39clocks@violet.berkeley.edu (Peter Marinac) (02/03/91)
Looking at a NeXT product brochure I noticed that the "Mass Storage Options"
for the cube are not described in a consistent manner. I know that the 660Mb
and late 330Mb drives are made by MAXTOR, and ads for the NeXTStation reveal
that the 105 is a low profile Quantum, but what about the others? And what's
the difference between: raw burst transfer rate, maximum transfer rate
(syncronous), and sustained transfer rate. I mean I can guess what they terms
mean, but how do they effect "real world" operations?
Here is how NeXT describes the hard disk it sells for the cube:
105 MB Hard Disk Drive
3.5", 3rd-height, 105MB formatted capacity, 17ms avg seek, 4.0MB/sec max
transfer rate. (Made by: Quantum?)
200 MB Hard Disk Drive (optional)
3.5", 1/2-height, 200MB formatted capacity, 15msec avg seek, 4 MBytes/sec
transfer rate(syncronous). (Made by:?)
400 MB Hard Disk Drive (optional)
3.5", 1/2-height, 406MB formatted capacity, 13msec avg seek, 4 Mbytes/sec
transfer rate(synchronous). (Made by:?)
660 MB Hard Disk Drive
5.25" full height, 660MB formatted capacity, 16.5 ms avg seek, 2.5MB/sec
raw burst transfer rate, 1.6MB/sec sustained transfer rate.
(Made by: MAXTOR)
1.4 GB Hard Disk Drive
5.25" full height, 1.4 GB formatted capacity, 13ms avg seek, 4 Mbytes/sec
maximum transfer rate. (Made by: ?)
Interestingly enough, the same brochure states that the SCSI-2 connector has
a transfer rate of 4.8MB/sec (burst rate), but does not specify a sustained
rate, nor a rate for the internal port.
last question: Is synchronous communication uniqe to SCSI-2 drives?
Thanks alot, Peter Marinac, 39clocks@violet.berkeley.edualan@wam.umd.edu (Alan Joseph Schunemann) (02/03/91)
In article <1991Feb3.025412.9529@agate.berkeley.edu> 39clocks@violet.berkeley.edu (Peter Marinac) writes: > >Looking at a NeXT product brochure I noticed that the "Mass Storage Options" >for the cube are not described in a consistent manner. I know that the 660Mb >and late 330Mb drives are made by MAXTOR, and ads for the NeXTStation reveal >that the 105 is a low profile Quantum, but what about the others? And what's >the difference between: raw burst transfer rate, maximum transfer rate >(syncronous), and sustained transfer rate. I mean I can guess what they terms >mean, but how do they effect "real world" operations? > >Here is how NeXT describes the hard disk it sells for the cube: > >200 MB Hard Disk Drive (optional) > 3.5", 1/2-height, 200MB formatted capacity, 15msec avg seek, 4 MBytes/sec > transfer rate(syncronous). (Made by:?) I believe it's made by Conner. >400 MB Hard Disk Drive (optional) > 3.5", 1/2-height, 406MB formatted capacity, 13msec avg seek, 4 Mbytes/sec > transfer rate(synchronous). (Made by:?) Hewlett Packard. >1.4 GB Hard Disk Drive > 5.25" full height, 1.4 GB formatted capacity, 13ms avg seek, 4 Mbytes/sec > maximum transfer rate. (Made by: ?) This one is in the disktab. It's a Maxtor (2.0) >Interestingly enough, the same brochure states that the SCSI-2 connector has >a transfer rate of 4.8MB/sec (burst rate), but does not specify a sustained >rate, nor a rate for the internal port. > >last question: Is synchronous communication uniqe to SCSI-2 drives? > Thanks alot, Peter Marinac, 39clocks@violet.berkeley.edu I don't believe synchronous communication is "unique" to SCSI-2 drives. The Quantum 105 LPS internal drive runs synchronous. (that's what LPS stands for). Most of the "big" workstation manufacturers package synchronous HDs with thier systems because they're faster. I've been trying to figure this whole HD mess out for a while and the above comments are just my current understanding not the gospel. If anyone knows the real spiel please correct me! Thanks, Alan -- _______________________________________________________________ Alan Schunemann Well, what shall we throw away this year? alan@wam.umd.edu -Andrew Carnegie
tvz@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Timothy Van Zandt) (02/05/91)
Here is one more question to add to the list about hard drives. Why did NeXT choose to use an SCSI port for the internal drives, rather than an SCSI-2? I was surprised to read that in the User's Reference when I got my slab.
ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (02/06/91)
On 03-Feb-91 in Re: NeXT HDs, who makes them? user Alan J. Schunemann@wam.u writes: >>Interestingly enough, the same brochure states that the SCSI-2 connector has >>a transfer rate of 4.8MB/sec (burst rate), but does not specify a sustained >>rate, nor a rate for the internal port. >> >>last question: Is synchronous communication uniqe to SCSI-2 drives? >> Thanks alot, Peter Marinac, 39clocks@violet.berkeley.edu > >I don't believe synchronous communication is "unique" to SCSI-2 drives. The >Quantum 105 LPS internal drive runs synchronous. (that's what LPS stands for). >Most of the "big" workstation manufacturers package synchronous HDs with thier >systems because they're faster. I've been trying to figure this whole HD mess >out for a while and the above comments are just my current understanding not >the gospel. If anyone knows the real spiel please correct me! Not that it really matters, since the SCSI port in the NeXTstation is SCSI-1. Only the cable is SCSI-2
cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) (02/07/91)
In article <obflTTK00Uh7E30wgn@andrew.cmu.edu> ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) writes:
Not that it really matters, since the SCSI port in the NeXTstation is
SCSI-1. Only the cable is SCSI-2
Not that it matters, but just the opposite is true.
--
The opinions expressed herein are mine and are in no way attributed
to any of the many people for whom I work. Who they are is irrelevant.tvz@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Timothy Van Zandt) (02/07/91)
In article <CNH5730.91Feb6175616@calvin.tamu.edu> cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) writes: >In article <obflTTK00Uh7E30wgn@andrew.cmu.edu> ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) writes: > >> Not that it really matters, since the SCSI port in the NeXTstation is >> SCSI-1. Only the cable is SCSI-2 > >Not that it matters, but just the opposite is true. > So what is the story? The User's Reference says: "The hard disk drive connector is an industry-standard SCSI port and its layout is provided below, under 'Internal SCSI port'" (p. 282) Is it really only the cable that is SCSI-1? Can an internal SCSI-2 drive be installed (if or when there is such a thing)? How are we supposed to interpret the rating of the 105MB internal drive at 4.0MB/sec transfer rate, when the SCSI port only has a ~1.2MB/sec transfer rate? In any case, why didn't NeXT go with SCSI-2 internally?
scheng@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David Boles) (02/08/91)
Hello! I am strongly inclined to buy a NeXTstation for use at home. Could someone tell me how much free space I would have on the HD given the following software (assuming a 200MB drive): 1. OS version 2.0 2. Workspace Manager 3. Edit 4. Mathematica 5. Installer (don't know what this is) 6. Preferences (ditto) 7. VT100 Terminal Emulator 8. BuildDisk, InstallTablet, UserManager 9. Interface Builder (maybe ...) 10. C compiler 11. C++ compiler 12. Malloc Debugger 13. GNU Emacs and GNU debugger 14. On-line technical documentation As you see, I am basically interested in doing a bit of programming on a UNIX box at home. Any other comments other than the info requested above is most welcome. PLEASE respond to my email: apas611@hermes.chpc.utexas.edu or aviator@csdfx8a.arlut.utexas.edu Thanks! --db David Boles
lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (Pascal Chesnais) (02/08/91)
In article Re: NeXT HDs, who makes them? scheng@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David Boles) of : The University of Texas at Austin writes: Hello! I am strongly inclined to buy a NeXTstation for use at home. Could someone tell me how much free space I would have on the HD given the following software (assuming a 200MB drive): David Boles --- How about putting the question differently: A full 2.0 distribution is about 190 Mbytes with swap disk, so you would have about 10 Mbytes free if you loaded everything. You can from that point delete what you believe to be fluff. pasc