1) I'm looking for a UPS to use with a Linux system. I'm hoping to set
it up so that the system will go into hibernation once the UPS comes on,
but clearly this requires that the OS be able to know the state of the
UPS. What UPS manufacturers tend to have units that are well supported
under Linux? It looks like APC models are usually supported. Any other
good bets?
Last time I checked, and this was years ago, MGE was the only
manufacturer that actually seemed to care about Linux in a serious way.
2) How much does hard drive cache size matter in a Linux system?
Obviously, I understand that the HD cache is much faster than the disk
itself, but I would have assumed that the OS would already do caching of
data from the hard drive where possible, so it's hard to see how a
measly extra 8, 16, or 24 MB of cache could really make much of a
difference. But I don't know much about hardware, so there's probably
something important I'm missing here.
The cache on the drive is used for bursting data from the drive - that
is to say, the drive will load up extra data hoping that you might ask
for it, and should you, it'll come out VERY quickly. Your computer,
OTOH, is going to be caching the stuff it already knows about. I would
definitely advise going with a drive that has 16mb or 32mb of cache -
more is better, and it will help in Linux.
-DMZ
