I have a Sun Storage Array 7110. This is an "integrated" appliance, running custom hardware and custom software. In the configuration GUI, on the page where I configure the 4 gigabit network ports, there are - as with everything else in the GUI - visual aids. In this case, there are schematic-style icons of four network ports on the left-hand side of the page, with little green and yellow indicators for link and traffic respectively. I know the green dots actually track the green LEDs on the back of the chassis, i.e. they do show actual link status in (near-)real-time. However, the yellow dots also flicker in a manner than *might* reflect the physical LEDs... but I was never sure.

[image: Inline image 1]

Today, while doing some unrelated maintenance on the unit, I got curious and dug in.

I found this in the page's javascript:

akNetDevice.prototype.setActivity = function (active)

{

var dev = this;

for (var i = 0; i < this.akno_widgets.length; i++)

this.akno_widgets[i].setActivity(active);

this.akno_timeout = setTimeout(function () {

if (dev.akno_timeout)

dev.setActivity(!active);

}, 100 + Math.random() * (active ?

akNet.DEVICE_FLICKER_ON : akNet.DEVICE_FLICKER_OFF));

};​

*Despite* having found this, the flickering yellow dots *STILL* give me a sense of satisfaction, a vague notion that "oh, OK, the network ports are working"!

Someone at Sun actually listened to a UI designer, it would seem. And yet I now also feel cheated - I was hoping the UI team was geeky enough to actually flash the browser window graphics in time with the hardware :).

[image: Avant logo] *Adam Thompson* Senior Systems Administrator *voice:* 204.789.9596 x24 | *email:* athompson@avant.ca | *web:* avant.ca