On Mon, 5 Mar 2012 23:33:20 +0700 Pandu Poluan <pa...@poluan.info> wrote:
> On Mar 5, 2012 11:04 PM, "Alex Schuster" <wo...@wonkology.org> wrote: > > > > Grant writes: > > > > > > The performance is only impacted if the sector size is > > > > something other than 512 bytes. The newer 4K sector size used > > > > by some higher density drives requires that you start > > > > partitions on a sector boundary or they will perform badly. > > > > There isn't an actually performance need to actually start on > > > > 2048 but the fdisk-type developer folks are doing that to be > > > > more compatible with newer Windows installations. > > > > > > All my drives says this from fdisk: > > > > > > Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes > > > Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes > > > I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes > > > > Neither fdisk nor hdparm seem to get the correct sector size, at > > least not always. That's what I read somewhere (and not only once), > > and it's true for my own 2TB drive which I know to have a 4K sector > > size. I'd say you have to look up the specs on the vendor's web > > size to be sure. > > > > > So it doesn't matter where the first partition starts? > > > > If you have 4K sectors (and not a Seagate drive with SmartAlign > > [*]), it does. > > > > BTW, here's some benchmarks I just stumbled upon: > > > http://hothardware.com/Articles/WDs-1TB-Caviar-Green-w-Advanced-Format-Windows-XP-Users-Pay-Attention/?page=2 > > > > [*] I don't want to sound like I'm advertising for Seagate here, > > but at least it seems that with SmartAlign the performance impact > > will be much less, so it might not be worth the trouble of > > re-partitioning drives that are already being used. > > > > Wonko > > > > The problem with SmartAlign is that..*.* it's magic... once you run > out of mana, you can kiss your data goodbye. > > In other words, I tried to find how it works, but Seagate seems to be > mum; and that is ungood. Without knowing how exactly the technology > works, how can we be sure that it won't blow up when encountering > edge/corner cases? > > So, albeit nice (in the sense that one does not have to experience the > headache in ensuring that partitions are properly aligned), I > personally will stay away from magical things. Heretic!! Beleive the magic you muggle!! :-) -- Alan McKinnnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
