classiccmp server hardware

From: Jay West <jwest_at_classiccmp.org>
Date: Mon Oct 11 20:19:03 2004

> I'm a little puzzled towards this hardware vs. software RAID,
> and worrying about computrons (aka CPU speed).
Everyone who is talking about "software raid is ok because I've used it
without trouble"... that's a pretty insufficient argument. Kinda like
someone saying "Oh, you can format double density floppies to single density
and it works great because I did it". B.S. - a little education and you'd
see why it's precarious. I've seen people who argue about that because they
have "proof it works fine". Just wait till a few months go by and their data
doesn't appear anymore :) Not that software raid doesn't work, it does, and
quite well. But all I'm saying is a better argument might sway me. That one
doesn't.

Look at what has to happen with software raid. The software has to set up
twice as many DMA transfers, handle twice as many interrupts, block waiting
on I/O twice as many times, and send double the data across the bus. I'm
aghast that many of the classiccmp'ers here aren't revolted by that just on
principle. The same mentality got us MS/Windows "Oh, don't worry about the
cpu cycles, it's just trivial to add this little pop-up box...". Trivial
adds up.

Jay "vying for freds 'grumpy old' title" West
Received on Mon Oct 11 2004 - 20:19:03 BST