langev@cbnewse.att.com (steve.j.langevin) (05/24/91)
Anyone have any opinions on any of the disk compression programs
(stacker, etc) that are starting to show up on the market?
Do they work without causing any problems? How do they affect
the "speed" of your systems? Thanks
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Steve Langevin att!iwddo1!langev (708) 979-5949
Ok -- so its not the best signature line. I'M WORKING ON IT!pclank01@ulkyvx.bitnet (Pat Lankswert) (05/29/91)
In article <1991May23.231547.6948@cbnewse.att.com>, langev@cbnewse.att.com (steve.j.langevin) writes: > Anyone have any opinions on any of the disk compression programs > (stacker, etc) that are starting to show up on the market? For the record, let it be known that I am against these devices... but that is just my opinion. > Do they work without causing any problems? They are capricious at best. Someone in our building has the hardware version of STACKER running on one machine and the software version running on several. Since January, he has rebuilt his hard drive at least once. Maybe more times... (after advising him not to get it, I get information on this subject from another co-worker). The software version are just as bad... the people are paranoid when you us their machines that you are going to corrupt their hard drive. > How do they affect the "speed" of your systems? Hardware Version Software Version Large Buffer Excellent Better than average Small Buffer Better than average Worse than average Most of the machines are '286 machines. I don't have stat's to prove these findings, so take them with a grain of salt. Patrick Lankswert | Bitnet -> pclank01@ulkyvx System Manager | INTERNET -> pclank01%ulkyvx.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu Brown Cancer Center | UUCP -> ...psuvax1!ulkyvx.bitnet!pclank01 U of Louisville |
dtaylor@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Douglas A Taylor) (05/29/91)
In article <1991May28.151436.383@ulkyvx.bitnet> pclank01@ulkyvx.bitnet (Pat Lankswert) writes: %In article <1991May23.231547.6948@cbnewse.att.com>, langev@cbnewse.att.com (steve.j.langevin) writes: %> Anyone have any opinions on any of the disk compression programs %> (stacker, etc) that are starting to show up on the market? % %For the record, let it be known that I am against these devices... %but that is just my opinion. % %> Do they work without causing any problems? % %They are capricious at best. Someone in our building has the hardware version %of STACKER running on one machine and the software version running on several. I have been running with an Expanz compression board on my machine since November and have had no trouble with it, other than what may be a slight compatibility problem with Geoworks Ensemble. (I haven't yet determined the cause of the problem -- it may or may not have to do with the Expanz board.) I have used Windows 3.0 (demo version), Quattro 2.0, Paradox 3.0, Power C, Timeworks' Publish It!, and several shareware pgms without any difficulty. The makers of the Expanz board recommend that you don't use a de-fragmentation utility (or presumably, any other disk-fixer) on a compressed disk, but that's about it. % %> How do they affect the "speed" of your systems? Definitely slower with the Expanz board. Not so slow that I'm annoyed by it, but, hey, I'm used to programming on a mainframe using a dumb terminal :-). I think the Expanz board is an OK product. In exchange for slightly slower disk access, I get 30 megs on my hard drive instead of 20 megs. (BTW, don't believe their claims of "up to 6:1 compression ratio". I average about 1.5:1). Hope this helps. -- Doug Taylor | Nothing real can be threatened. The Ohio State University | Nothing unreal exists. doug_taylor@osu.edu | - A Course in Miracles