jnicolas@atrp.media.mit.edu (Julian Nicolas) (07/02/90)
I am thinking of adding a larger drive to a NeXT computer which is currently equiped with a 40 MB `accelerator' drive. I do not have a clear idea of what capacity I should go for (170 MB, 330MB ??) for a standalone machine used mainly for development work. Does anyone have experience with 170 MB drives or is 330 MB sort of the minimal satisfactory configuration? Also, since the price factor is pretty important for me, I would like some input on cheap sources for SCSI internal drives (if they are known to work with the NeXT, it would even be better :) Thanks ahead of time for any information you might have to share. A summary will follow shortly. Julian Nicolas jnicolas@atrp.media.mit.edu
rlin@cs.ubc.ca (Robert Lin) (07/02/90)
I feel a minimal size hard disk for development is 300 megs. More, if you want to develope for Sybase. A source for cheap SCSI is the back of MacWeek. For example, APS at 1-800-233-7550 advertises a 300mb internal hard disk for $1499, and external for $1649. I am sure there are even better prices out there... if anyone knows of them, please post. If you are interested in getting the best bang for your buck in configuring a development NeXT, check out issue #2 of Tao, available in j.cc.purdue.edu and cs.ubc.ca anonymous ftp archives, on the article, "Thin Wallet NeXT", for some ideas. Robert Lin
wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) (07/03/90)
From article <2827@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>, by jnicolas@atrp.media.mit.edu (Julian Nicolas): > > I am thinking of adding a larger drive to a NeXT computer which is > currently equiped with a 40 MB `accelerator' drive. I do not have a > clear idea of what capacity I should go for (170 MB, 330MB ??) > > Julian Nicolas > jnicolas@atrp.media.mit.edu I thought the hard drive on a NeXT was just a unix swap disk and the floptical was the file/data disk. If this is true, what could you possibly need 40 MB, much less 170 MB, of swap disk for on what is basically a single-user box? Am I totally off-base in my understanding of their literature? Does the hard drive store files? -- William R. Carroll (Encore Computer Corp., Ft. Lauderdale FL) wcarroll@encore.com uunet!gould!wcarroll "Dan Quayle gives underachievers a bad name." -- Bart Simpson
wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) (07/03/90)
From article <127203@jake.encore.com>, by wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad): > > I thought the hard drive on a NeXT was just a unix swap disk and the > floptical was the file/data disk. > > Am I totally off-base in my understanding of their literature? Does > the hard drive store files? > Well, as my overflowing mailbox is showing, I guess I did misunderstand what the NeXT folks were saying. Thanks to all who emailed to help. -- William R. Carroll (Encore Computer Corp., Ft. Lauderdale FL) wcarroll@encore.com uunet!gould!wcarroll "Dan Quayle gives underachievers a bad name." -- Bart Simpson
Eric.Thayer@cs.cmu.edu (Eric H. Thayer) (07/03/90)
In article <127203@jake.encore.com> wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) writes: > If this is true, what could you > possibly need 40 MB, much less 170 MB, of swap disk for on what is > basically a single-user box? If you are the type of single-user who likes to have a number of heavyweight tasks lying around, you can chew through 40Mb of swap space fairly easily. All you really have to do is start up Mathematica and give it a "tough" problem and it will use up gobs of swapping space. ---------------------------------- Replies can have NeXT attachments in them Phone: (412)268-7679
madler@piglet.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (07/04/90)
In article <127203@jake.encore.com> wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) writes: >If this is true, what could you >possibly need 40 MB, much less 170 MB, of swap disk for on what is >basically a single-user box? The swap file on my 330M hard disk has grown to well over 50M several times. I have to reboot every once in a while to keep it under control. I can't be certain this isn't a bug, but I know that the stuff I do in Mathematica uses a LOT of virtual memory. And I'm the only one on my machine. Mark Adler madler@tybalt.caltech.edu
hannum@handel.psu.edu (Charles Hannum) (07/09/90)
In article <127203@jake.encore.com> wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) writes:
I thought the hard drive on a NeXT was just a unix swap disk and the
floptical was the file/data disk. If this is true, what could you
possibly need 40 MB, much less 170 MB, of swap disk for on what is
basically a single-user box?
Am I totally off-base in my understanding of their literature? Does
the hard drive store files?
Argh! Time to clear up a few misconceptions:
1) The 40MB "accelerator" drive is for swapping only. If you don't have
another hard disk, then all your data/etc. goes either on the OPTICAL
(notice the lack of the letters 'fl') or on another machine to which
you are connected via Ethernet. NetBoot makes it relatively easy to
keep a consistent set of files (and OS software) on a large number of
machines.
2) You *can* store other files on the "accelerator" drive, but this puts
a BIG cramp on the amount of swap space you have available. In fact,
I believe the standard configuration also puts /tmp on the swapdisk
(which, IMHO, is a Good Thing, but that's another discussion). In
reality, it's just any other filesystem which just *happens* to have
the swapfile on it. You could probably even put the swapfile on your
optical if you wanted to... (I do NOT recommend this, however, unless
you'd like to spend the next year waiting for an app to launch.)
3) If you've ever run Mathematica and then "ls -l /private/vm/swapfile"
you'll understand what you need 40MB of swap space for. (Note that
it is normally set up to 20MB when the machine is booted.) It's
really not a good idea to run out of swap space, unless you like
system panics and rebooting your machine.
4) The NeXT is DEFINITELY, EMPHATICALLY, *NOT* a single-user machine. It
is true that only one person can be logged on the console (just like
any other machine), but if it's networked you can log on remotely as
with almost any other Unix box. In our lab, we routinely have 3 or 4
people logged in remotely to the Cubes. (We only have 5 machines...)
5) You've got an Ethernet connector. If you're in any sort of decent
computing environment, there's almost certainly an Ethernet network.
Now plug the damned thing in!!! Networking greatly increases the
amount of software and information you have available. You can read
Usenet [B-)], ftp, send and receive email, etc. (Make sure you have
decent passwords set for 'me' and 'root' before you do this, though.
B-I)
--
Virtually,
Charles Martin Hannum "Those who say a thing cannot be done should
Please send mail to: under no circumstances stand in the way of
hannum@schubert.psu.edu he who is doing it." - a misquote