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A Look at Altera's OpenCL SDK for FPGAsby Rahul Garg on 10/9/2013 8:00 AM EST
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BryanC - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkThanks for the article. Are you planning a follow up where you write some programs and measure performance? I'm curious to see how it compares when you actually try to use it. Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkIt is on my to-do list. Will have to ask Altera if they are up for it. Not sure if they are used to being covered and benched by websites such as Anandtech :P. I think it is likely new territory for both us and them.
Also, experimental design will have to be careful. Doing an experiment would involve tuning the kernels for each device first. So even if assume that I do get some hardware, it will certainly be a time-consuming process. Reply
Kevin G - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkI'd be curious to see the raw initial result. Knowing what you can get by recycling your OpenCL code is of interest to parties that don't have the resources to do a good port. Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkThanks for the feedback. If I do testing, I will keep that in mind. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkIf you do a followup could you explain vectorization in more detail? Your other explanations where very understandable. Reply
vladx - Friday, October 11, 2013 - linkVectorization simply means in his example adding all the vector's elements all at once instead of doing it iterative with a loop, thus the algorithm's time is constant (1) instead of linear (n). Reply
Brutalizer - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - linkVectorization is done like this. Compare this non vectorized code:
for (i = 0; i < 10000; i++)
To this vectorized code:
Here, A, B and C are vectors. So you can add each element at once. You dont have to add one element at a time, instead you add them all at once. You add vectors in one operation, instead of lot of scalars. The many GPU processors will add one element each, at once - thus you have vectorized code.
GNUminex - Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - linkYour post somewhat goes against my knowledge of FPGAs. FPGA performance is result of the number of slices of your fpga, the max frequency, the HDL compiler's optimization capabilities and your code. What exactly could you test other than the performance of openCL versus traditional hardware design languages on the same fpga? If you are comparing an FPGA to a GPU you might as well also compare them to a CPU because the optimal applications of each piece of hardware are completely different. Reply
esoel - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkInteresting stuff but the article would be _so_much_ better with some hands on and benchmarks… Altera don't be cheap, send this guy a review unit! ;-) Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkYes, I do think doing actual benchmarking should ideally be next on the list but do see my reply above. Reply
kishonti - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkWe've tested Altera's OpenCL SDK : https://twitter.com/KishontiI/status/3647712482716...
Most of the more complex tests (with multiple kernels) had size issues to fit on the chip. As compilation takes literally hours, the compile/debug cycles are much harder to manage. Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkThanks for the extremely informative datapoints! Reply
Todd Thompson - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkkishonti, thanks for posting/tweeting about your benchmark...you mention a long compile time...is this something that you think could be pushed to the cloud and compiled on more robust hardware...if so, is this something that you would actually do? I might be able to help if you are interested...thanks again Reply
kishonti - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkCurrently the OpenCL SDK runs within Altera's Quartus toolchain, so I don't think it is possible to run this in cloud. We used a relatively powerful 2 x 8 core Xeon workstation, but the compile process did not scale much - used 1 or 2 cores most of the time.
Obviously we tested the code first on GPUs and CPUs (hundreds of them, actually) but it was still a trial and error process because only after several hours of number crunching we get the info that our kernel fits or not. This could be still faster than building a VHDL model from scratch... Reply
Jaybus - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - linkIt is a decision problem, similar to the problem of routing traces on a chip such that the length of the longest trace is minimized, also known as the traveling salesman problem. So it belongs to a class of problems known as NP-complete. The NP stands for Non-deterministic Polynomial time. We express the complexity of most algorithms using "Big O" terminology, but we can not do so for these problems due to their non-deterministic nature. Actually, whether or not it is even possible to solve these problems quickly is one of the principle unsolved problems of computer science. I'm not saying that the compiler doesn't come up with a correct solution, only that it must do so basically by brute force trial and error. Deterministic problems can be broken into independent parts and processed in parallel. Not so for non-deterministic problems, and so it doesn't scale.
That said, it is possible to break it into parts, calculate in parallel, then check for conflicts. If a conflict is found, throw that one out and repeat until you find one without conflicts. There still is no way to determine if it is optimal, but you can repeat the process until you find N solutions and pick the best one. Currently, trial and error is the best solution. It could even be the only solution. Some very smart people are working on the problem, but nobody has a solution yet. Reply
Alexey.Martin - Friday, November 08, 2013 - linkkishonti, do you have any actual results from Altera's OpenCL testing? Reply
chowyuncat - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkIs it viable to iteratively test on a GPU and only compile once at the end for an FPGA? Reply
dneto - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkYes. See another of my comments. Reply
tuxfool - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkNot really. The gpu is running software. A FPGA, however is effectively generating hardware to process a particular algorithm.
The generation of this hardware is subject to a great deal of optimization in terms of clock signals available, availability of logic cells etc. Reply
tuxfool - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkwell, apparently you can. But what happens when your program uses a kernel that is unsynthesizable in the users FPGA? Any further iteration will need to be done using the FPGA....right? Reply
Atiom - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkGreat article. I was thinking about using FPGAs in my projects, with I mainly use microcontrolers, but I still havent done it because of the VHDL language that I havent had the time to learn. But now with the OpenCL, things my get more interesting, just hope these devices get more affordable. It would be nice if you could keep up this kind of articles. Reply
Jon Tseng - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkTx for the piece. Interesting Altera say much the same thing about high performance compute when I speak to them also.
Rahul, curious on your thoughts about whether CUDA is a barrier to adoption here. NVIDIA have done a lot driving adoption and supported users. Is this a barrier to switching code to OpenCL? Or are you thinking about FPGA for stuff currently running on x86 or greenfield work? Reply
Todd Thompson - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkRahul, thanks for this article...you did a great job of messaging the value and use-case for using an FPGA for compute. Please keep up the good work and write more about FPGAs and OpenCL! Reply
Todd Thompson - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkAs an aside, I'm working on the Zedboard/Zynq/ARM platform to experiment with using FPGA as a co-processor on an SOC. I will be doing some benchmarking by comparing results of b+ tree database indexing with and without Zynq as co-proc. I cannot wait for Xilinx to support OpenCL and overall OpenCL support for less expensive FPGA products. Reply
dneto - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkHi, this is David from Altera. :-)
Good article, and thanks for the shout-out.
Regarding the development cycle. One of the great things about a standard like OpenCL is that you can prototype your code on a CPU or a GPU and then port it to the FPGA. You do have to watch that you use a common subset of the features available on all platforms, but this will get you a long way toward a more comfortable development flow. You focus on getting a *working* program on CPU/GPU, and then move to the Altera FPGA to run and optimize. Altera publishes a programming guide to help you optimize for our devices. For OpenCL in general, it is well known that optimizing a kernel for absolute best results often requires recoding or restructuring your device code or data.
Legalese FYI: The official name of our SDK is the "Altera SDK for OpenCL". OpenCL is a trademark of Apple, on license to Khronos. Reply
Araemo - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkI am actually really surprised I see no mention of LLVM in this article. It seems like this is the kind of job that LLVM is well-suited for, based on how many other implementations I've seen of taking one programming language in, and outputting another, more specific language.
I wonder if LLVM IS involved, and they just aren't talking about it, or if LLVM isn't actually well-suited to this work, but merely easy to extend to arbitrary languages. Reply
dneto - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkDavid from Altera here.
Yes, LLVM is part of our compiler toolchain. It's one of many technologies, open source and proprietary, used in our SDK.
LLVM is a compiler toolkit, with some finished backends. Using LLVM gets you a long way to supporting an OpenCL C compiler. But it doesn't get you the whole way. Reply
Araemo - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkThanks for the response - I definitely understand that you still have to write significant portions of it to make it output sensible (and efficient) Verilog, but like you said, LLVM is designed with the kind of modularity that makes swapping output backends to add, say, VHDL support easier, and based on other projects I've seen that were made 'possible' by LLVM, I would have been surprised if you ignored it and rolled your own entirely. :) Reply
MrSpadge - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkIt could give Altera a huge push if your FPGAs could provide break-through efficiency in any BOINC projects using OpenCL. There are a few, POEM@home, Einstein@home and Collatz@home come to mind, but there are probably more. OpenCL itself is supported by BOINC and currently detects AMD, nVidia and Intel GPUs. But having integrated support for this many coprocessors I'd expect further additions to be smooth.
Currently spending a few thousand bucks on hardware just for number crunching would be asking for a lot. Current GPUs only cost hundreds of $/€.. but there are quite a few people out there buying significantly more than 1 of them. So the money is there. And electricity cost is a serious concern: e.g. in Germany you pay approximately as much as the GPU cost each year just to keep it crunching 24/7.
So if Altera can be more efficient than GPUs they could offer cheaper and smaller FPGAs, which might cost 100 - 500 $/€, perform as fast as a GPU (the chip could be smaller for a healthy profit margin, if the algorithm is suitable) and thereby consume significantly less energy.. they'd have a winner! Reply
MrSpadge - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkBTW: if the larger FPGAs could thereby be made cheaper there'd very probably also be a market for them. People are even buying Titans just for BOINC, despite them being significantly worse in cost per performance than smaller nVidias. Reply
