more RAM + faster disk -> slower box?!

[Paul Robinson]

On Thursday 29 November 2001  4:35 pm, Ian Pallfreeman wrote:
> > Damn you! Well, my excuse is that my degree is Software Engineering, and
> > I leave hardware to the lamers. :-)
>
> I wish _I_ could, but we get only the lamest of the lame here.

I'm looking for a job... :-)

> My previous generation news box had a SparcStorage Array with 8*1GB RAID
> 1+0'ed with an original vintage Seagate 9GB brick. Few problems with that,
> and it's still being used for my (and certain stealth users) home
> directories.

Now you've posted that to the list, I confidently predict it will die 
horrendously within 48 hours. Well, it will as soon as I break into the 
building. :-)

> In a nutshell, I reckon you're wrong -- not about the performance, but
> about other potential problems. I dunno about hardware RAID controllers,
> but vinum (and DiskSuite, and before that, Veritas) seem perfectly happy.

My main experience has been with hardware RAID, not vinum. RAID controllers 
are a bit like security guards and club bouncers - they don't like to be 
confused, and if you try and take the mickey, they'll bite back. I've had all 
sorts of problems in the past. Hopefully, come the Spring, I'll be building 
up my new server monster which will probably involve quite a large (10x160Gb 
ATA) vinum array. No doubt, I'll end up blowing up £5k's worth of drives and 
myself in the process. Around then, expect lots of worried posts on this list 
from me asking whether the CPUs are supposed to smoke, and why the 'really 
cheap RAM I bought from Bowlers smells funny'. 

> Hey, you tell that to my Suns and they'll punch you in the nose!

Oh, I'm scared! My MicorVAX could have them any day. My IPX sits in the 
corner of the living room in fear of it... 

-- 
Paul Robinson