Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!jason
From: jason@madnix.UUCP (Jason Blochowiak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Vanilla HD Construction (Article 1)
Message-ID: <820@madnix.UUCP>
Date: 1 Sep 89 12:58:35 GMT
References: <8908281936.AA23036@trout.nosc.mil>
Reply-To: jason@madnix.UUCP (Jason Blochowiak)
Organization: ARP Software, Madison, WI
Lines: 45


	First off, it seems like the CMS card is pretty much of a pain - I
didn't have to play around with setting jumpers with the Apple card. Mostly
personal preference here, though...
	Although a very nice article, it seems we once again have the
"interface" vs. "storage method" confusion. SCSI or ST-506 (I'm sure there
are others) are defined methods for the computer to talk to the hard drive
(or vice-versa). MFM (Modified Frequency something-or-another. I think the
s-o-a is Modulation) and RLL (Run-Length Limited) are ways that the drive
itself uses to store information on the physical drive media.
	The only thing that you have to worry about (with an Apple //) is
that the drive can use SCSI - some drives (like the SeaGate ST-xxxN that
the author talks about) can understand SCSI without any modification or
enhancements. If a drive doesn't understand SCSI by itself, you have to
stick a controller card on it, as mentioned. This is when you have to start
worrying about whether or not the drive is MFM or RLL. If a controller card
thinks that it's talking to an RLL drive when it's not really, some problems
could come up later on (as RLL requires better media). So, if you go the
controller & ST-506 mechanism way, make sure that the controller and the
mechanism (the actual drive) are in agreement on what storage format is
being used.
	My personal observations regarding how much storage you need: Take
your original estimate, and multiply it by two. Even after you've adjusted
to (and hopefully cured) harddriveitis (a horrible condition, symptoms of
which include sticking everything you see on your hard drive. There are
related diseases, such as i'llkeepthat'causei'llwantitlateritis, but that's
too horrible to talk about in mixed company), you'll probably find that
what you once considered to be "Soooooo much storage" is getting a bit
cramped. I personally have rather large requirements, what with some three
entirely different development systems sitting on my hard drive, lots of
text files, pictures, and their ilk, and FreeWare and ShareWare (even if I
don't use the stuff) all over the place. This is in addition to that ever-
growing chunk of system software coming from Apple ;)
	The "incredible shrinking storage space" syndrome is similar to that
of the "increasingly small amount of memory I have in my system" syndrome.
When I first got my //gs, I thought that, because I was buying a megabyte
(the maximum I could get without going 3rd party), I would be set for quite
awhile, and I wouldn't have to buy any more for a long time. Well, at the
moment I'm looking into picking up a few more megs (especially considering
that the prices are pretty cheap right now).
-- 
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				jason@madnix.UUCP
	"I am opposed 180 degrees" - George Bush, master mixer of metaphors.
	 	    (Is the IInix mailing group still out there?)