MrSpadge - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkBTW 2: David, you might want to contact Slicker, the admin of Collatz@Home. His project is fairly simple (and not that useful.. but people like it nevertheless) and has regularly been at the forefront of new technology (CUDA, ATI Stream, OpenCL, Intel GPUs..). Usually he's also very responsive. I could imagine a deal like: you give him access to your hardware, and if he succeeds you could get loads of publicity (attracting buyers and further developers) and quite a few sales. Reply
viv32 - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkApplication driven reconfigurable hardware is an exciting idea. I am not sure how dense the fpga should be to support the complexity of today's GPUs (If they want FPGAs to replace GPU ASICs). We design network processors and our fpga emulation boards need atleast 4 Stratixs for complete emulation. If the FPGA gate count can match the GPU then can they still be cost effective? My2c .. please correct me if I'm wrong (I'm no FPGA jockey). Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkWell it depends. The objective in this case isn't to emulate the GPU at all. If the GPU is actually already a very good fit for your application, then going to FGPAs won't gain you much. But let us say in an application that does not use GPU's texture units, you don't really want to generate texture units on an FPGA. The idea isn't to emulate GPU's units or its pipeline, rather it is to generate a *different* pipeline that is more suitable for your application. Reply
wyx087 - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkBenefit of using hardware description languages such as VHDL is just that, it describes the hardware, forcing you to think in terms of the cells gets placed down. OpenCL is a compute language, its programmers won't take into account something as simple as multipliers are very expensive in hardware unless done in powers of 2.
Also, vast number of university courses do VHDL/Verilog/SystemVerilog as standard. Electronics is the course title. I have no doubt the number of HDL experts is much more than OpenCL experts on this planet.
The way around "slow compile" is simulation. I see no mention of simulation tools for designing OpenCL on FPGA. Without simulation tools, it is impossible for this to take off. Simulation is the way we verify our design on a functional level.
The "compile" (it is known as synthesis and implementation or map, place and route) time is indeed in hours for large designs. Remember you are not just generating a binary for a processor, you are generating a binary file that describes the actual hardware. Put it simply, you are generating THE processor.
- Professional VHDL programmer Reply
loki1725 - Sunday, October 13, 2013 - linkThis is actually what I was going to say. When I was an undergrad in EE (1997-2001) our embedded electronics course used VHDL. I taught in the EE department of a different university from 2009 to 2013 and we offered several courses that used VHDL. While there may not be more VHDL courses then OpenCL, the numbers are probably comparable.
Still, really cool article, and anything that helps drive the adoption of FPGAs is a good step forward. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkSo the compile time happens beforehand but how long does it take for the fpga to configure itself when you run a program. Reply
rahulgarg - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkWell once you have done the compilation, my understanding is that flashing the binary is actually very fast so that is not an issue. Reply
John32 - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkAre you saying Altera doesn't provide a simulation stage to testing functionality? That's done before generating the binary file for all designs. Generating the binary file is the last thing you do after verifying everything works functionally.
You say Altera generates Verilog code in then I assume that goes through their standard synthesis, place and route tools. I don't see why you can't do a software and "hardware" (ie. the Verilog code) co-simulation. That's what is normally done during verification. I have C/C++ code that talks to the Verilog code. The C/C++ code is compiled to a binary file and the Verilog code is compiled within an HDL simulator software. Then the entire thing is simulated together. Once that checks out, I generate the binary file and load into the FPGA. I use the same C/C++ code but now with the actual FPGA. Reply
John32 - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkAlso, the whole "will it fit into the FPGA" issue is probably going to be a big problem for the likely target audience for this. You have no idea how the OpenCL code is being translated into hardware (ie. gates, LUTs, flip-flops, etc.). That all depends on your code and Altera's software to hardware algorithm.
This reminds me of Xilinx's System Generator for MATLAB. It's a nice and easy way to get scientists to test their algorithms in hardware to see a ballpark figure of how fast it can be but it's definitely not the way to go for a final product. Reply
John32 - Wednesday, October 09, 2013 - linkI guess there's also the "will it meet timing" problem. What clock speeds does Altera use? Do they just use whatever clock speed they can achieve (ie. one design clocks at 400 MHz while another can only go 100 MHz)? Reply
ShieTar - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - linkAltera is offering FPGAs in 4 different general speed-grades, which define a maximum clock frequency (between 525 and ~800 MHz). The actual frequency of the completed design will depend on the complexity of the design, and can sometimes be restricted to little more than half the maximum clock frequency.
Of course the end-user can always decide to run at a lower performance, specifically if he has a input or output with a fixed data rate. Have a look at the data sheets if you want more detailed information on this topic:
http://www.altera.com/literature/lit-stratix-v.jsp... Reply
John32 - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - linkYes, I'm aware of speed grades and the "up to" frequencies of FPGAs. My point is that writing OpenCL code for the FPGA won't be as transparent as programmers would like for it to be worth while. They'd need to consider how their code will translate to hardware no matter how good Altera claims their compiler is. This would result in applications that would run well on FPGAs but not necessarily well on traditional devices.
Also, I'm sure people won't like that one revision of their application runs at 300 MHz while another runs at 100 MHz or doesn't fit into the FPGA. Being non-digital designers, they won't know why.
It seems the applications this will benefit from will be fairly limted in scope. Reply
kirsch - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - link> However, programming FPGAs has traditionally been difficult and requires expertise
> in specialized "hardware description languages" (HDLs) like VHDL or Verilog.
Another notable option is National Instruments LabVIEW FPGA product. It allows programming in G, LabVIEW's relatively easy-to-use graphical programming language, and deploy to an FPGA where code runs extremely fast and can leverage the inherent parallelism of the hardware. Reply
rahulgarg - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - linkThanks! Noted! Not being from a traditional FPGA background, I missed that somehow. If we do followup posts, will investigate LabVIEW as well. Reply
alxx - Sunday, October 13, 2013 - linkproblem with labview is the second you go commercial the costs/royalties add up like nothing else Reply
Rob94hawk - Saturday, October 12, 2013 - linkI have no idea what it does but it sure does look cool. Reply
ghulands - Saturday, October 12, 2013 - linkThere was a video I watched on youtube from the x264 devs talking about which algorithms they ported to open cl - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOOTqqI18A Reply
alxx - Sunday, October 13, 2013 - linkSee if you can get your hands on one of either xilinx zedboard or parallela board - both have a zynq chip (dual hardcore arm Cortex 9 + fpga) so can run android or linux with the fpga to provide custom peripherals. Parallela board has adaptevas custom multicore micro which can be programmed with opencl
opencl on parallela (ephiany processor not fpga)
Waiting for my parallella board to turn up.
Xilinx provides c to fpga tools in their vivado suite and their boards are usually a lot cheaper than alteras ( digilentinc.com has some of the cheapest fpga boards) . Though terasic provide some nice altera based boards.
http://www.terasic.com.tw/ Reply
alxx - Sunday, October 13, 2013 - linklooks like xilinx joined the opencl effort but no timeline for when they'll provide support :-(
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/fpga-gurus/44... Reply
moozoo - Sunday, October 13, 2013 - linkAnyone looking at this seriously should read though all of Table 6 that starts on page 17 of the Altera SDK for OpenCL Programming Guide. Reply
ET - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - linkThanks. That's enlightening. Doesn't support a lot of stuff. (And the table is on page 22 in the document I found.) Reply
jarjarbink - Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - linkCan you point a link to the document ? Reply
DonnaCabel16 - Monday, October 14, 2013 - linkmy Aunty Aaliyah just got an awesome 9 month old Audi allroad Wagon by working parttime from the internet... pop over to this web-site ℰxit35.com Reply
mike8675309 - Monday, October 14, 2013 - linkI've been following FPGA's for the past 9 months or so and have also been stymied by the costs. Most recently I have been following the development of the Parallella which was a kickstarter project "supercomputer on a chip" development board. While not exactly a FPGA, it does have supporting Zynq-7000 Series Dual-core ARM A9 that has FPGA logic. And the main chip contains 16 cores that can operate concurrently on shared or different workloads. Not very mature for development yet, but OpenCL is one of the languages being targeted for it. Reply
0xc000005 - Saturday, October 19, 2013 - linkYou didn't mention (afaict) one of the big benefits of using FPGAs - they require much less power (~ 10x less) than GPUs for the same amount of computation. Some readers may find this useful if they want to do gigantic computations under some type of cost constraint. Bitcoin miners moved from GPUs to FPGAs long ago since the cost of electricity is an important factor in Bitcoin mining.
OpenCL isn't the only game in town for programming FPGAs either. Xilinx (Altera's main competitor) has a nice product called Vivado High-Level Synthesis where you can write your algorithms in C++. Whether this is a benefit or not remains to be seen - it's harder to design parallel algorithms in C++ than in OpenCL. It's important to be aware that there are a lot of algorithms that are not massively parallel, for which GPUs and OpenCL offer no speedup. This is where C++ is useful, since Vivado can take your sequential, easy-to-simulate algorithm and still make it N times faster - the value of N depends on your algorithm of course.
More about which algorithms can be speeded up using OpenCL can be found at http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-10-14/reprisin... Reply
chaos215bar2 - Sunday, October 20, 2013 - linkUse of local memory in OpenCL generally also requires some kind of synchronization between the threads in a workgroup, as the entire point is to share information between these threads. (A basic example is loading some data into local memory so that all threads can operate on it. A synchronization point is necessary to ensure that all threads have loaded the data they're responsible for before any others attempt to use it.)
I'm curious how Altera handles this, since it doesn't map to the pipeline model you described in an obvious way. If, for instance, there's only room for n instances (via vectorization or replication) of the pipeline on the FPGA, does that mean the workgroup size is n? If not, how is the state of one thread saved while waiting for others to reach the synchronization point, and then subsequently restored? Reply


