NetKernel News Volume 3 Issue 49

December 20th 2012

What's new this week?

• Repository Updates
• Queue Jumping Throttle
• Representation Cache Latest
• ROCing a Round Robin
• Holiday Period

Catch up on last week's news here

Repository Updates

No updates this week.

Queue Jumping Throttle

Tony has discovered a new Throttle pattern which offers some interesting new engineering capabilities. Here's the details...

http://durablescope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/cut-to-chase.html

Representation Cache Latest

We're now running the new representation cache in production. If you missed it, all the details and the back story to this project are in Tony's discussion...

http://durablescope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/new-enterprise-representation-cache.html

The new cache visualizer tools are already adding great value. Its very interesting to select filtered views of the cache to get a picture of how a particular set of resources within one application are performing. For example here's a filter on "page" showing the logical page endpoints of the www.1060research.com site. You can see we're getting 100% cache hit rate across the entire dynamic site.

The other interesting thing is how the new reap algorithm discovers and balances a larger set of cache items than before. In a very small heap (just 196Mb) we're caching the entire working set for six applications and the cache is balancing at around 6300 cached items while still giving 64Mb of headroom available in the heap. The significance of this is that the new cache adds value even for small heaps as well as scaling to the millions of items in huge heaps.

ROCing a Round Robin

We British, using liberal application of ice baths and horse-hair underpants, are trained as children not to get over excited, to remain stoic under fire and, absolutely sacrosanct, never to "blow one's own trumpet".

This rigid observance of self-deprecation and modesty is culturally hard-wired. If, as a kid, you were to come home and report that you got ten out of ten in the spelling test, then a proud parent might comment: "Not bad".

You will understand therefore, that this year has been particularly challenging for the British.

While we collectively longed for incompetence, mismanagement and global humiliation we were left in emotional turmoil when the London Olympics turned out not bad.

You will therefore appreciate even more, how conflicted and drained we are at 1060 Research. For, to compound the national sentiment, the local state has also been not bad. In fact you could go so far as to say, that for 1060 Research, this year has been really not bad at all.

Fortunately, there have been some failures to take solace in.

In difficult circumstances and under continuous pressure we've witnessed a few people struggle to make the leap over to the ROC world. But even so, solutions have been built and have performed successfully. Our take away is a much better understanding of the classical development culture and an extremely valuable context within which to present the ROC training next year.

Alas, it has not all been bad news.

Some amongst us, have decided that back-to-back comparisons between classical and ROC approaches should be undertaken. Worse still, that it is not sufficient to deliver an equivalent solution, but to enhance it, to increase its performance by a factor of ten and to compress man years into man weeks. Let us be very clear. We cannot and do not take any satisfaction from this.

Worse, we have discovered that our message that the economics of ROC, borrowing from and extending the Web's own clothing, provide a compelling story. One which appeals and intrigues at the senior executive level. Look, let's get this straight, we don't want executives to get excited - just think where that might lead.

To compound our emotional trauma, imagine our discomfort earlier this week when we were invited to go and look at this public press release...

https://bbyopen.com/announcing-bbyopen-metis-alpha-best-buy-product-catalog-semantic-endpoints

Not bad. And, if it took them three weeks to do this, we can imagine that its going to be really not bad in a few more weeks.

So, some refreshing lows not withstanding, all in all, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, 2012 has been not bad.

Here's wishing you a not bad holiday and a moderate and not overwhelming New Year.

Holiday Period

We'll be keeping an eye on things over the holiday but will be operating a limited support service - we'll prioritise emergency responses and offer a best efforts on regular matters.

Hope you also get chance to relax and enjoy the season. See you in the New Year...