Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!esseye!jdbbs!wybbs!douglas
From: douglas@wybbs.mi.org (Douglas Mason)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.novell
Subject: Re: SystemPro installation question
Keywords: Disk driver?
Message-ID: <429@wybbs.mi.org>
Date: 2 May 91 16:03:07 GMT
References: <1991Apr30.010858.1101@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Reply-To: douglas@wybbs.UUCP (Douglas Mason)
Distribution: na
Organization: Consultants Connection, Jenison MI
Lines: 27

In article <1991Apr30.010858.1101@spool.cs.wisc.edu> mark@shorty.cs.wisc.edu (Mark Spankus) writes:
>	I want to move our Netware 3.1 server software to a Compaq SystemPro
>that has an 800Mb drive and 16 Megs of Ram. I will be using an Etherlink 507 
>network card, with the drivers that came from 3Com. But what I need to know
>is do I need a special hard disk driver to support the SystemPro's hard disk,
>and if so where can these drivers be found?  Otherwise I should be able to
>use one of the standard drivers that Novell provides, right?
>


Ah, you may want to lose some of that memory.  

Most people think that with Netware, the more memory and abilty to cache, the
better.  This isn't always true.  When you get caches that are that big for
a drive that is only moderately big (800 meg), the time that it takes the
beast to search through all that cache memory requires more time than if it
had to re-read that data.

Sounds crazy, but I watched a machine have 5 megs taken away from it and
actually run FASTER than it did with the additional RAM.

Something to keep in mind.

-DM

---
Douglas Mason | Network Admin | Beene, Garter & Co. | Grand Rapids, MI