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HOUSTON - A Houston judge is facing allegations of being involved in a hit-and-run.
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The judge has been temporarily relieved of her duties as part-time judge pending an outcome.
Tampering with evidence is a third degree felony. If Judge Bransford is convicted those charges could lead to jail time.
Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Asteroid buzzes Earth in clear night sky
Updated 10:41 pm, Friday, February 15, 2013
A 150-foot asteroid hurtled through Earth's backyard Friday, coming within an incredible 17,150 miles and making the closest known flyby for a rock of its size. In a chilling coincidence, a meteor exploded above Russia just hours before the asteroid zoomed past the planet.
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I successfully installed Backtrack 4 in a VMWare Fusion virtual machine as well as VMWare tools on a mid 2010 Macbook Pro. Everything else has been working for me but I haven't been able to get the bluetooth to work. When I run "hciconfig hci0 up" it returns "Can't get device info: No such device." When I run lsusb, it returns:
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 05ac:8218 Apple, Inc. Bluetooth Host Controller
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Am I doing anything wrong or is there a driver of some sort that I need to install? If there is a driver, would anyone be able to provide a link to one I could download?


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Mechanical Engineering Program
From Undergraduate Engineering Handbook
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OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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, and , and in
of and to study in engineeringor other fields.
ethical approach to with the .

Outcomes:
(a) An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(b) An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
(c) An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
(d) An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
(e) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(f) An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) An ability to communicate effectively
(h) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context
(i) A recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j) A knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
(l) The ability to apply advanced mathematics through multivariate calculus and differential equations
(m) The ability to work professionally in both thermal and mechanical systems areas including the design and realization of such systems

==
REQUIREMENTS
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==
REQUIREMENTS
 ==
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*ME 113 Mechanical Engineering Design, 4 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
*ME 113 Mechanical Engineering Design, 4 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
*ME 131A* Heat Transfer, 3-5 units, A (Jr year)
*ME 131A* Heat Transfer, 3-5 units, A (Jr year)
*ME 131B Fluid Mechanics: Compressible Flow and Turbomachinery, 4 units, W (Sr year)

*ME 131B Fluid Mechanics: Compressible Flow and Turbomachinery, 4 units, W (Sr year)

*ME 140* Advanced Thermal Systems, 5 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
*ME 140* Advanced Thermal Systems, 5 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
*ME 161 Dynamic Systems, 4 units, A
*ME 161 Dynamic Systems, 4 units, A
Revision as of 11:55, 31 July 2014
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Professional licensing is an important aspect of professional responsibility. Although civil engineers may find professional registration more important in securing employment, mechanical engineers should seriously consider pursuing licensing as well. A professional license can be important if you work as a consultant or at a small start-up. An engineer working for a start-up or small technical company must fill a much wider spectrum of professional roles than would be the case working for a larger company. Those roles would typically include certifying drawings and other technical materials that require a license as a professional engineer.
In addition to certifying the accuracy of technical materials produced by yourself or your company, a professional license is important if you have to testify as an expert witness or perform other functions related to the legal system. In many states, including California, you cannot legally use the title "engineer" unless you are a licensed Professional Engineer. In fact the California law requires that "…only a person appropriately licensed with the Board may practice or offer to practice mechanical engineering."
To attain a professional license you must take the Fundamentals of Engineering (F.E.) examination administered by the California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (http://www.dca.ca.gov/pels/) or equivalent body in the state in which you plan to practice. The examination may be taken at any time, but most people find it easier to pass when completing their undergraduate work and more difficult later on. After passing the F.E. examination you will be eligible to receive an Engineer in Training (E.I.T.) certificate. At least two more years of practical experience and a further examination are required for a full license.
- Graduates of our program will have the scientific and technical background for successful careers in diverse organizations.
- Graduates of our program will be leaders, and effective communicators, both in the profession and in the community.
- Graduates of our program will be motivated and equipped to successfully pursue postgraduate study whether in engineering, or in other fields.
- Graduates of our program will have a professional and ethical approach to their careers with a strong awareness of the social contexts in which they work.
(a) An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(b) An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
(c) An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
(d) An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
(e) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(f) An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) An ability to communicate effectively
(h) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context
(i) A recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j) A knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
(l) The ability to apply advanced mathematics through multivariate calculus and differential equations
(m) The ability to work professionally in both thermal and mechanical systems areas including the design and realization of such systems
Mathematics and Science
The program requires a minimum 45 units of Math and Science combined; choose additional unit from either math or science
Mathematics (24 units minimum)
- MATH 41/42 or AP/IB Calculus credit, 10 units
- CME102/ENGR 155A or MATH 53 Differential Equations, 5 units
- Statistics; must be calculus-based (CME 106, STATS 110 or STATS 116) 4-5 units
- Plus additional course such as MATH 51 or CME 100, 5 units
Science (20 units minimum)
Must include both chemistry and physics, with a depth in at least one (a depth is defined as three courses). Although CHEM 31X is equivalent to taking CHEM 31A and CHEM 31B, we recommend ME students take CHEM 31X. Students who choose to take CHEM31A/B should note that these two courses combined are considered one quarter worth of chemistry. See the Mathematics and Science Requirement section of this handbook for details.
Physics Depth: Students without advanced placement in Physics take PHYSICS 41, 43, & 45. Students with advanced placement should refer to the chart below for placement details. Note that only AP Physics C, not AP Physics B, will place a student out of a 40-series class requirement.
Chemistry Depth: Students opting to take chemistry as their science depth must also take one quarter of physics from the 40 (calculus-based) series. Courses from the Physics 20 series are not allowed.
Score of 4 or 5 in Mechanics (AP Physics C) Take Physics 43 & 45
Score of 4 or 5 in Electricity & Magnetism (AP Physics C) Take Physics 41 & 45
Score of 4 or 5 for both Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism (AP Physics C) Take Physics 45
The program requires a minimum 68 units of ENGR Fundamentals and ME Depth combined
Engineering Fundamentals
Three courses required (Fr, So, Jr year)
- ENGR 40 Introductory Electronics OR ENGR 40M. Making Stuff: What is EE (req'd) 5 units, A,S; So,Jr
- ENGR 70A Programming Methodology (req'd) 5 units, A,W,S,Su; Fr,So
- Fundamental Elective* -- CS 106B or X not allowed; See Approved Courses page for list of approved alternatives
*ME fundamentals elective may not be a course counted towards other requirements. Students may opt to use ENGR 14, 15, or 30 from the required depth courses as the third fundamental class. However, total units for Engineering Topics (Fundamentals + Depth) must be a minimum of 68 units. Additional options courses may be required to meet unit requirements.
Technology in Society (TIS)
One course required from SoE approved list; see Approved Courses page.
ME Depth Requirements
(55-56 units from the following list)
Note: A minimum of 68 units consisting of a combination of ME Depth and Engineering Fundamentals courses must be taken in order to satisfy ABET and SoE graduation requirements.
- ENGR 14 Introduction to Solid Mechanics, 4 units, A,W,S (Fr,So year)
- ENGR 15 Dynamics, 4 units, A,S (So, Jr year)
- ENGR 30 Engineering Thermodynamics, 3 units, AW (So,Jr year)
- ME 70 Introductory Fluids Engineering, 4 units, W,S (So,Jr year)
- ME 80 Mechanics of Materials, 4 units, A,S (Jr,Sr year)
- ME101 Visual Thinking, 4 units, A,W,S (So,Jr year)
- ME 103D Engineering Drawing, 1 unit, A,W (So,Jr year)
- ME 112* Mechanical Systems Design, 4 units, W (Jr,Sr year)
- ME 113 Mechanical Engineering Design, 4 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
- ME 131A* Heat Transfer, 3-5 units, A (Jr year)
- ME 131B Fluid Mechanics: Compressible Flow and Turbomachinery, 4 units, W (Sr year)
- ME 140* Advanced Thermal Systems, 5 units, S (Jr,Sr year)
- ME 161 Dynamic Systems, 4 units, A
- ME 203* Manufacturing & Design, 4 units, A,W (Jr,Sr year)
- Two or three courses from the following: AA 283, ENGR 105, ENGR 110, ENGR 240, ME 210, ME 219, ME 220, ME 227, ME 250, ME 257, ME 260, ME 280, ME 281, ME 314, ME 324, ME 331A, ME 331B, ME 345, ME 348, ME 351A, ME 351B
- Writing in the Major
- Taking all of these three courses (ME 112, ME 131A, and ME 140) fulfills the "Writing in the Major" requirement. ENGR 102M is no longer offered.
1. The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Student Services Office must approve any deviation from the Engineering Depth (ME) requirement. Such petitions must be prepared on the School of Engineering petition forms (see the Petitions page on this site), approved by the advisor, and submitted by the third week of the quarter before the expected graduation quarter. For example, for a June graduation, a student must submit the petition by the third week of Winter quarter.
2. It is recommended that students review prerequisites for all courses before planning their course sequence
3. Petitions to deviate from School of Engineering requirements (i.e., math, science, Engineering Fundamentals, TIS) must be approved by the Dean's office in 135 Huang Engineering Center.
Instructions for Declaring Mechanical Engineering (ME-BS)
1. Print a copy of your transcript from Axess.
2. Download and complete an ME program sheet from the Program Sheets page; you may use any PS from a year in which you are enrolled as an UG at Stanford. Please include courses you plan to take as well as those you have already taken. You may pick up a major declaration form from the Mechanical Engineering Student Services Office (Building 530, room 125).
3. Contact the ME Undergraduate Peer Advisor at email@example.com for an appointment to go over your program sheet and select an advisor.
4. Discuss the program with your advisor and have him/her approve and sign your completed program sheet and major declaration form.
5. Return all completed documents and transcripts to the Student Services Office, Building 530, room 125.
6. Email Kelly Guerriero, firstname.lastname@example.com) to let her know that you have declared your major so that she may approve it.
7. Attend the quarterly ME Declaration lunch to finalize the process. For more information on the lunch, please speak with Brittney Voelker.


