[net.unix-wizards] Has disk technology peaked?

jbn@wdl1.UUCP (01/23/86)

     I'm beginning to wonder if disk technology peaked in the late 1970s.
We have two Fujitsu Eagles.  One has been replaced twice, and the other
has been replaced once, both in the last 18 months.  We also have ten
CDC9766 drives.  Two have over 60,000 hours on the clock, and the other
eight have over 30,000 hours each.  We haven't had a head crash with lost
data on a CDC9766 since early in the decade.  
     Yes, those big drives cost more.  But only about 30% more.  Will
your Eagles still be flying at 60,000 hours?  I wish CDC still made those
big tanks.

					John Nagle

jackson@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Jackson) (01/25/86)

>     I'm beginning to wonder if disk technology peaked in the late 1970s.
>We have two Fujitsu Eagles.  One has been replaced twice, and the other
>has been replaced once, both in the last 18 months.  We also have ten
>CDC9766 drives.  Two have over 60,000 hours on the clock, and the other
>eight have over 30,000 hours each.  We haven't had a head crash with lost
>data on a CDC9766 since early in the decade.  
>     Yes, those big drives cost more.  But only about 30% more.  Will
>your Eagles still be flying at 60,000 hours?  I wish CDC still made those
>big tanks.
>					John Nagle

Where I used to work, we had both an Eagle and a CDC9766;  no problems
at all with the Eagle (in two years), but the 9766 has head crashed at
least once a year for the past five.  Not only is the Eagle more reliable,
it's smaller, quieter, cooler, and burns less power.  I'll take one over a
tank any day.
________________________________________________________________________________
  Chris Jackson     MSU Engineering Computer Facility     ihnp4!msudoc!jackson

     "186,000 miles per second - it's not just a good idea, it's the law."

henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (01/29/86)

> >     I'm beginning to wonder if disk technology peaked in the late 1970s...
> 
> ... Not only is the Eagle more reliable,
> it's smaller, quieter, cooler, and burns less power.  I'll take one over a
> tank [large old-technology disk] any day.

Few days in utzoo's history were happier than the day when we disconnected
our (Ampex) tanks and switched to running on Eagles.  We've never regretted
it.  Even setting aside everyday operation, tank PMs were nail-biting events
at which all kinds of things could go wrong (e.g. head crashes), while an
Eagle PM appears to involve little more than filter cleaning and voltage
checking.  Compare maintenance-contract prices if you want an independent
verification of the reliability difference!
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry