Behind the scenes, a team of software developers works to add new features and functionality to the desktop and cloud versions of Quantrix Modeler. Learn about their priorities, and the technologies they use, in this interview with Senior Developer Shane Davison.
Tell us about your work at Quantrix.
I’ve been at Quantrix for four years, and I’m a Senior Developer. That means I code software development for the Quantrix Modeler desktop application and the cloud-based version. We write a lot in Java code which provides a stable, mature platform for us to develop software. We constantly research and evaluate new technologies, but we’re very aware of the fact that people need to make sure their models will continue to work over time.
What does the team focus on?
We are always trying to make the user interface simpler. For example, we have made it much easier to share models on the web. We are always working on making the software faster, and more responsive. And we always love feedback on customers about what they want – people can contact us anytime with suggestions and ideas.
Tell us about the migration of Quantrix to the cloud.
We’ve had a web-based version for a while, but now it is much more full featured and developed. For our customers who don’t want to create or share models in the public cloud, we now offer an Enterprise Qloud version where companies can use Quantrix in their private cloud. One of the features is a load balancer that I developed to improve performance and scalability when companies have multiple users on the Enterprise Qloud.
How does the load balancer work?
If you have, say, 100 users accessing models, you want to adjust the server load to accommodate usage spikes at different times of year. Our Enterprise Qloud users can edit a configuration file to assign which machines they want to use for model servers. They can do it round robin, by which one has the most memory available, or any number of options. The load balancer will choose the server based on your criteria, and expand the model server resources available. Users set up their parameters initially, and the work happens behind the scenes.
Sweet! It sounds like you have a lot of experience.
When I was six, my parents got me a Commodore PET computer. The PET is in the Computer History Museum now! I’ve always been a computer person.
And what do you do in your spare time when you’re not writing code for Quantrix?
I like to go out and eat and sample new beverages. I love the variety and quality of restaurants in Portland, Maine, our headquarters. I also like to ski and take road trips. Maine is a great state.