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Aug 14th 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Don't Hug Me is a hilarious musical comedy that takes place in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota. It's the coldest day of the year and cantankerous bar owner Gunner Johnson wants to sell the business and move to sunny Florida. Clara, his wife and former Winter Carnival Bunyan Queen, wants to stay. Bernice Lundstrom, the pretty waitress, wants to pursue a singing career. Her fiance, Kanute Gunderson, wants her to stay home. It's a battle of wills that tests their relationships and when a fast-talking salesman, Aarvid Gisselsen, promises to solve their problems and bring romance into their lives through the 'magic' of karaoke, all heck breaks loose!
Featuring 16 original songs, including:
Temp: 65°F (18°C)
Dewpoint: 62
Wind: 14 NW
Weather: Clear


text:
Earth's WeightScience brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
It is estimated that the earth weighs 6 sextillion tons. How much more would the earth weigh if one sextillion tons of concrete and stone were used to build a large wall?
AnswerIt would weigh the same since all materials are taken from the earth's original weight.
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For the past few days I was racking my brain trying to figure out what to post today on Valentine's Day. Known as the official day of love, writing a traditional post telling you how much I love you was way to easy. But, as I was listening to music today I came across P!nk's song F**kin' Perfect. That's when it hit me.
Valentine's Day means a lot more than having a date, corny stuffed animals, over-priced red roses, and sappy cards. And I've said this before a million times…before you can love anyone, you really need to learn how to love yourself. We all know that it's not that easy, especially today. With so many people (including ourselves) telling us we're not perfect.
We're so consumed with trying to please others that we forget how important it is to show kindness, love, and support to ourselves. No matter what is going on in our lives, we deserve it.
So, today I wanted to tell you the TRUE meaning of Valentine's Day, well at least according to me.
Love yourself, because you're "F**kin Perfect."
Whenever you need to remind yourself of that just click on that play button below and listen to P!NK.


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Conner Sanders - April 11, 2012
To Blake Sanders and Melissa McPeak of Cozad on Monday, April 2, 2012, at Gothenburg Memorial Hospital, a son, Conner Sanders, weighing seven pounds, 15 ounces. He was welcomed home by a brother, Raiden Heuck, and a sister, Latasha Heuck.
Paternal grandparents are Gordon Sanders of Cozad, Cindy Folkers of Gothenburg, and Shane and Sherri Aden, also of Gothenburg.
Maternal grandparents are Dan and Lori McPeak of Farnam.
Great-grandparents include Margaret Wid of North Platte, Ray and Geri Groenewold of Farnam, Pete and Laura Sanders of Cozad and Linda Heald of Barstow, CA.


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Quick—when was the last time you used cash to pay for something? If you're like many Americans today, you pay with cash a lot less frequently than you used to.
And you may end up using cash even less in the future, thanks to the influx of cashless options: Square, Google Wallet, and Apple Passbook are just a few of the convenient mobile payments systems making waves today. But even as these systems make headway into the supposedly cashless future, a couple of serious questions remain: Does a cashless future mean the end transaction-related privacy? And are cashless options fraught with security issues?
Privacy issues
In a cashless society, "privacy" in connection with payments is practically nonexistent. However, that doesn't mean that your information—specifically, your transaction information—will be bundled up and sold to the highest bidder.
"Protecting the consumer's identity is important to protecting their financial information and preventing spam," says Con Mallon, senior director of mobile product management at Norton by Symantec. "With a cashless transaction, the provider and retailer have the ability to track the user's purchasing behaviors and even some financial information—but not all providers and retailers use it."
"If history is any indication, I believe companies and institutions that are sensitive to needs and concerns of consumers will prevail," Mallon continues. "Entities that try to leverage the technology to capture more information about consumers—and without the consumer's knowledge, consent, or involvement—will be called out."
To illustrate Mallon's point about companies that exploit customer's transaction data, I direct your attention to a February 2012 New York Times article in which Andrew Pole, a Target statistician, describes how his job entails data-mining people's shopping habits and analyzing what the data means. Target assigns a Guest ID to every customer who completes a cashless transaction (or who fills out a survey or email form, enters a sweepstakes, or makes a purchase online), and then tracks what that customer buys. Using this data, Target builds a profile of a customer, including (for example) whether they're pregnant and, if so, how far along they are.
Obviously, Target isn't the only large corporation that employs data-mining techniques, so you can be fairly certain that a lot of businesses know a lot about you. However, Pole says that Target is extremely conservative about revealing to individual customers how much information it has accumulated on them. "If we send someone a catalog and say, 'Congratulations on your first child!' and they've never told us they're pregnant, that's going to make some people uncomfortable," Pole says. Instead, Target takes a subtler approach, bundling ads for baby-friendly products in with regular items, so a customer will think it's just a lucky flyer.
Retailers aren't the only ones who track consumers' purchases; banks, credit card companies, and government agencies (at various levels) look into the data, too. Banks and credit card companies are interested in tracking your transactions and building a profile so they can keep you more secure, according to David Mahdi, senior product marketing manager for digital certificate company Entrust.
"Over time, banks and credit card organizations build up a profile of you. If your card is stolen and someone buys something that is in another location (if you just purchased something in NYC, then another transaction happens in San Francisco), the system can automatically block the transaction," Mahdi says.
So privacy invasion can be its beneficial, it seems. "I don't think consumers should be paranoid, because in many cases the banks and credit card companies use this information to protect you," Mahdi says. "However, I think users should question whether or not they want another loyalty card, and should know what they are giving up in order to get that coupon."
Security issues
Security, not privacy, is the real concern when it comes to a cashless society, at least according to Robert Siciliano, an identity theft expert at McAfee.
"It's not that the data is out there," Siciliano says. "It's what harm can be done with it beyond annoyances. This is why you should be selective about what you post, where you go online, and who you give your information to."
In some ways, going cashless can offer you more security than using cash. After all, if you lose your physical wallet and a less-than-virtuous passerby picks it up, any cash it contained is gone—and untraceable. But if you lose your phone or your credit card, you can remotely wipe your device or call your credit card company before an unscrupulous finder has the chance to spend your money. Phones, online bank accounts, and credit and debit cards come with security measures in place—passwords, PIN codes, and signatures, for example—while cash does not.
Of course, malefactors may succeed in bypassing or tampering with those security measures. And if a hacker who happens to have additional information about you—such as your birth date, your hometown, or your mother's maiden name—can do a lot of damage. If you lose $500 in cash, you're out $500. But if you lose your identity, a hacker can erase data, open credit lines in your name, and spend all of your life savings.
Because mobile payment systems are still relatively new, their creators are still working out the kinks. In February, security firm Zvelo discovered that a brute-force attack could crack PINs in Google Wallet, Google's NFC-based payments system. In September, mobile security firm MWR Labs demonstrated at the Mobile Pwn2Own contest a way to hack a Samsung Galaxy S III via its NFC technology. And in February at the Shmoocon hacker conference, security firm Recursion Ventures showed how a knowledgeable person equipped with about $350 worth of hardware with about $350 worth of equipment could wirelessly read RFID-equipped credit cards.
"Ones and zeros are what make up most of our cashless society today," Siciliano says. "There are acts of God that could wipe it out, and acts of terror that may try. As with a cash society, there will never be a fully safe cashless society as long as greed, theft, addiction, poverty, and any other human ailments exist."
Cash is here to stay
In Sweden, cash is already banned on public buses, in a small number of businesses, and in some bank offices. In 2010, Diane Campbell made news when she saved up $600 for an iPad only to be refused service at the Apple store in Palo Alto, California, because the store "would not accept cash" (the company later reversed this policy). And Starbucks has partnered with Square to make paying for coffee without dollar bills and coins as convenient as possible.
To many observers, the cashless future may seem to be approaching at a gallop.
But that's probably not the case. After all, cash is easy to use and fairly anonymous, and it can go through a couple of wash cycles without getting too beat up to use (unlike your NFC-equipped smartphone). It also involves less overhead, since credit card companies, banks, and mobile payments services don't take a cut from cash transactions (aside from ATM or teller fees to get the cash out of your account). And finally, the nation as a whole isn't ready for a cashless society: 30 million Americans do not have bank accounts.
"I think that we will likely continue to have a mixed model of cashless and traditional cash transactions," Mallon says. "Significant change like this cannot be forced—cultural and societal habits and norms are inhibitors and need to be respected."
This story, "What going cashless means for your privacy" was originally published by TechHive.


