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From: alix@cerl.uiuc.edu (Chris Alix)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Workstation Data Integrity
Summary: environment is a factor
Message-ID: <1990Sep5.162210.26875@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 5 Sep 90 16:22:10 GMT
References: <68505@sgi.sgi.com> <13625@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <2484@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>
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Reply-To: alix@uiuc.edu
Organization: UIUC Computer-based Education Research Lab
Lines: 27

In article <13625@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> (Clarence Wilkerson) writes:
>  I don't remember the exact rate but I thought that with 4 megs of
>memory, one expected from alpha radiation alone one error per
>two weeks.

In article <2484@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> (Wm E Davidsen Jr) writes:
>  I haven't seen error rates that high in any workstation or 32 bit PC.
>I haven't seen a parity error in several years on nine machines with
>100+ MB of memory total.

NOT A FLAME

In what kind of physical environment are these machines located?  I see
1 or 2 parity errors per year on two 12MB Sun 3/180's in an atypically
"noisy" computer room (lots of unshielded custom hardware, video, fans
switching on and off, etc.)  I'd imagine that a lone workstation in a
Tempest-compliant room might never see an error, but with more and more
standard workstations being used for factory-floor applications, I suspect
that the decision to include parity, secded, etc. is made with the worst
possible physical environment in mind.

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Christopher Alix                               E-mail: alix@uiuc.edu
University of Illinois                  PLATO/NovaNET: alix / s / cerl
Computer-Based Education Research Lab           Phone: (217) 333-7439
103 S. Mathews  Urbana, IL  61820                 Fax: (217) 244-0793
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