A bit about me to get things started...
I am a Performance Engineer in Sun's Performance Applications
Engineering (PAE) organization, where I conduct research on performance
issues across the hardware/software stack. I plan to use this blog
to share insights and experiences that I gain through my research,
including tips and techniques for performance analysis, interesting
findings and specific performance gains, and general musings on the
state and future direction of computer systems performance. I will
also share anything I come across that seems generally interesting,
but the majority of entries will most likely be performance related.
I have worked in the computer field for 26 years, having spent the
first 16 at the University of Rochester (UofR) and the last 10 at Sun.
At the UofR, I started as a computer operator and worked/studied my
way up to Technical Lead for their UNIX Group, which maintained campus
infrastructure systems as well as many of the research computers.
At Sun, prior to joining PAE, I spent several years on site at Xerox's
primary North American data center, serving as a senior resource
for performance and availability issues on their Sun products.
Since joining the PAE organization, I have focused primarily on
scalability on CMT/CMP systems, and currently have a major focus on
MySQL Replication environments.
I am a life long learner and seemingly perpetual student, and completed
my academic studies over many years. Most recently, I completed a
graduate certificate in computer architecture at Stanford University,
where I focused my energies on emerging CMT/CMP technologies and
parallel processing. Prior work included a B.Sc. in computer operating
systems at the State University of New York, Empire State College,
and associates level studies in computer systems at the Rochester
Institute of Technology.
I am very happily married and have a 13 year old daughter in middle school. My wife Mette is from Norway, and I have visited there with my family many times. When I'm not in front of a computer, I enjoy astronomy, bike riding, hiking, movies, and reading classic literature to my daughter, including everything from Gulliver's Travels to Frankenstein and Don Quixote.
My next post will most likely be related to MySQL replication, particularly focusing on recent work I have done to try to improve InnoDB replication master scalability when using XA transactions in conjunction with binlog replication. Check back in a couple of weeks if that sounds interesting!