

Rescale releases live tailing - gpoort
http://blog.rescale.com/live-tailing/

======
brianr
Live-tailing of images looks really, really cool. Do the updates stream in
automagically?

------
orangethirty
Christ, could this be written to be more boring. People, your writing should
captivate the reader. Not bore him/her. I could not finish the post. I wanted
to, because it seems interesting. But, it made me hit the back button.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Technical marketing writing is not a very common skill. Most engineers can't
write well, and most marketers can't get technical.

~~~
orangethirty
Well, I am both. So let me give real feedback.

The starting paragraph is just confusing. Its full of acronyms and long
sentences. The reader feels lost. Not a good way to start a blog post (or a
news release).

Here it is:

 _The solvers in modern simulation codes in applications such as CFD, FEA and
molecular dynamics are becoming more sophisticated by the day. While taking
advantage of (i) new technologies in hardware and (ii) advances in numerical
methods, many of these solvers require close monitoring to ensure they
converge to a useful and correct solution. It is important to know when a
simulation reaches an un-desired state so it can be stopped and the problem
can be diagnosed._

How would I re-write that? Ok, let's find out what the underlying subject is.

* It is important to know when a simulation reaches an un-desired state so it can be stopped and the problem can be diagnosed.*

This is the main subject for the main paragraph. It should be the opening
thought, and not the last sentence in it. But, at its current state, is not
very clear. Let's re-write it:

 _Rescale releases a new feature. It is called "live tailing." The feature
allows you to track simulations. You will be able to know when a simulation
has reached an undesired state. This way, troubleshooting problems becomes
easier._

See? It introduces the reader to what the feature is, covers the main points,
and allows for a good reading flow.

But let's continue.

 _We call this feature ‘live tailing’.

Live tailing allows Rescale customers to monitor any output file for jobs
running on the cluster with just one click. This feature replaces the
currently painful process of dealing with ssh keys, logging into the cluster,
and / or deciphering where the relevant files are located on the server.
Rescale’s live tailing is intuitive, user-friendly, highly secure, and much
more efficient than traditional monitoring._

The term live tailing is a good one. But they forgot to denote the sub-
headline as such. A simple <h4></h4> would have fixed it. The paragraph is a
disaster. Worse than the first one. That second sentence. My god! Its
difficult to read. Let's try and re-write this in a manner that is easy to
read, and drives the point home.

 _We call this feature Live Tailing._

 _Here is what Live Tailing does for you: it monitors the output file of any
job you may be running in a cluster. It replaces the painful process of:

\- dealing with ssh keys

\- logging into the cluster itself

\- deciphering where all of the relevant files are located

In simple words, it is an intuitive and user friendly way to monitor your
jobs. It is also highly secure, and more efficient that traditional
monitoring._

Now, this is another confusing part. The "how it works" part is out of place.
I would have simply put in a link to a free trial or a video demonstration.
I'm skipping this part.

Oh yes, the "Why is it useful" part. This is a good sub-headline to use. Let's
read:

 _As engineers, we recognize how important it is to track the status of any
analysis at any time. Here are some examples of useful applications for live
tailing:

\- Monitor progress of a simulation, either to extrapolate total expected
runtime or to ensure that the simulation doesn’t enter a negative state.

\- View output plots to quickly analyze important trends and metrics of the
simulation.

\- Monitor load balancing for parallelized simulations to diagnose inefficient
behavior and to help the customer choose the correct number of processors.

\- Monitor time step conditions such as CFL or adaptive grid conditions to
ensure that the simulation doesn’t “blow up.” Simulations that creep along and
blow up in time or size can now be stopped quickly._

This is good. Very good. To the next part:

 _Does live tailing work with image files as well?

Yes. Some simulation codes are able to generate image files such as meshes,
graphs or surface plots. These files can be live tailed as well. Clicking on a
file that is a jpg, png or gif will display the image right inside the
browser. Check out this aircraft landing gear example using Gerris
(<http://gfs.sourceforge.net/wiki>), an open-source CFD code, with data
provided by the AIAA._

This is also very good. Lots of good technical bits there. The link to the
source file is particularly smart. Well done.

There is something missing after that paragraph. The article lacks a summary
and a close. I'm torn. The first half of the article reads very poorly, but
the second half reads very well. As if this was written by two (or more)
people. Or maybe this is just a draft published too soon? I'm going to take
what I wrote, and combine it with what they wrote. Let's see how it reads.

Rescale releases a new feature. It is called "live tailing." The feature
allows you to track simulations. You will be able to know when a simulation
has reached an undesired state. This way, troubleshooting problems becomes
easier.

We call this feature Live Tailing.

Here is what Live Tailing does for you: it monitors the output file of any job
you may be running in a cluster. It replaces the painful process of:

\- dealing with ssh keys

\- logging into the cluster itself

\- deciphering where all of the relevant files are located

In simple words, it is an intuitive and user friendly way to monitor your
jobs. It is also highly secure, and more efficient that traditional
monitoring.

Why is Live Tailing useful?

As engineers, we recognize how important it is to track the status of any
analysis at any time. Here are some examples of useful applications for live
tailing:

\- Monitor progress of a simulation, either to extrapolate total expected
runtime or to ensure that the simulation doesn’t enter a negative state.

\- View output plots to quickly analyze important trends and metrics of the
simulation.

\- Monitor load balancing for parallelized simulations to diagnose inefficient
behavior and to help the customer choose the correct number of processors.

\- Monitor time step conditions such as CFL or adaptive grid conditions to
ensure that the simulation doesn’t “blow up.” Simulations that creep along and
blow up in time or size can now be stopped quickly.

Does live tailing work with image files as well?

Yes. Some simulation codes are able to generate image files such as meshes,
graphs or surface plots. These files can be live tailed as well. Clicking on a
file that is a jpg, png or gif will display the image right inside the
browser. Check out this aircraft landing gear example using Gerris
(<http://gfs.sourceforge.net/wiki>), an open-source CFD code, with data
provided by the AIAA.

Go ahead and try Live Tailing right now.

We are offering a free trial for those interested. If you are unsure of
whether Live Tailing is for you, just get in touch with us. We will show you
how it simplifies the complexity of running computer simulations. We are also
happy to answer any technical questions. Click here to get your free Live
Trailing trial.

 __*

Go ahead and test it. Measure the results.