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American Life - Primus
BASS EXPO: We teamed up with the specialist musical instrument insurer Allianz to bring you this best bassline poll, and the votes are finally here.
You voted in huge numbers and the results are finally about to be revealed. But hold your horses - we've got 24 stunning examples of first-rate bassmanship to get through before we get to the winner.
Click through our gallery to find out which basslines moved you, grooved you and made you want to get your hands on your own bass and make it sing.
But first, in at 25, it's...
American Life - Primus
Les Claypool is a dark lord of the bass artists, a low-end wizard with skills to spare. He deploys his entire armory of tricks on American Life, and it is a sound from bass heaven (and a devil to play).
Free Will - Rush
This isn't the last time you'll be seeing Canada's premier prog-bass genius in this poll.
Geddy Lee has built an entire career out of pushing his bass playing into ever more unexpected areas, and Free Will - from 1980 album Permanent Waves - showcases some of the best he ever committed to record. And all while singing at the same time. Colour us impressed.
Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The lead single from 1991's multi-million selling Blood Sugar Sex Magik was largely the result of Flea and John Fruciante's jam sessions during their time in post-Mother's Milk side project H.A.T.E.
Once Anthony Kiedis heard it, he was sold: "I was so struck by Flea's bass part, which covered the whole length of the instrument's neck, that I jumped up and marched over to the mic, my notebook in tow."
Dancing In The Moonlight - Thin Lizzy
As well as being one of the greatest rock frontmen ever, Phil Lynott was no slouch on the bass.
Dancing In The Moonlight's effortlessly groovy bassline slinks the song along, and was the standout track (and single) from the 1977 Bad Reputation album. It also features on Live And Dangerous, the legendary Thin Lizzy live album, a version that arguably trumps the record for sheer irrepressible vibe.
Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie
John Deacon is a phenomenal bass player, with an incredible ear for a hook and a simply formidable set of skills.
Under Pressure - probably one of the most famous bass riffs ever committed to vinyl - proves just how effective the simplest of rhythmic riffs can be. Even Vanilla Ice agreed.
The Guns Of Brixton - The Clash
Clash bassist Paul Simonon wrote and sung this claustrophobic, reggae-influenced cut from 1979 and it was later covered extensively and sampled to great effect. Another example of an almost ridiculously simple set of notes becoming a devastatingly effective bassline.
Ace Of Spades - Motörhead
Lemmy is, simply, the man.
He had one of the most distinctive bass tones out there, and it's deployed to devastating effect on Ace Of Spades. Grinding, distorted and utterly thrilling.
I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5's towering 1969 single features this peach of a bassline, flawlessly played by session man Wilton Felder.
A prime example of post-James Jamerson funky, soulful bass playing, it's bounces all over the place while never losing sight of that all-important groove. So good, it's still guaranteed to fill any dancefloor to this day.
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
In hindsight, it's hard to believe that producer Quincy Jones felt that Billie Jean was too weak to be considered for inclusion on Thriller.
The bassline went on to become one of the most recognisable in pop history, but it certainly still owes plenty to I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) by Hall & Oates.
The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin
Borrowing heavily from Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor, The Lemon Song saw Zeppelin perform virtually live in Hollywood's Mystic Studios in 1969, with Jones pulling an intricate bass take out of the bag that was apparently almost entirely improvised.
Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
One of the standout tracks from Lou Reed's incredible 1972 album Transformer, this David Bowie-produced classic saw bassist Herbie Flowers scoop a double session fee when he overdubbed his upright line with a fretless electric.
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
We could happily compile a top 25 greatest basslines of all time and only include Jamerson basslines, but this 1971 masterpiece is wonderful even by his incomparably high standards.
Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses
Mani is, hands down, one of the greatest English bass players who ever did pluck a four string, and Fool's Gold is a great example of why: invention, groove and impeccable chops all in one package.
Come Together - The Beatles
Macca played more complex parts, but there's not many that are as irresistibly cool as Come Together, the late-period Beatles masterpiece that saw the warring fabs somehow pull a stand-out performance out of the bag. Just plain cool.
Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
With two basslines in our rundown, John Deacon might have come out on top of this poll if Queen fans' votes hadn't been split between Under Pressure and this.
Deacon was certainly influenced by Chic's Good Times but the lean, funky, bass-driven Another One Bites The Dust has racked up an astonishing amount of airplay over the years and remains immensely popular.
Schism - Tool
Released in 2001, Schism was the first single from their album of the following year, Lateralus.
An incredibly complex piece of work from a meter standpoint, it also sees Justin Chancellor more than earn his money during that intro.
Roundabout - Yes
Co-written by Squire in 1971, after its moody acoustic guitar intro, Roundabout features a surprisingly funky bass riff from 0:44 onwards that is the dictionary definition of the Rickenbacker bass sound that the Yes bassist made his own.
Orion - Metallica
Another huge bass talent with an all too brief recording career, Cliff Burton's outrageous lead bass work on Anaesthesia (Pulling Teeth) from Metallica's 1983 debut album marked him out as something special from the word go. 1986's Orion was his masterpiece.
Good Times - Chic
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards' 1979 composition was a huge disco hit but that's only half the story.
One of the most-sampled records in history, an onstage jam at Bonds nightclub in NYC would spawn Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight, while the bassline was a huge influence on Queen's Another One Bites The Dust, released the following year.
Hysteria - Muse
Bassist Chris Wolstenholme certainly takes centre stage on this track with his intricate, processed bass riff driving the song along and providing a fat bedrock for Matt Bellamy's guitar histrionics.
My Generation - The Who
The bass solo that it's OK to love was recorded on 13 October 1965, with John Entwistle turning to his Fender Jazz Bass after breaking a succession of strings on the Danelectro that he'd intended to use for the part.
Alongside Moon's chaos, Townshend's aggression and Daltrey's amphetamine stutter, a classic statement of youth rebellion was born.
Money - Pink Floyd
7/4 isn't the exactly the most common time signature in rock but it certainly didn't stop the opening track on side two of The Dark Side Of The Moon from attaining classic status.
We can't help thinking that David Gilmour was onto something when he insisted that the band shift to 4/4 for his guitar solo.
YYZ - Rush
Rush fans voted in their thousands for this one, and they very nearly took the 1981 instrumental to the very top of the poll.
A live staple in which all members excel, there's some seriously impressive bass work from Geddy Lee, not to mention simultaneous synth multitasking too.
Peaches - The Stranglers
A top 10 hit for The Stranglers in 1977, banned by the BBC and one of punk's best basslines, Peaches is JJ Burnel's masterpiece, and is one of the most satisfying basslines on this list to play. Seriously - try it.
Town Called Malice - The Jam
And we have a winner!
Bruce Foxton's unbeatable, Motown-influenced bassline propels Town Called Malice into the stratosphere, and directly to the top of our 2014 poll. It's easy to see why: it fuses soul, rock, punk and funk, while somehow remaining its own beast.
Of course, it owes a debt to the foot-tapping James Jamerson bassline from You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes, but we'll forgive The Jam, because, well, there are worse places to take inspiration from...


