mcormick@unm-la.UUCP (Patrick McCormick) (02/01/89)
Hi, I've just ordered a IBM PS/2 Model 30 - 286 with a hard drive and was wondering what experience the net has had with cache software... I read an article that PC Magazine put out and they reviewed several ones, but here's my main question : Are there any reasonable (price-wise) pieces of software that do a reasonable job -- I'd like to keep the price below $70 if I can help it. (Is it worth it to spend $70+ for a cache?) I'd also like something a little faster than the version that IBM provides with the machine... (picky, picky) I'd also like to know if any of you are running the 30-286 machines and what you think about them. Thanks, Pat McCormick mcormick@unm-la.LANL.GOV lanl!unm-la!mcormick@uunet.uu.net -- or -- uunet.UU.NET!unm-la!mcormick@cs.utexas.edu
jsilva@cogsci.berkeley.edu (John Silva) (02/02/89)
In article <1064@unm-la.UUCP> mcormick@unm-la.UUCP writes: > > Are there any reasonable (price-wise) pieces of software that > do a reasonable job -- I'd like to keep the price below $70 > if I can help it. (Is it worth it to spend $70+ for a cache?) PC-Tools Deluxe has an excellent cache program, plus a VERY nice integrated utility package, fast backup/restore, and format recover tools. It can be found for $65 at shows and computer software discount houses. -J. --- John P. Silva INTERNET : jsilva@cogsci.berkeley.edu "You don't know what you're UUCP : {backbone}!ucbvax!cogsci!jsilva getting into, friend..."
mvolo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (02/03/89)
[poster asked about caches programs] As many of you are aware, the last issue of PC Mag had an excellent comparison of disk cache programs.
ppa@hpldola.HP.COM (Paul P. Austgen) (02/03/89)
I have been using the pc-cache from PC Tools Deluxe and it seems to work fine. I have a problem with a graphics program, Rolex, that puts the watch on the screen. If this program is cached, the colors are messed up if the program is re-invoked.
svirsky@ttidca.TTI.COM (Bill Svirsky) (02/10/89)
In article <9383@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> jsilva@cogsci.berkeley.edu.UUCP (John Silva) writes: >PC-Tools Deluxe has an excellent cache program, plus a VERY nice integrated >utility package, fast backup/restore, and format recover tools. It can be >found for $65 at shows and computer software discount houses. Make sure that you get PC-Tools Deluxe version 5. It adds MANY new features. I've got it and its great. The cache program that comes with it was rated very favorably by PC-Mag. Its actually a version of PC-Kwik's disk cache program, which was one of the Editor's Choices. In my informal testing, on both a PC-XT and a Compaq 386, it decreased program execution time by about 25% and decreased disk accesses by 40-50% (saving a lot of wear and tear on the disk drive). I ran a sample of C compiles and file compares. However, PC-Mag has a free disk cache program called Dcache which is almost as good, within a couple of percentage points of PC-Tools disk cacher. Dcache is not quite as flexible. It can use expanded memory but not extended and it always reads 8 sectors at a time. The author did some extensive analysis and found out that 8-sector reads are, by far, the most common on the IBM PC. The trick with Dcache is to also use MSDOS's caching, ie. BUFFERS=. I found that best results on my PC-XT with a cache of 64K were with BUFFERS=17. Otherwise there were an excessive number of disk reads when a program was being loaded. I have a theory as to why this is true, but I don't know for sure. I can post Dcache, send it to comp.binaries.ibm.pc, or e-mail it, as long as I won't violate any copyrights. I don't have any online docs, just the magazine article. Get PC-Mag 11Oct88 issue for full details. Entering "DCACHE ?" displays help on the command syntax. -- Bill Svirsky, Citicorp+TTI, 3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405 Work phone: 213-450-9111 x2597 svirsky@ttidca.tti.com | ...!{csun,psivax,rdlvax,retix}!ttidca!svirsky
draper@bu-tyng.bu.edu (Dave Draper) (02/15/89)
In article <6323@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> mvolo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) writes: > > >[poster asked about caches programs] > >As many of you are aware, the last issue of PC Mag had an excellent >comparison of disk cache programs. Communications of the ACM for January 1989 (Volume 32 Number 1) has an excellent article comparing hardware and software disk caching programs for IBM PC's and clones. It covers the following topics: Hardware Cache Software Cache RAM disk DOS buffers Logical Record Blocking The article has sequential I/O processing timing tests using all of the above schemes complete with results and charts and graphs for visual comparison of results. Other applications that are tested include: Sequential I/O processing File Blocking for sequential files Sorting Compilation and Linkage editing Spreadsheet applications Word processing dBase applications There is about a 1.5 page conclusion section along with reccomendations. A must article for anybody serious about investigating disk caching. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Draper Boston University Corporate Education Center UUCP: decvax!elrond!bu-tyng!draper 72 Tyng Road, Tyngsboro MA 01879 Internet: draper@bu-tyng.bu.edu (508) 649-9731 x14 "Steal my XT please !!!!! I need an excuse to get a new box."
draper@bu-tyng.bu.edu (Dave Draper) (02/15/89)
> > >Communications of the ACM for January 1989 (Volume 32 Number 1) ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^ Sorry about this. It is in the February 1989 issue. Volume 32 Number 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Draper Boston University Corporate Education Center UUCP: decvax!elrond!bu-tyng!draper 72 Tyng Road, Tyngsboro MA 01879 Internet: draper@bu-tyng.bu.edu (508) 649-9731 x14 "Steal my XT please !!!!! I need an excuse to get a new box."