Seth Vidal wrote:
>
> > A 7200RPM IDE drive is faster than a 5400RPM SCSI drive and a 10000RPM
> > SCSI drive is faster than a 7200RPM drive.
> >
> > If you have two 7200RPM drives, one scsi and one ide, each on there own
> > channel, then they should be about the same speed.
> >
>
> Not entirely true - the DMA capabilities of IDE could provide faster
> transfer modes than your avg scsi card could generate.
>
> I have a 7200 RPM LVD scsi drive and a 7200RPM UDMA ide drive and the IDE
> wins EVERY SINGLE TIME.
>
> -sv
I think everyone seems to be missing the _point_ of SCSI. SCSI is NOT
just about raw speed, even though some SCSI has a speed of 160MB/second.
SCSI has many advantages over IDE, oe EIDE, such as command queing.
Let's see your IDE drive handle 10 or 15 *simultaneous* reads/writes.
let's see it have a MTBF of over 1 Million hours. Let's see it connected
along with 13 other drives on the same chain. Let's see it run on cables
running for several yards or meters. Let's see it conected to multiple
computers. Heck, just for fun, let's run IP over IDE. Oh, wait, that's
SCSI that can do that ;)
The point is, comparing speed of SCSI vs any IDE variant is like
comparing apples and oranges. That said, copmparing two drives of any
variant, and basing their performance upon the rotational speed is also
an error. RPMs are not the sole determining factor. Other factors
include the size of the drive in MB/GB, and the seek or access time.
I have, for example, a 5400RPM SCSI2 drive that still outperforms
7200RPM IDE drives colleagues have. I have seen 6X SCSI CDROMs that
perform better than 8X EIDEs. I have a 7200RPM SCSI outperforming 10Krpm
IDE drives.
The determining factor in the choice of SCSI vs. IDE should be in what
the machine will be doing. If all you need is a desktop machine fo
rgaming and/or basic sufing/office type work, you probably don't need
SCSI. if you are going to run a server that may be running some
intensive I/O, and need reliability and longevity, you should be looking
at SCSI, not IDE.
After all, is speed is your sole criteria, chances are you are missing
something. ;^)
--
In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are
usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.
-- Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father, September 1900
