On Mon, 04 Oct 1999, you wrote:
> Tom Brinkman wrote:
> >
> > /dev/hdb: [8.4g WD Caviar, Mdk 6.0 and swap are on the first 3g's.
> > Timing buffer-cache reads: 128 MB in 1.01 seconds =126.73 MB/sec
> > Timing buffered disk reads: 64 MB in 12.62 seconds = 5.07 MB/sec
Steve:
> Run: hdparm -m16 -c1 -u1 -d1 -k1 -a128 /dev/hdb
>
> If it goes without error, put it at the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
>
> The command will setup 16 sectors for multi-sector transfer, turn on
> 32bit interface support, turn on interrupt masking (will allow other
> interrupts to be serviced while hard drive is busy), turn on DMA
> transfers, set the drive to keep these settings over a reset and set
> filesystem readahead to 128 sectors.
>
> After running this, rerun the hdparm -tT a few times to see what the new
> rates are. If they still seem low, tweak the -m and -a values.
> --
> Steve Philp
> Network Administrator
> Advance Packaging Corporation
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I used Steve's suggestion, only modified by a note I found in
'info hdparm' for the '-m' setting:
"Western Digital
recommends lower settings of 4 to 8 on many of
their drives, due tiny (32kB) drive buffers and
non-optimized buffering algorithms."
[note: I believe this rings true from what I hear from o/c'rs
for IBM HDD's also, Tom]
After dozens of combinations of -m and -a values, my 8.4 WD hdb
scored the highest and most consistently with
hdparm -m4 -c1 -u1 -d1 -k1 -a128 /dev/hdb
now it benches: hdparm -tT
/dev/hdb:
Timing buffer-cache reads: 128 MB in 0.94 seconds =136.17 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 64 MB in 6.04 seconds =10.60 MB/sec
That's about a 5% increase in buffer reads, but a whopping
209% increase in disk reads. It's very much apparent in how fast
programs like StarOffice and Netscape load... _twice as fast_ than
before Steve's suggested HDD optimization.
Thank's again Steve. What else ya got?? ;-)
--
.. Tom Brinkman [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
