoiled my wife rotten because she is so used to have breakneck speed internet at home - she complains about how slow internet is everywhere else she goes LOL~
My wife is a medical rep and out in the field everyday. I have her setup so that wherever she is, she can send her orders home to her own server and when she comes home, everything is already printed and waiting for her when she gets home. Before I set this up, she would come home and spend 1-2 hours prepping her stuff then printing it out. Now, she comes home and it's already done and printed when she walks in the door.
Another nice thing... Last year, I bought a Xerox Phaser 6250DN Workgroup laser printer. I bought this 5K dollar color laser printer for $100.00 off Craigslist LOL!
My Super Dell - They 8 Core Xeon... I paid $425.00 for it off of Craigslist LOL! It's a $4500.00 Dell that has a 5 year warranty on it LOL! It took me weeks of low balling people to get it but darn it, I found someone who needed the money more than they needed the computer!
THe whole point is, I love technology and I'm good at it. Good enough that I can make a living at it AND AND AND.... Enjoy what I do too! That's the important thing - Doing what you love!
Since I got off my meds, I've spent a ton of time going back through all my equipment and re-optimising it, etc. Gives me focus and takes my mind off of wanting to "use".
At times, I miss my old law enforcement days but I really like what I'm doing now a little better. I like having control of my own life and I don't worry about getting shot at : )
This is my second career and enjoy it so much. I'm proof that anyone can "start over" in life.
For those out there that hate their jobs... Find something you're passionate about and love - and figure out how to make a living out of it.
OK, Gonna quit now that I'm rambling on and on....

bval

A DELL?

C'mon man. You gotta BUILD that stuff yourself ... or it ... like ... doesn't count :P

Seriously though that t3500 is a yummy piece for $450 bones. I'm particularly envious of your 15K-rpm SAS setup there

BUT ... I can still beat that box in a gaming benchmark (something like 3dMark11, Heaven 2.5, etc) ...

Your 4-core (+HT) Xeon @ 3.0 GHz proc + SLI'd 560ti's cannot overpower my 4-core (+ HT) 930 @ 4.0 + OC'd, SLI 470's ...

... At stock you could edge me out slightly, but not when you take into account mah powahs of overclocking

bval

Here you go mister Katz ... BENCH-OFF!!!

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2597520

Lets see that $4500 Dell take down the $1500 beast I built myself in a gaming bench (we won't talk about your internet, or your screaming random-access HD performance )

That's the free version of 3dMark11, btw, and I'm running beta Forceware v.290.53.

With your internet, probably download the app in like 10 seconds.

Now who's laughing ... err ... wait ... I guess you still got the better deal for $450. Seriously, that's an incredible machine for that price. Hell the GPU's alone are almost $450.

IvanKatz

BVAL,
Hey, Why go out and spend a few K on a home built system when you can buy one 90% off retail from a cash strapped Craigslister??? LOL!
I benched mine:
NVIDIA Quadro NVS video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W3530 @ 2.80GHz,Dell Inc. 09KPNV score: P4434 3DMarks
What these scores mean I have no idea... I'm mostly a Mac guy. My score would have been better If I put my second Nvidia card in (SLI) But I have it in another machine for testing...
Now, I will say this... My Mac Pro will blow the doors off anything anyone has to offer... 12 3GHz cores and 16GB of ram with 4 15K RPM SAS drives in a HW RAID?
I mean Common!!!!!!!!!!!!!
System cost 9K retail.... Got it for doing two weeks of work for a large graphics company here local... Worked two 60 hour weeks for it... But worth every minute of it. They bought 11 of these. When They saw my bill I told them I'm tear it up and simply "walk" with one of their Mac's : )
It worked and I never got a 1099 for it either : )

Got a 30" and and 23" Apple Cinema display connect to it.... Ahhhhhh Heaven!
I have an EyeTV connected to it so I can watch TV on it while I'm working. The EyeTV is NICE! HD, DVR, AND................. Wait for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It broadcasts my TV over the internet so I can watch TV from my iPad or iPhone....
Did I mention I have a Fridge and a bathroom down here too? LOL!
Good thing I have a GREAT wife or I'd never leave this place : )

Impurrfect

You guys ((Ivan and Bval)) might as well be speaking Greek to this techno-idiot, but at least I know who to come to when I'm making the final decision on what new laptop to buy

(((Ivan))) - it's really cool to hear you enthused about your work, considering where you were 3 weeks ago

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

keltie

Hahaha- just what I was thinking. BUT, it's great to have a passion like that. Not to mention, make $$ from it! I'm jealous.

bval

Ooooh ... a 30" Apple Cinema ... now THAT makes me jealous

And yeah, you'd have got a lot better score w/the 2nd video card ... as 3dMark11 is a synthetic DX11 gaming benchmark, it's about 85% video card power-based ... the score roughly represents what FPS you get in games.

