SYSRUTH@utorphys.BITNET (02/02/88)
Hi everyone, sorry to take so long to get onto this; I have been very busy preparing for the Canadian DECUS Symposium next week (you're all coming, right?). (Incidentally, for those of you who might still change your minds and come, our Keynote Speaker has been confirmed as --- Mr. Bill Hancock, a very well-known network consultant whom some of you may have heard of before). Two of the most detailed replies, from Frank Nagy and Brad Wilson, were posted on info-vax already, and since these covered the vital points, as did the others I received directly, I will not post a compilation of them here. In the end, although I am much wiser about the differences between buffered vs. direct I/O, not much light has been shed on which one is more expensive in terms of system resources. Like so many other things in this world, the answer seems to be "It depends" (I nearly got lynched in a game of Scruples once because I kept answering "It depends" instead of "yes" or "no" :-) ). So I'm afraid I can't pass on any useful answers to other people who wanted to know. At any rate, I would like to thank all the other people who responded as well. Your answers were greatly appreciated. Ruth Milner Systems Manager University of Toronto Physics SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET) -------