How to boost EXT4

Recently I tried some tweaks to boost the ext4 file system on my small download station (Pentium 3) and the most effective were:

1. deadline scheduler
2. noatime mount option
3. set the journal data as writeback

Let's explain better:

Happy New Year... and some news!

First and most important: Happy New Year to all of you!

Second: I know, I know... It is a long time I don't write something on my blog but due to the excess of work and due to the preparations to the voyage to Italy for Christmas I hadn't free time at all!

Actually we are in Verona (in Veneto, north of Italy) to spend the holidays with my mother in our home but I needed an Internet connection so I bought a Wind 3g sim card. Wind in Italy is very cheap but also very good!

I discovered that after the firmware update my ONDA MT503 HS 3g modem wasn't communicating with my router so I had to buy another modem... I chose a D-Link DWR-730 one and I can say I'm very happy with it: it is wireless, it has an internal lipo battery (about 5 hours of runtime with wireless connection) and it works with every operator.

The speed is great (better than my radio connection in Brazil), please check the photos!

the connection

the download rate...

Cheers...

simple tips for Endian Firewall 2.5.1

1 - How to block Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and Badoo:

It is very simple to do it, you need only the proxy in transparent mode to catch everyone, a simple rule on the proxy and on the outgoing firewall... take a look

HTTP proxy: Policy

Outgoing firewall configuration

It is important to not allow the HTTP service so the proxy will be able filter the outgoing request and block the facebook/orkut/etc. page


2 - Dansguardian service not restarting after some modifications:

It happens I have to modify some proxy rules and sometimes, when the service restart, dansguardian doesn't do it leaving the outgoing connections free. The most simple thing to do is manually restart it! (To do it first you must have the SSH service enabled and, of course, be connected via SSH to the firewall)
The command to restart the service is:

Cheers!

27 good reasons to use Linux

In the Istituto Majorana site I found a very interesting post about 27 good reasons to leave Microsoft Windows and use only a Linux distribution.

To be honest I don't think Linux is the good choice for everyone because there are still applications without a good free alternative (Autocad, Photoshop, etc.) and there are too few games... but for someone who needs to navigate on Internet, write documents, play with music and videos Linux Mint and Ubuntu are a very good choice (maybe the best!)

See you!

Free software, a new opportunity even for schools!

A friend of mine sent me a very interesting link: how one teacher built a computer lab for free

It is a good opportunity to show how free software can change the world in better! How many still-good computers in Italy (and allover the world, I think too) are thrown in the trash only because of the operating system (I guess Microsoft Windows...) or maybe because of a virus or a worm?

With one Linux distribution a lot of old computers can have a new life... better for the users and for the environment!

As far I know there is only one institute in Italy who adopted only free software: Istituto Majorana

Is it the beginning of a new future? I don't know but I hope it!

Cheers!

Computer AllInOne DIY? Yes, you can!!!

When I was young(er) I often had the chance to assist a TV program called MacGuyver, about a man able to fix everything using only a Swiss Army knife and his mind.

Today I had the chance to assist something even better: a colleague of mine, Michel Henkel, fixed an old-but-still-good notebook with a double-side-tape and the power (or the madness... :-b) of his mind!

He created a... Frankenstein monster computer!

Here are the images of the artwork:

Linux User Group in Rio Grande do Sul

Thank to my new colleagues I discovered a Linux User Group here in the Rio Grande do Sul state, in the south of Brazil. I'll get in touch with the people of that Linux User Group because I love free software (I don't hate closed source sofware but... I prefer free software!) and because I want to improve my Linux knowledge.

See U!