IvanKatz

BVAL,
I was looking through the 3DMark info and it doesn't have any Xeon procs for comparison. I'm thinking that they excluded the xeons because how many people use them?
I'll take the Nahalem Xeons over the I7's any day of the week. THey provide Sooooooo much horsepower. THe analogy I use is:i7's and i5's are like souped up car engines with twin turbos and lot's of electronic that allow you to get every last piece of horsepower out of the engine. The Xeon's are like huge big block engines with blowers on them.
Nothing beats "displacement" with a blown big block LOL!

My Macbook Pro has an i7 quad processor in it. I have Windows 7 Pro installed in it and I ran some photoshop comparisons of it next to the xeons.
I took a 500MB file and performed some heavy duty filters to the photo file. What took the i7 2 minutes 38 seconds to do, the 8 Core Xeon did it in 22 seconds flat : )
My Mac Pro with the 12 cores did it in 13 seconds!
Now, I'm not doing a ton of stuff everyday that requires this kind of horsepower but it is really nice to have it under the hood.
As an example, I can take a movie DVD and rip it in under 15 minutes.
This included decoding the DVD, Converting it to a .MOV file, and then compressing it to an MP4. That's HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!! THe MP4 compression/conversion is what really requires the horse power.
Years ago, I used an app called handbrake that converted DVD's. It used to take my old Mac almost 18 hours to do this.
I tore through Netflix in 4 months.... That's the other reason I have a 10TB RAID... TO store all my movies LOL!
Now, I'm such a geek... I have the system setup so that if I'm away from home, I can stream anyone of my hundreds movies over the internet to my iPad. I stream it over my EyeTV.
THe EyeTV can be seen here:

Elgato products

These folks have soe really neat stuff!

Hmmmm, maybe we need to start an SR Geek thread???

IvanKatz

When I was doing law enforcement in the 90's, I got into the computer thing. Then as time progressed, I was doing the computer thing on the side. Then when I quit LE, I was doing this full time.
For me the whole computer thing came so incredibly natural for me. Despite being in my 40's. I'm still able to digest all the new stuff as fast as it can come.

It has really helped my recovery too! I've been able to re-focus my attention away from the cravings and delve further into the computer info.

I will say this much... YEARS ago I made a decision that I was going to make a living from something I enjoyed and that I was not going to spend my whole life screwing someone else for money. I knew so many people that hated what they did for a living. I had this uncle that spent his whole life making money from his businesses. Screwing people left and right out out of money (VERY TYPE A PERSONALITY). He worked 12-16 hour days making more and more money and even more enemies... He died in his early 60's and left all his money to his bitch wife and my two spoiled a$z cousins. They went through all his money in less that 2 years with NOTHING to show for it in the end. Her house was foreclosed on and their 100K mercedes benz repossessed along with the 30' Parker off-shore boat.
My uncle John wasted his entire life so that his worthless wife and kids could **** away everything he made. 3 Million dollars cash and another 1.5 million dollar business property all gone. Drugs had a lot of play in this too. Lots and lots of cocaine. My cousins would drop 5K a night a strip bars. Another 2-3K on the coke and "party favors" for the whores.
Justice was server though. My two cousins work at jobs they despise and my aunt remarried a guy that treats her like a POS - he has money and keeps her on a metaphorical "chain". Oh, My cousin Tommy did get left with one thing after the dust settled... Genital warts - LOL!!!!!!!!

So, the point of my story is - don't waste your life on drugs. Don't waste your life at a job you hate. Find something you're passionate about!!!!!!! Find a way to make a living from it and you'll never "WORK" another day in your life!
This is the only life we have and there are no do-overs! Make this life count and take the bad with the good. Live life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bval

Great story Ivan

BTW, I hate to break it to you, but nearly all Xeon's have (cheaper) regular i7/i5 equivalents, and the only actual difference is the binning process, and ensuing warranty/support from Intel.

If you have an Nehalem Xeon with 4 cores + HT at 2.8GHz it will perform 100% identically to my Nehalem i7 930 with 4 cores + HT at 2.8GHz.

It might overclock a little higher though due to better binning ... but if you don't OC, then ... it's really the same thing. Unless it's a model that doesn't exist in the 'consumer' line, you're just paying for the name Xeon and a better warranty.

Fortunately, at the prices you're paying ... why not get Xeon's?

struggles79

Hi Ivan! Congrats on 3 weeks clean!!! Make sure you take it easy when you get back to the gym. I made the mistake when I went back thinking I can pick up where I left off, boy was I hurting for a week, lol. I thought my computer was tricked lol, geez you guys. Well at least I got dual monitors so there :P It's great so I can play WoW on one monitor and do my work on the other lol

lostgirl25

Congrats Ivan. Isn't life grand. I haven't been on in a while and was so happy to see your post. You Rock.