All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk • Hacker News Board

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#371

Post by cassepipe » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:19 PM UTC

jsmith99 wrote: post #231

michaelt wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's morally incorrect to get to the license server early and snatch a roaming license you might not use to its fullest, is it not also wrong to access the property market early and snatch a bunch of land you might not use to its fullest?

The difference is that market mechanisms are meant to allocate items to those that value them the most (assumed to be the same as their willingness to pay). Claiming a licence by contrast has little cost.

I agree on the cost of claiming of the license on this specific case enables depletion of ressources for those who need it. But market mechanisms allow speculation. If you can mobilize capital quicker than others for a resource when you know it's going up, you are just pocketing the difference. Seems hard to justify as a mechanism that is beneficial to society as a whole.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#372

Post by K7PJP » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:19 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #194

fggg444 wrote: post #96

it feels like setting your watch 5 minutes fast, it's not a real solution

can you do this on smartwatches? I know someone that went to full extreme of hour push, but they did this by setting their system time to the next time zone over.

Apple Watch used to offer this ability, but it no seems to be available.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#373

Post by chihuahua » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:19 PM UTC

0_____0 wrote: post #301

jessaustin wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IME it doesn't take too many hikes to learn that part of the procedure for turning off the engine is "turn the fuel switch off reserve".

out of years of riding it's only happened to me a couple times. one time i was eastbound on the bay bridge when my bike started to sputter. i'd just reassembled the tank and had left the screw-style reserve fuel valve open, so there was no reserve fuel to be had. a very kind lady put her blinkers on behind me and followed as i coasted the last few hundred yards toward yerba buena island. i pushed my bike up the ramp…

I think that driving on those last few ounces of fuel is a completely different feeling.

Normally you take for granted that the engine works for hours at at time.

When you've come to a stop and found those last few ounces of fuel, it's such a relief that the engine can run again, and you know it won't run for very long, but every minute that it continues running saves you many minutes of walking or pushing. You appreciate every minute that the engine produces that amazing amount of power (compared to your own power when you're pushing a 300+ pound bike)

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#374

Post by wongarsu » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:20 PM UTC

jachee wrote: post #307

bane wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a surprisingly common hoarding behavior among humans using scarce resources. In technology you see it everywhere, virtualization infrastructure, disk storage, etc. This is actually kind of clever. How the tribal knowledge for how to "reserve space" was developed and disseminated would be pretty interesting to study.

In Pittsburgh, it's evolved into the parking chair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_chair

Similarly Germans are infamous for reserving pool chairs by placing a towel on them long before they actually want to use them

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#375

Post by chihuahua » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:22 PM UTC

quesera wrote: post #217

dnautics wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprised there isn't a mechanism that mechanically switches the petcock over when you put a fuel nozzle up to the port

Most motorcycles are surprisingly manual. This was originally a necessity (like in cars), but remains aesthetically preferable for many riders. OTOH, Honda Goldwings have stereo systems. They might grow an automatic fuel reserve switcher-backer someday too. :)

Goldwings also have a reverse gear. Even more remarkable: I used to have an Aprilia scooter that had a remote release button (on the key fob) for the under-seat storage area. I think I used it once just to see if it works.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#376

Post by _0w8t » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:23 PM UTC

This reminded me of embedded Java project that I worked 20 years ago. The VM had only 10MB of RAM and properly dealing with out-of-memory exceptions was a must. The most effective strategy was to preallocate like 200K array. Then on any memory exception the code released that array and set a global flag. The flag was queried through out the code to aggressively minimize memory usage until it drops to tolerable limit.

The preallocated buffer was essential. Without it typical result was recursive out-of-memory that eventually deadlocked/crashed the VM with no recovery.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#377

Post by madpata » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:24 PM UTC

njovin wrote: post #335

victor9000 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. If individuals don't create these balloon files then they won't be able to use the file server when they need it, yet by creating these balloon files the collective action depletes the shared resource of its main function.

This is similar to how some government agencies retain their budgets. At the end of the budget period they've only spent 80% of their allocated budget, so they throw out a bunch of perfectly good equipment/furniture/etc. and order new stuff so that their budget doesn't get cut the following year, rather than accepting that maybe they were over-budgeted to begin with. Rinse, repeat, thus continuing the cycle of wastin…

I talked about that topic with my principal when I was in school.

He told me that the school had to prevent those automatic budget cuts. His reasoning was that it's nearly impossible to get a higher budget if some big expenses had to be made. And suddenly needing a higher budge, after for example 3 years of low expenses, doesn't make a good impression on higher-level administrators.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#378

Post by chihuahua » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:25 PM UTC

bigiain wrote: post #326

driverdan wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some newer bikes, like mine, don't have a reserve petcock. They have a low fuel light. No forgetting about the petcock and an obvious warning light instead of sputtering.

Some older bikes, like my '99 Ducati Monster, don't have a petcock. It has a low fuel light that first failed in around 2002, and for which that part that fails (the in-tank float switch) stopped being available in about 2015 or so. No petcock _or_ warning light. (And that trip where the speedo cable fails so I couldn't even use thew trip meter to estimate fuel requirements was a fun one...)

Can you find someone who can adapt a float switch from a different bike? It seems like a very useful thing to have, even if it's not the original factory part.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#379

Post by chubs » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:27 PM UTC

easton wrote: post #336

ABeeSea wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Email quotas aren’t just a cost thing. It forces deletion of files/communications that aren’t relevant anymore. The last thing the legal department wants is some executive’s laptop with 10 years of undeleted email to make it’s way to discovery.

Then why not just tell Exchange to delete any emails older than 5 years (or whatever your lawyers tell you to put)?

I imagine it looks better at discovery time to say 'oh sorry we lost these emails because we ran out of disk space' rather than 'we deleted them because we didn't want you to read them'.

Re: All my servers have an 8 GB empty file on disk

#380

Post by rigrassm » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 11:38 PM UTC

jmkb wrote: post #351

jedberg wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend had a truck with a reserve tank, but it was the same size as the main tank, so he would just flip the switch at every fill up to make sure they both got used.

Had this in a 70s F150. A "Main - Aux" switch on the dash, right above the 8-track player. I used to let the main tank sputter out on fumes and then triumphantly shout "Rerouting auxiliary power to engine!" while sliding the switch. Letting them empty out alternately would have been a lot smarter.

My father drove a '95 F-150 for years that had the dual tanks. Shortly after highschool I got in accident that ended up totaling my vehicle and got a couple months I was using his truck (he runs an Auto repair shop from a garage behind the house so he almost always had something available to drive) and I ended up using it to go out on a date with someone I had met at work.

I noticed on the way to pick them up that the truck was running on empty in the main tank but I checked and the aux tank was full. Then I remembered the first time my dad let the tank run down and start sputtering down the road and decided to keep going on the empty tank.

Make it to pick them up and start heading down the highway(where we were it was a good 3-4 miles to the nearest gas station) and then the truck finally started to sputter. I proceed to play along with it pretending to panic for a good 20 seconds and then I turned and saw the look on their face and couldn't help but start laughing. Switched to the aux tank and when the truck started running again I turned and and the look I was getting indicated I was being mentally murdered. Then they punched the crap outta my arm and started laughing and calling me not so nice things.

Ended up being an awesome night out with someone I'd end up being friends with for a long time. It's weird how this kind of random conversation in an unrelated internet post can drag you way back down memory lane.