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From: SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS.BITNET.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: micro-vax disk space
Message-ID: <8702270151.AA08334@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Thu, 26-Feb-87 16:05:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8702270151.AA08334
Posted: Thu Feb 26 16:05:00 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Feb-87 06:16:21 EST
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If you really meant 54MB, then you are going to be lucky to get all that on
the disk as it is. You will also need site-specific tailoring, and what
about DECnet? Even without the latter, you will probably not have more than
a couple of MB left for anything else.
 
We are running 3 uVAX-II's off RD53's (71MB). We have uVMS, DECnet, Fortran,
C, Pascal, a couple of 1000-block math libraries, and generally not a whole
lot more. All the system directory trees are clean (i.e. no old versions
sitting around of either uVMS or site-specific files). We also have a few
system people who use at most about 1 MB each (big stuff is on the big VAX).
Our system disks are chronically full; generally there is no more than about
10-15MB free at any one time. Remember you will need page and swap files there
are well; not huge, but big enough to be able to boot the system with
before you install any secondary ones on other disks. You will probably
also want a dump file, which would need to be the same size as your memory.
Yes, you can live without a dump file, but they are nice to have on a new
system.
 
In short, we have found even 71MB to be cramped. I would not count on having
any useful space left for users on a 54MB disk.
 
Sorry to sound so pessimistic, but this is my experience. Our other 3 uVAXes
run off 160MB disks (non-DEC) and that gives us generally 40 MB of breathing
space very comfortably. A much pleasanter situation.
 
Just had another thought: VMS upgrades generally require as much as 8MB of
free space. Something else you will want to remember.
 
Ruth Milner
Systems Manager
University of Toronto Physics
 
SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET)
 
P.S. In a message a few weeks ago, I mentioned that we were getting a couple
of 9744's to use as system disks. I got the model wrong; they are 9784's.
Sorry if I raised anyone's hopes of hearing useful things about a new drive.