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From: sjl@amdahl.UUCP (Steve Langdon)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: CD-ROMS
Message-ID: <1805@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Jul-85 16:12:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: amdahl.1805
Posted: Thu Jul 18 16:12:47 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Jul-85 00:12:37 EDT
References: <11467@brl-tgr.ARPA> <550@sftig.UUCP>
Organization: Amdahl Corp, Sunnyvale CA
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> Not to contradict (least of all --Lauren--, whos information has always
> been accurate as far as I can tell) but why are the basic parameters
> difficult to change?  The main thing that is causing the 2-4 second average
> seek time is the head movement time.
> ...
> Rick Thomas
> ihnp4!attunix!rbt

Correct.  The heads used to read laser disks are bulkier and thus slower
to move than the heads used in magnetic disks.  The servo techniques may
also slow down access, but I am not sure of this point.

Your conclusion that faster mechanisms will be built is probably correct,
but it may take a while.  Some work is being done on smaller diameter
disks which may result in faster drives than those based on the standard
CD format.
-- 
Stephen J. Langdon                  ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun,nsc}!amdahl!sjl

[ The article above is not an official statement from any organization
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