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Lessons Learned From Hurricane Sandy
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — In October of 2012, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) responded to the greatest domestic emergency since Hurricane Katrina: Superstorm Sandy. Bringing massive destruction to the Northeast, the storm impacted more than 100 million people and is expected to be among the 10 most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history. Today, the organization celebrates its accomplishments while recognizing the opportunity for further improvement in emergency management processes.
The unique capacity and expertise of supply chain organizations make them an asset in any recovery operation. According to Jock Menzies, ALAN president, "A particular strength of ALAN's network is that its members tend to be problem solvers. Supply chain management, by its very nature, requires working with others and finding the best and most efficient alternatives. These traits are extremely valuable when confronting the crisis of an extreme event, regardless of scope."
In the aftermath of Sandy, ALAN demonstrated its capacity for problem-solving and the value of well-established connections:
Working with supply chain industry partners and organizations such as members of the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) and state and federal emergency management agencies, ALAN identified sources for a variety of relief items, including pumps for removing floodwaters, replacement medical equipment, transportation support, distribution facilities, and meals for a retirement home.
Fuel shortages were an important issue in the wake of Sandy, brought on by ship terminal damage, diminished truck capacity and highway access, and lack of electricity at gas stations. ALAN worked with the American Automobile Association (AAA) and OPISNet, a fuel price reporting network, to generate and disseminate reports showing which stations were pumping fuel. This information proved enormously valuable to state and federal emergency management agencies as well as nonprofits, and demonstrates that repurposing private-sector know-how can provide critically important intelligence during crises.
With funding from three of its association partners, ALAN sent a graduate student from MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics to work with the New York City Office of Emergency Management and nonprofit relief agencies. ALAN has designated additional reserves for logistics support of continuing recovery operations.
Superstorm Sandy also exposed weaknesses in the emergency response system. For example, because New York's visiting nurses were not classified as emergency responders, they could not get priority at the gas pump, and many struggled to get to their patients. Another challenge developed as relief donations flooded in, overwhelming disaster response teams but delivering few priority items.
Sandy has offered hard lessons in disaster preparedness and recovery, among them: in the wake of a crisis, a rapid, coordinated effort to reestablish the flow of supplies and services helps prevent continued suffering and long-term economic harm. This entails partnerships and cooperative effort. "No one can predict when or where the next emergency will occur," said Menzies. "But we can reduce the impact of disasters through planning, working cooperatively, and through bolstering communities' ability to respond and recover."
The ALAN team continues to raise awareness and improve disaster response efforts, speaking at industry conventions, attending company meetings, and working closely with government planning groups. A member of a regional catastrophic preparedness Supply Chain Resilience Project, Menzies works with private entities to explore new ways to understand catastrophic risk, systemic vulnerability, and to mitigate harm to supply chains. Director of Operations Kathy Fulton is providing input as FEMA develops a new automated tool for managing donations on a national scale. In addition, ALAN is working to promote greater access to information that could keep supply chains operating during a disaster, such as road conditions, curfews, power supplies, and communications. And ALAN is helping VOADs to streamline their operations by connecting them with business-sector experts in operational efficiency.
ALAN's work throughout the year—performing outreach and forging connections among business, government, and the nonprofit sector—reinforces the conviction that an effective emergency response engages the whole community.


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Click here for a replay of the race
Arnaud Delacour (winning trainer of Exaggerated)
On the keys to her improvement
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Trainer Graham Motion was all smiles Saturday morning as he reflected on the victory Friday of Miss Temple City over males in the $300,000 Maker's 46 Mile (G1). (Click ...Read More
4/16/16 12:28pm
LEXINGTON, KY (April 15, 2016) – Sagamore Farm, Allen Rosenblum and The Club Racing, LLC's Miss Temple City became the first filly to win the $300,000 Maker's...Read More
4/15/16 6:41pm
LEXINGTON, KY (April 15, 2016) – Keeneland sales graduates dominate entries for this weekend's final preps on the roads to the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1...Read More
4/15/16 6:27pm
Click here for replay of the race
Graham Motion (winning trainer of Miss Temple City)
On deciding to run her in the Maker's...Read More
4/15/16 6:24pm


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Hot Wheels Get Supersized
Hot Wheels says it's an attempt to reach the 18 to 34 year old male. I just think it's way cool!
According to this story in the New York Times, a supersized version of the Hot Wheels V-Drop track - and JUMP - is in the works for May 29th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during this year's Indy 500 weekend.


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Announcing Bret Airborne – Demo and pre-order available
I'm happy to announce my new project Bret Airborne! It's a match 3 RPG currently in development but you can already download an alpha version demo and pre-order the game on the official website here (gameplay video included!):
Pre-ordering the game gives you immediate access to the latest alpha build and all updates forever. Should the game be released on Steam you'll also receive a free Steam key (submission to Steam Greenlight will happen later in the development process).
Match 3 RPG
What's in the latest alpha build is the basic match 3 mechanic against AI and local player. Match 3 cannon balls or more to attack your opponent, match 3 resources or more to unlock powers, etc. I'm also introducing a new element I haven't seen so far in other match 3 RPGs: splitted play-zone for each player. You can only move blocks on your side of the board but match 4 blocks or more and the middle delimiter will be temporarily pushed so you can play more blocks. Create a match using blocks on the other side of the middle delimiter and gain piratery points to increase the effects of your powers. More tricks involving this mechanic are to be expected later in the development process.
This is the starting point of what will become a full RPG as progress is made. This means a single-player story mode with powers and skills customization, many different enemies and various scenarios involving the match 3 mechanic (steal cargo, fight in a storm, etc.).
As I said pre-ordering the game will allow you to follow the development of the game and download all future updates. You're also invited to provide feedback on the official forums here: http://www.machine22.com/forums/
It's a nice opportunity to be part of the development of the game and see how it all unfolds. When a new update is available you'll be automatically notified by the game or you can also follow this blog for more information.


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Dean of Students
Dear UAA Students,
I am happy to welcome you as part of the Seawolf Community! The Dean of Students Office is here to help make sure you have a positive and successful learning experience while you are here. Attending college is a significant milestone in your life and I look forward to working with you during your journey with us.
In order to make certain you have a successful journey during your time at UAA, I urge you to become involved in our community. If there is anything you need in terms of services or additional supports to help you be more successful both in and out of the classroom, please contact my office. Both myself and my staff welcome students to stop by and visit us at any time. We are passionate not only about being a UAA Seawolf, but making sure the Seawolf community is inclusive of all our students!
If you have come to our website seeking answers to particular questions, I think you will find our website has a lot of information. However, I encourage you to reach out to us via phone, email, or in person if you find yourself still wondering about something.
I wish you every success at UAA, and I look forward to getting to know you!


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Six of the best gadgets and gizmos on a theme. This week: Six of the best gadgets for stylish techies.
By Peter Jenkinson
As a constantly connected generation, it's hard not to find yourself laden with the latest technology.
But as highly functional as your gadgets may be, they could be lacking a touch of style.
Here are some bright ideas to make you stand out from the crowd.
Wrist Candy - Accurist Acctiv - from £60 at http://direct.accurist.co.uk/acctiv
New from iconic British brand Accurist, one of these Acctiv watches is sure to make a bold statement. The range has a selection of face and strap colours to choose from, plus each watch packs in top-quality craftsmanship. Water-resistant up to 100m, you'll never need to take it off.
Dark Side - Star Wars Ties - £39.99 from www.firebox.com
The tie appears to be making a bit of a comeback, with open-collared shirts falling out of favour with the entrepreneur. For the techie in your life, these ties are some of the most stylish around. You can choose from the Stormtrooper pattern or Darth Vader crest design.
Boldly Go... - Star Trek iPhone 4 Cases - £9.99 from www.firebox.com
Regardless of the fantastic built-in features of many smartphones, everyone should have their own distinctive case. And these superb Star Trek-inspired protectors are colour coded to represent Science (Blue), Command (Yellow), Engineering (Red) and Mirror Universe (Silver). Just pick your department.
Device Depot - Kilkenny - £145 from www.knomo.com
Far fewer of us are having to lug around a laptop these days thanks to the tidal wave of tablet devices on offer. These soft leather over-the-shoulder numbers are achingly cool and perfect for stashing your kit on the commute - available in tan, black or brown.
Ear Warmers - Soul-Ludacris SL300 Headphones - £269.99 from www.currys.co.uk
With weather conditions set to be on the much cooler side for the foreseeable, these colourful headphones could double up to keep your audio-listening devices warm. These highly rated headphones have an in-line control, so you needn't delve into your pocket to make adjustments, and there is also a microphone for taking calls mid-tune.
Frequent Traveller - SuitSuit Cases - £99.99 from www.firebox.com
You'll be the envy of just about anyone at the airport with one of these in tow. These stowable wheelie cases certainly stand out from the average jet-setter. Show your patriotic side with the Union Jack design, make a statement with the boombox on wheels, or go totally over the top with the washing machine style.
App of the week: Fish It - Free app on iTunes and Google Play
Despite the surprising number of fishing apps available, this is one of the best on the market. You can fish in some of the most extreme waters of the world, from the American Lakes, Bahamas, Greenland and Tokyo. While in search of more than 60 different species of fish, you'll find a few surprises along the way. Plus you can buy the dedicated AppToyz fishing rod attachment for some extra fun.


