> -----Original Message-----
> From: Seth Vidal [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 12:23 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: speed and scaling
>
> So were considering the following:
>
> Dual Processor P3 something.
> ~1gb ram.
> multiple 75gb ultra 160 drives - probably ibm's 10krpm drives
> Adaptec's best 160 controller that is supported by linux.
>
> The data does not have to be redundant or stable - since it can be
> restored from tape at almost any time.
>
> so I'd like to put this in a software raid 0 array for the speed.
>
> So my questions are these:
> Is 90MB/s a reasonable speed to be able to achieve in a raid0 array
> across say 5-8 drives?
Assuming sequential reads, you should be able to get this from good drives.
> What controllers/drives should I be looking at?
I'm not familiar with current top-end drives, but you should be looking for
at least 4MB of cache on the drives. I think the best drives that you'll
find will be able to deliver 20MB/sec without trouble, possibly a bit more.
I seem to remember somebody on this liking Adaptec cards, but nobody on the
SPARC lists will touch the things. I might look at a Tekram, or a Symbios
based card, I've heard good things about them, and they're used on some of
the bigger machines that I've worked with. Later,
Grego
