Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-pcd!hpspkla!town From: town@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Brian R. Town) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: Simple Cache Question Message-ID: <6040017@hpspkla.spk.hp.com> Date: 3 Jun 91 23:50:56 GMT References: Organization: Hewlett Packard Company, Spokane, Wa. Lines: 40 In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware, chau@caen.engin.umich.edu (Hin Fai Chau) writes: > This has long been a question in my mind. Can anyone please > tell me whether I still need to install FASTOPEN and SMARTDRV > or other disk cache programs such as HYPERDISK if I have > already had a 32 K cache buffer in my disk controller card ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is VERY small as far a disk caches go. I think that you would benefit from running cache software. To cache or not to cache (and how much memory to use) depends upon what software you run, what you would be doing with the extra memory the cache is going to tie up, etc. It usually comes down to doing a little experimenting with the software you typically run to find the best fit. > and another 64 K in my 386 processor? This is CPU cache and has nothing to do with your disk performance, at least in practical terms :^) > Does a software disk cache program actually create extra > overheading if I have already got a hardware one? Yes, there is extra overhead, but this does not really apply here. It isn't really a case of duplicate effort when your hardware only has 32K of cache. The outcome of having a software cache will (for most applications) be an improvement in performance, so does it really matter if there is a little duplication of effort? The hardware cache is probably so fast anyway, that the extra performance it adds pretty much comes for free. If I were you, I would see about getting more memory on your hardware cache. That would be even better, especially if you would have to buy more memory for your machine anyway in order to have enough for a software cache. > Thanks in advance. Hope this helps. > Hin-Fai Chau > chau@caen.engin.umich.edu Brian (I'd never be caught without cache) Town town@hpspkla.hp.com