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Divine NINESSeries teasers are where you try to complete the sequence of a series of letters, numbers or objects.
What are the next two numbers in this series?
9 10 11 12 13 14 21 ? ?
HintBASEd on a local survey, many lady golfers carry Heaven Sevens and Divine NINES in their golf bags.
Answer100 and 1001.
The series is the number NINE shown in decreasing Reference Numbers(BASE)i.e. from Base 10 to Base 2.
NINE is 9 in base 10, 10 in base 9, 11 in base 8...21 in base 4, 100 in base 3 and 1001 in base 2.
Hint: BASEd suggests the use of reference numbers and Divine NINES suggests the number nine.
What Next?
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
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Jurors being screened in suit over North Huntingdon woman's electrocution death
Jury selection will continue this morning in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in the wrongful death lawsuit over the 2009 electrocution of a 39-year-old North Huntingdon woman.
The civil lawsuit against West Penn Power Co. filed by the family of Carrie Goretzka of 23 W. Hempfield Drive seeks unspecified damages against the utility.
Goretzka died three days after she was trapped under a fallen 7,200-volt power line outside her home on June 2, 2009, in view of her mother-in-law and two daughters, Chloe, then 4, and Carlie, then 2.
The lawsuit alleges that Goretzka was continuously shocked "and actually caught on fire for several minutes before the power was shut off."
She suffered burns over 85 percent of her body and died in UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh on June 5, 2009, according to the lawsuit, filed by her husband, Michael J. Goretzka.
Lawyers for the Goretzka family, Shanin Specter and Kila Baldwin of Philadelphia, are expected to summon experts from around the country to attempt to prove to jurors that the utility — now owned by FirstEnergy Corp.— based in Akron, Ohio, should have known that a power line could fall if the line and the splices that held it up were installed incorrectly.
Documents filed in connection with the lawsuit allege that West Penn linemen did not use wire brushes to remove rust from the line splices, "which could result in an increased temperature and lost tension in the wire, causing the wires to fall."
The company denies the allegations. FirstEnergy is represented by Pittsburgh attorney Mark K. Dausch.
Jurors are expected to hear expert testimony on both sides of the issue during the trial that is expected to last about two weeks.
Judge Michael A. DellaVecchia will preside over the case.
Paul Peirce is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-850-2860 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Kasha Products
Kasha is made from buckwheat which is a grain that is packed with fiber, vitamins and nutrients. It is composed of 75% complex carbohydrates and lowers blood glucose levels. Buckwheat is a gluten-free grain. It is delicious as a pilaf and also makes a wonderful hot breakfast cereal which tastes superior to oatmeal but also lowers cholesterol.


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Ubiquiti Networks Introduces Next-Gen Fixed Wireless Broadband Infrastructureby Ganesh T S on 10/21/2013 5:45 PM EST
- Posted in
- Enterprise
- Ubiquiti Networks
21 Comments
Back to Article
tech.kyle - Monday, October 21, 2013 - linkFor WISPs, you can pretty much forget operating in the 2.4 GHz range if you expect reliability or throughput anywhere other than the Sahara Desert. 5.8 GHz is relatively uncongested, but demands near-perfect line of sight and can still run in to interference issues in urban environments or when sharing towers with other WISPs. (Seriously, you guys. Play nice.)
That being said, Ubiquiti does have some attractive features, good flexibility, and nice equipment for the price. Their claims of quick ROI aren't too unrealistic. Reply
Duwelon - Monday, October 21, 2013 - linkI always thought that many places where a WISP is actually practically, the 2.4ghz band isn't a real concern. Talking lower population areas that don't have competitive cable/fiber internet available. I highly doubt these areas are very congested at all. Reply
name99 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkA quick bleg for people using Ubiquiti kit:
How are you guys handling the DHCP/NAT server for all the base stations?
The simplest way to do things would be to run each base station in BRIDGE mode, and then use Windows Internet Connection Sharing to share a connection from the public internet to the Ubiquiti LAN. But that very rapidly hits you up against the Windows 20 connection limit for connection sharing.
Attempt 2 would be to use each Ubiquiti AP in ROUTER mode, again connected to Windows Internet Connection Sharing. Now we have a DOUBLE NAT setup, with both the Windows box and each base station running NAT, which should still work, but we're still severely constrained because we're limited to 20 base stations.
Attempt 3 would be to use a Mac rather than Windows as the Ubiquiti management machine. As far as I can tell, Mac Internet Sharing has no legal limit to the number of devices connected, but is technically limited in the sense that it shares a 255.255.255.0 subnet, so only has 252 addresses available. (I imagine this can probably be worked around by dicking around with config files to use a 255.255.0.0 subnet instead).
Attempt 4 would be to use a Linux box to perform the connection sharing, but this becomes messy because now you have one box running the Ubiquiti manager [which is Mac/Win software only] and a separate box running the DHCP/NAT.
So I'd be curious to know how people have handled this. I have a big project which could make use of about 45 Ubiquiti base stations, but I'm a little worried to go forward until I have a clear idea of how this aspect of the config is handled. I must say I'm a little surprised that Ubquiti don't discuss this (as far as I can tell) anywhere in either their official docs or on their Wiki. Reply
chaos215bar2 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkIs there some reason you don't want to use a decent dedicated router for an installation large enough to require 45 base stations? Reply
name99 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link(a) Even though there will be a large number of base stations (large volume to cover) the actual traffic will not be very high (15 to 30Mbps max). So we don't need the performance of a dedicated router.
(b) Routers seem to come with their own sets of legal limitations on the number of clients. I don't know Cisco's range very well, but as far as I can tell they want to charge me around $2000 for a router that can handle say 1500 clients (so in the BRIDGE mode I discussed above, not the ROUTER mode).
(c) I'm always worried when using dedicated routers because, to put it bluntly, the consumer models generally seem to be crap, while the enterprise models are crazy expensive. The consumer models seem to require rebooting once a week. (Unlike switches which are simple enough that it's hard to screw up, routers seem to require software that is very prone to resource leaks.)
Do you have a suggestion for a cheap dedicated router that would meet our needs?
We don't need high performance (2x100Mbps ethernet ports would be fine), managed capabilities, or any other fancy enterprise stuff. What we DO need is
- ability to handle about 1500 devices simultaneously connected OR
- ability to handle about 50 devices simultaneously connected AND not to complain about DOUBLE NAT.
The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite for example is cheap enough to be acceptable ($100), and offers more performance than we need BUT
- has complaints about reliability and needing to reboot frequently
- does not state anywhere if it has limitations on the number of DHCP/NAT clients/connections supported. Reply
rtho782 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkWe use draytek routers with our ubiquiti kit. 2860 or 2925 are both good choices and enable you to do multi LAN for fail over. If you are having thousands of base stations, what are you doing about the fact that with it set up as one big LAN everyone is going to be able to see everyone else's network shares, network printers, etc? Are you not offering your end users publicly routable IP addresses? Reply
name99 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkThanks for the Draytek suggestion. They look like they're pretty much what we need. I'll have to figure out the appropriate model, but the number of NAT sessions supported looks right, and I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that that translates into being able to support enough hosts.
The deployment target is the public WiFi for a hotel, and the plan is to configure things so that no-one can see anyone else. There will not be network shares, network printers, publicly visible IP addresses. Reply
rtho782 - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - linkAh, that makes sense, I was assuming some kind of WISP.
In our testing we've found the 2830 more reliable than a Cisco 861w Reply
schneeb - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkYou're complaining about consumer grade hardware and suggesting substituting it for consumer grade software? Networking is hardware. Reply
name99 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkSwitching is HW, and switches tend to either work or their failure is obvious.
Routing and especially NAT and DHCP are SW functionality and in many implementations tend to leak resources (RAM, ports, whatever) requiring you to have to reboot the NAT/DHCP server every so often. Reply
extide - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkThis ubiquity stuff is in the million packet per second class of gear, that means it uses dedicated hardware asics to do packet switching. You will NEVER see a software based router (like any consumer router or any router platform that runs on commodity pc hardware) get anywhere near the million packet/sec benchmark. Totally different class of gear dude. You are asking amateur questions on a page regarding enterprize gear. If you are considering a deployment that would necessitate gear at this level, then you should also have a much higher knowledge level to go along with it. Reply
name99 - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - linkWhy do you insist on assuming that you understand our deployment target better than we do?
Our target bandwidth is 15Mbps. A PPC Mac can easily route that, as evidenced by using internet sharing on it. We are buying the UniFi 2.4GHz bgn boxes, not the high end 5Ghz ac boxes.
We will probably buy a Draytek box because it gives us a few other advantages, but you would do well to realize that not everyone in the world requires data center hardware and performance.
(And don't try to save your butt by now telling me that you know better than we do that 15Mbps will not meet our needs. Do you know the country where we are deploying? Do you know the target market?) Reply
extide - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkYou should look into pfSense for your routing and firewall needs. It can handle all of that no problem. Reply
sligett - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkI can't imagine depending on a Mac or Windows client like that. For an old reliable router, you could get an HP 7102dl for $60 or so on ebay. I don't know current HP routers. Reply
eanazag - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkIs the connection sharing limit a factor in Windows server software? I am not totally understanding what the restrictions here are. I mean if you are throwing out 20 of these devices you can't afford Windows server? Windows server can run on crappy hardware.
I know from experience you can setup any IP address range you want for DHCP on Windows server. If you're just running DHCP and DNS any hardware you get (Intel) is overkill. Reply
extide - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkNone of your approaches are a good idea. Wou want to use a routed topology behind a single NAT gateway for internet access. if you have 45+ ap's and several clients on each one, and everything is in a single broadcast domain you will kill your wireless with broadcast traffic! You need to segment the network into several routable subnets which wont pass broadcast traffic, and utilize different IP subnets. This way every device could connect to any other device (if you wanted them to, or you could use firewall rules at each router level to block traffic that you don't want), and you will not have a major broadcast storm going on all the time.
Also do not do a double NAT setup. This is a dumb solution only used by people who dont know what they are doing
And Windows ICS, REALLY? This has to be a joke. I mean for a setup like this you could probably get away with a high end soho router or a pc based router like pfSense. Reply
chrnochime - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkWhat I though too. Not sure why he doesn't list segmenting into routable subnets as an option. Admin overhead, too many subnets to deal with perhaps? Reply
blwest - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - linkSounds like you need to hire an expert. Reply
DanNeely - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkI'm 95% sure the WISP a friend of mine's parents use is 2.4ghz: Based around 802.11b with high gain directional antennas. Their neighbors include a lot of farmers; so the spectrum is relatively uncluttered. Reply
CecileWamsley - Monday, October 28, 2013 - linkmy Aunty Eleanor got a nice twelve month old Suzuki Kizashi by part time working online from home... try this site... http://smal.ly/8wUo2 Reply
ICBM - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - linkIn the South Texas region wisps are extremely common with 3 or more covering one specific area or town. Our problem down here is ATT and/or Verizon don't upgrade their infrastructures to go beyond dsl, if they even do dsl. We are talking about towns in the 1500-10000 population range. Don't even bother mentioning cable, it has been shutdown so hard for the last 10 years it isn't really an option.
We have an old radio tower which we lease to a wisp. We discuss alot of the problems/issues he has. With that said, the 2.4Ghz band is extremely congested. With at 3 different wisps operating over a town of 8000, there is only so much room. To add to the congestion is the issue with most home routers operating in the range too. Granted most of Ubiquiti radios will be up on a mast/outside, it still provides more backnoise. The wisp here started with 5Ghz first, and while this proved relatively uncongested, things have changed over the last few years. With other providers jumping on the bandwagon. It is still better than the 2.4Ghz, but congestion is rapidly growing in this band. The potential saving grace is the licensed 3Ghz band, however the existing radios are just downstepping from a 5Ghz band, causing interference/congestion when located on the same towers as 5Ghz radios.
There is no question Ubiquiti has changed the game with their radios. They are reliable, affordable and the only reason I have a connection better than isdn at the office and the only option for a serious connection at my house.
Talking about speeds, our provider here is feeding his bases with a 200Mbps fiber line, and offer up to 20Mbps to the customer. I regularly attain the 20Mbps so bandwidth from my perspective is quite adequate.
Quick mention of routers. I believe they are using Microtik routers. I have seen them and even looked these guys up. They have their own hardware/software. Their new router is even using a 36-core Tilera processor! Since I typically do my gaming at night, I can report pings consistently staying within the 40-60ms range to most servers. I know Cisco routers are top notch, but they definitely are not price disruptive and may not provide the performance/features that other lesser known guys offer. Reply


