sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) (11/16/88)
I see there are now some WORM drives for less than $5,000. Is there yet a
commercially-released UNIX with a high-capacity driver and filesystem?
I'm interested in the high capacity, so the exact technology does not
matter.
Oh, hey, we don't need 50 messages about NeXT.
--
Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco@DataPg.MN.ORG {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!datapg!sewilco
Data Progress UNIX masts & rigging +1 612-825-2607
I'm just reversing entropy while waiting for the Big Crunch.nessus@gaffa.mit.edu (Doug Alan) (11/18/88)
In article <2384@datapg.MN.ORG> sewilco@DataPg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) writes: > I see there are now some WORM drives for less than $5,000. Is there > yet a commercially-released UNIX with a high-capacity driver and > filesystem? I'm interested in the high capacity, so the exact > technology does not matter. > Oh, hey, we don't need 50 messages about NeXT. Perhaps it does make sense to ask the question, however, why buy a WORM when cheap read/write optical disks are already here and will soon be widely available? NeXT will be selling their Canon optical drives for something like $1500. Maxtor is supposed to start shipping its 5.25-inch r/w optical drives shortly. The figures I heard on those, a little while back, were something like 30 mSec seek, 700 MBytes, $2500 to OEM's. If you really have your mind set on a WORM, some people at MIT implemented a WORM filesystem for Unix. simsong@athena.mit.edu may know more details. |>oug /\lan (or nessus@athena.mit.edu nessus@mit-eddie.uucp)
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (11/24/88)
In article <10469@eddie.MIT.EDU> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: | Perhaps it does make sense to ask the question, however, why buy a | WORM when cheap read/write optical disks are already here and will | soon be widely available? I think it's a very good question. I don't know why the original poster was looking for WORM, but I have two reasons to want it... first to keep from shooting myself in the foot by erasing something I want, and second because WORM has been accepted in *some* courts of law as valid evidence, while most will reject something on hard/floppy disk as "primary evidence." Ask the legal group for details, reason one is enough for me. I would be happy with a WORM which looks like a multifile tape. I can live with spacing, etc, and I don't want or need it for a primary filesystem, just a way to backup things. Obviously this means that seek time can be pretty slow and still make me happy. -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/26/88)
In article <10469@eddie.MIT.EDU> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: > Perhaps it does make sense to ask the question, however, why buy a > WORM when cheap read/write optical disks are already here and will > soon be widely available? Note that the two phrases "are already here" and "will soon be widely available" are contradictory from the viewpoint of real users. The fact is, cheap read/write optical disks are not yet really here, so they are not a realistic possibility for someone who wants to buy something *now*. Furthermore, for someone who wants to buy proven, shaken-down, field-tested hardware, they will not be a realistic possibility for at least another year or two. "The way you can tell the pioneers is by the arrows in their backs." A sensible buyer who wants reliable production hardware next month will buy a WORM, not read/write. It simply isn't true that the stuff will be reliable just because the manufacturer says so. Anyone who buys serial number 1 is taking a chance. -- Sendmail is a bug, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology not a feature. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
markb@denali (11/29/88)
In article <1988Nov25.182449.9686@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > In article <10469@eddie.MIT.EDU> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: > > Perhaps it does make sense to ask the question, however, why buy a > > WORM when cheap read/write optical disks are already here and will > > soon be widely available? > > Note that the two phrases "are already here" and "will soon be widely > available" are contradictory from the viewpoint of real users. The fact > is, cheap read/write optical disks are not yet really here, so they > are not a realistic possibility for someone who wants to buy something > *now*. > they will not be a realistic possibility for at This is true. It is amazing that paper products are still taken as real just because we would all like it to be true. Sure, this stuff is running in lots of labs, with varying degrees of success, but to have real, viable product in reasonable volume takes time. markb Mark Bradley "Faster, faster, until the thrill of IO Subsystems speed overcomes the fear of death." Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Mountain View, CA ---Hunter S. Thompson