[NTLUG:Discuss] Disk performance.

[Steve Baker]

Thanks to everyone for your input - I think it's becoming evident that I
should simply buy a pre-built RAID array.  $50k to $100k for a 0.6Tbyte box is
probably not out of the range of possibilities in this case.

Greg Hewett wrote:

> My company re-sells Hitachi Storage, and I would say that an 800G array is
> around $100K.  This is the High end mid-tier array.  This Array is a screamer.

Hmmm - sounds like a definite possible.  I presume it's a Linux box?

> If you would like to come up to our lab in North Dallas, I can show you what
> you should expect.  I am an engineer...  NOT A SALESMAN, so do not feel
> threatened.  I can show you what the good stuff looks like, and that might
> equip you to understand what you need.

Thanks for the offer.  Right now, I'm mostly interested in the hypothetical
existance of such a machine - we won't be buying one for at least 6 to 9 months
from now.  I'm at the 'proof of concept' stage here.

> If you consider the network storage device, realize that you are as dependable
> as your network, and you are as fast as your network.
> 100Mbit / 8 = 12.5 Mbytes/second and that does not cut it for your
> requirements.

Yep - that's true.  The maximum performance version of this machine will
have to wait for Gigabit Ethernet and 266MHz RAM.  This is a project that's
going to take a fair amount of time to code and debug - so we are taking a
"technology intercept" approach.  Also, the first system we build won't
need all that performance - the system has to be scalable from a crappy
IDE drive and a 10baseT all the way up to this monsterous Terrabyte
contraption.

Well, thanks to everyone - I have a MUCH better grasp of what's possible
now.

-- 
Steve Baker   HomeEmail: <sjbaker1 at airmail.net>
              WorkEmail: <sjbaker at link.com>
              HomePage : http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
              Projects : http://plib.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxaqfh.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxkart.sourceforge.net
                         http://prettypoly.sourceforge.net