reisert@mast.enet.dec.com (Jim Reisert) (06/22/91)
Unfortunately this is out of date, with new versions of SMARTDRV.SYS, PC-CACHE and HyperDisk available (or on the way). I'll try to update it when my upgrades come in. - Jim Disk Cache Measurements ----------------------- 25 April 1991 James J. Reisert REISERT@MAST.ENET.DEC.COM I. CACHES TESTED The following MSDOS Disk Caches were evaluated: SMARTDRV.SYS - Microsoft Corp. [MS-DOS 4.01] HyperDisk 4.11 - HyperWare (shareware) PC-CACHE 6.03 - Central Point Software Super PC-Kwik - Multisoft Corporation [the one that comes with the 2.0 Power Pack] QuickCache II - P.R. Glassel and Assoc., Inc. (shareware) II. DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM The performance measurements were made on a Northgate 20 MHz 386 Slimline running MS-DOS 4.01 with a 104 MB Conner IDE hard drive. The QEMM memory manager was loaded to allow all the caches to access expanded memory. All tests were run at the DOS prompt (as opposed to under Windows or DESQview). III. DESCRIPTION OF TESTS The tests were made using the PC-Labs Benchmark Tests, v5.6. The tests are as follows: TEST1 - 512 records of 512 bytes each TEST2 - 64 records of 4096 bytes each TEST3 - 16 records of 16384 bytes each TEST4 - 8 records of 32768 bytes each Each test had 5 stages: 1) file creation, 2) sequential write, 3) sequential read, 4) random write and 5) random read. The results are in seconds. All caches were 512K in size, and ran in expanded memory. See the notes at the end of the test results for more information. IV. TEST RESULTS TEST1 TEST2 TEST3 TEST4 NOTES no cache 51.78 6.72 3.37 2.34 SMARTDRV 29.97 5.73 2.98 2.34 PC-CACHE 26.76 5.11 2.39 1.98 1(a) PC-CACHE 6.64 5.05 2.25 1.80 1(b) Super PC-Kwik 8.95 2.44 1.76 1.69 2(a) Super PC-Kwik 6.00 2.68 1.76 1.74 2(b) Super PC-Kwik 6.15 2.44 1.73 1.69 2(c) Super PC-Kwik 6.03 2.54 1.72 1.75 2(d) QuickCache 30.85 5.78 2.88 2.68 3(a) QuickCache 29.69 5.82 2.85 2.95 3(b) QuickCache 5.67 4.38 2.67 3.18 3(c) QuickCache 5.95 4.94 2.27 3.52 3(d) HyperDisk 30.03 5.44 2.79 2.46 4(a) HyperDisk 5.16 1.47 0.77 1.05 4(b) V. NOTES 1. Notes on PC-CACHE: (a) no write buffering (b) write buffering 2. Notes on Super PC-Kwik: (a) no optimization, no staged writes (b) no optimization, staged writes (c) optimization, no staged writes (d) optimization, staged writes 3. Notes on QuickCache: (a) no read, no write optimization (b) read, no write optimization (c) no read, write optimization (d) read and write optimization 4. Notes on HyperDisk: (a) no staged writes (b) staged writes VI. COMMENTS Staged Writes had a marked effect on cache performance. HyperDisk traps the CTL-ALT-DEL key and prevents the computer from rebooting while there is dirty data in the disk cache. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "The opinions expressed here in no way represent the views of Digital Equipment Corporation." James J. Reisert Internet: reisert@mast.enet.dec.com Digital Equipment Corp. UUCP: ...decwrl!mast.enet!reisert 146 Main Street Voice: 508-493-5747 Maynard, MA 01754 FAX: 508-493-0395