AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") (01/29/89)
>Date: Fri, 27 Jan 89 21:17:26 GMT >From: Son of Knuth > <nic.MR.NET!srcsip!haarlem!shankar@CSD4.MILW.WISC.EDU> >Subject: SCSI Hard Drives >[...] Will all utility programs (partitioning, defragmentation, >etc.) work with all SCSI drives, assuming they're used with the Rev. >C SCSI card? Yes. A SCSI partitioning program for the Apple SCSI card should not depend on the drive at all. Defragmentation utilities and volume repair utilities (such as Beach.Comber and Mr.Fixit in ProSel, by Glen Bredon) work with _volumes_ and just need to be able to read and write blocks. They will work on all ProDOS volumes equally well, whether SCSI or not. >[...] Finally, does access time mean anything on the GS, or is the >computer too slow to keep up with the drive anyway? How about on a >Mac? Access time very definitely means _something_ on any system. For any system, if you make the drive slow enough, the computer will have to wait for the drive, and if you make the drive fast enough, the computer/operating system will become the limiting factor in speed. Generally blocks are arranged around the tracks in a fairly optimal way, and the time the drive takes to move the head to another track is the important factor. This time is usually measured in milliseconds, which is a long time compared to the time normally taken to read a block, so the average track-to-track seek time is definitely important. >Subash Shankar Honeywell Systems & Research Center >voice: (612) 782 7558 US Snail: 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418 >Internet: shankar@src.honeywell.com --David A. Lyons bitnet: awcttypa@uiamvs DAL Systems CompuServe: 72177,3233 P.O. Box 287 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2 North Liberty, IA 52317 AppleLinkPE: Dave Lyons