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Date:	Wed, 4 Jun 2003 11:20:42 PDT7
From:	Steve Carter <scarter@vcnet.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Re: HDD cache size choice with OS/2

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On 6/4/03, J. R. Fox wrote, in part:
>Steve wrote:
>> ... Soon, 8MB caches will be standard.
>
>Are they only available on the larger HDs ? I'm also wondering
>what may have happened vis-a-vis the 15K/rpm drives. Even if
>they did offer a noticeable improvement ...

8MB HW caches are available only on the NEWER drive models, which
makes them larger by default. Even there, IBM is offering them on
the largest of the newer models. A BIG advantage I did _NOT_ mention,
is that the 8MB cache models still have the 3-year warranty (!!),
whereas the now-obsolescent 2MB models have fallen back, along
with the rest of the industry, to 1-year. That alone makes it
easy to justify the 8MB model for just a few $ more.

For me, it's too soon for me to arrive at any conclusion about 15Krpm
drives. Besides, they're way too pricey for a cheap b*st*rd like me.

>> ... the
>> largest possible HPFS software cache is 2MB -- small by today's
>> standards. [HPFS 386 does allow up to 64MB I've read].
>
>If OS/2 can't make use of the larger cache size (last time I checked,
>HPFS 386 still cost a bundle, and there can't be many end-users
>running it), this won't ever benefit us, except while booted into
>another OS. >Jordan

Oops, I meant to indicate the the 2MB maximum was the SW cache size
in the HPFS driver, not the HW cache on the HD. The HW cache on the
drive is usable by whatever talks to it.

HPFS 386 was once available on Hobbes. May still be. I don't know how
to apply it, but the file had directions and it was NOT difficult to
switch back and forth, as I recall. Perhaps it could be extracted from
a copy of WseB.

It's an interesting commentary on changing times, but HW caches on
hard drives have now gotten larger than the SW cache in (our favorite)
operation system.

--Steve

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