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Designing and Specifying a HART-Based Project
How to Use the New Features of HART 7 and WirelessHART in Your Project
Since 1989, the HART Protocol has focused on simplicity, reliability and utility. One of the keys to the success of HART technology has been the insistence on interoperability and interchangeability. Another has been the insistence of the HART Communication Foundation on backward- compatibility. Each revision of the HART Protocol (the current version is HART 7) has been designed from the beginning to be backward-compatible with every other HART version before it.
While many of the features added in HART 7 are to enable WirelessHARTTM, some of those features, such as "time or condition based alerts," or "report by exception," or the PV trending functions, synchronized sampling and time-stamped data are new and important features that designers and end users can take advantage of, in either a wired HART 7 or WirelessHARTTM network, or both.
It is a significant and unique feature of HART 7 that the same commands, recommended practices, and programming and configuration procedures work for both wired and wireless networks. The knowledge base of end users and designers for working with HART is large and varied, and easily translates to working with WirelessHARTTM as well. No other wireless field device protocol has this integration with wired field sensor networks.
Adding HART 7 and WirelessHARTTM to an Existing Control System
Because of the interoperability, interchangeability and backward-compatibility features of the HART Protocol, engineers and operators may simply add HART 7-enabled wired transmitters to their sensor networks as they have always done, either using the traditional current loop configuration, or the multi-drop digital configuration.
One of the significant changes with HART 7 is the rush by nearly all of the major control system vendors to provide native HART 7 access to their DCS and PLC control systems. This means that all of the features shown in Figure 1 for HART 7 are going to be enabled in nearly every control system. This is a significant enabler alone. Matching this with the other half of the HART 7 release, WirelessHARTTM gives the designer and end user unparalleled ability to monitor process variables and other important information.
Making a Mesh of Things
While the technology of installing and using wired HART transmitters and control valves is reasonably well-known, and well-understood, the nuts and bolts of using WirelessHARTTM devices is considerably less well-understood.
The first part of planning a wireless project is to determine the project scope, just as it is when planning a wired sensor network. There are differences, though.
First, you need to determine what a Process Unit is so that you can organize the Wireless Field Devices (WFD) and their network. This maintains existing workflows, data flows and operator responsibilities, and provides for scalability in the future. Determining a Process Unit also sets expectations for the range of the wireless network (at this point, typically less than approximately 250 m).
Most WFD are going to be mounted below the normal obstruction height. That's generally the airspace above the process vessels and tankage, where LOS (line of sight) is located. LOS is defined as "obstruction height + 2 m." Mounting network gateways and repeaters at LOS height will produce maximum range.
Forget the Surveys
You don't need a traditional radio survey, whether you are on a brownfield or greenfield site. Get yourself a scale drawing or an aerial photograph. Printing out images from Google Earth or other aerial mapping programs can be quite effective. You can use scale drawings for P&ID, ILP and asset management for this purpose too.
From experience, we already know that a minimum of five WFD should be used to create a network. The more WFD you have, the stronger the network becomes, because the WirelessHARTTM network is a self-healing, self-organizing mesh. The more sensors, the more paths the signal can go to reach the gateway, and from the gateway to the control system. On your scale drawing or photograph, place the WFDs as if they were standard wired transmitters and final control elements.
In greenfield applications, you can plan to install them as if they were wired—just leave the wires off the drawings. Each field device should have at least three neighbors. If the congestion of tankage and other obstructions is heavy, locate your transmitters within 30 m of their neighbors. For medium obstructions, use 75 m, and for light obstruction, light environmental density, you can go as far as 150 m.
Mount the antennas at least 0.5 m away from any vertical surface, and at least 1.5 m off the ground.
One of the uses of the WirelessHARTTM adapters being supplied by at least five vendors is to permit inexpensive remote location of the wireless antenna, since the adapter can be located anywhere along the HART-enabled current loop. Thus, you do not have to run expensive antenna cable—just run a standard current loop out of the transmitter and use a WirelessHARTTM adapter.
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how do you measure your server load (let's concentrate on nginx and Apache maybe)?What metrics are you using (cpu usage, site load avg?)?When and how are you deciding that you need more powerful server or a cluster of servers?
Any help and suggestions will be appreciated.
The main metrics I use are CPU usage, swap usage, HDD usage, and network card usage.
Could you tell us how do you measure that metrics?
If your server is Linux based then some common options are:
Then you need to ensure that your Raid controller cards are keeping up, so you need to ensure that your RAID card or soft RAID have proper configuration tools installed and preferabbly emails you when they are taxed too heavily.
Coincidentally, if you have access to a virtual server then any of the aforementioned servers will allow you to manage Windows, Mac or Linux network monitoring using SNMP. They support open source RRDTool's graph items, so as long as you have either a virtual Linux or a Linux box designed for exclusively this functionality, you'll have a much better handle on when it is time to replace or add more hardware, manage space and set throughput thresholds (that notify you when reached).
There are additional things that can be done, however this is a lot to get start.
There isn't any one "solution" to a question like this. It all depends on how you have your server set up.
Thank you ServerStorm! That was very helpful.
This answer pretty much sums it up. I would also add Hyperic HQ and Groundwork as potential choices. This article does a nice job breaking down some of the options. http://www.futurehosting.com/open-source-server-monitoring-what-are-your-options/