Hard disk LEDs and noisy machines (2023)
2 days ago
- #historical-computing
- #performance-monitoring
- #developer-tools
- Historical computer features like blinking LEDs and noisy disks acted as performance indicators for developers.
- Modern developer machines, especially Macs, lack these indicators, making it harder to notice performance issues.
- Examples of unnoticed inefficiencies include excessive logging, slow builds due to connection issues, and rogue processes consuming resources.
- The author recommends installing a performance monitor to track CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network traffic.
- Tools like iStat Menus for macOS and system-monitor-next for Gnome are suggested for local development.
- Remote development workflows pose challenges for monitoring, with no clear solution yet.
- The author mentions a project 'hdd_sound' on GitHub that simulates HDD sounds for Linux, bringing back some of the old indicators.