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From: brinsmead@calgary.UUCP (Mark Brinsmead)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: 16 Mbyte RAMdisk...
Message-ID: <1043@vaxb.calgary.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jul-87 16:22:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: vaxb.1043
Posted: Wed Jul 29 16:22:35 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Aug-87 08:11:59 EDT
References: <8707250333.AA08699@mitre-bedford.ARPA> <6181@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Organization: U. of Calgary, Calgary, Ab.
Lines: 24
Keywords: Comment

In article <6181@brl-smoke.ARPA>, geoffs@brl-smoke.ARPA (Geoffrey Sauerborn ) writes:
> Why not have this "16 Mbyte RAMdisk" battery backed-up? (With a built-in
> clock/calendar to boot!) If it is battery backed-up and the battery
> will last 5+years and/or is rechargeable, then who needs a hard disk?
> 

    I think Glen already answered this question on the net awhile back...
his argument is  a) that to provide a reasnable battery backup (say 24 to
48 hrs) for 16 meg of dynamic RAM would take a REAL big battery and b)
that for every megabit of memory, you can expect to have one bit randomly
toggled every so many days (2? 10?). A Ramdisk is just not SAFE for long
term storage, but with a 20 minute battery-backup to protect against most
power failures, I for one would be willing to risk it (as long as I have 
backups).

    Of course, this means that if you are occasionally prepared to backup
and/or rebuild your ramdisk, you could survive quite nicely without a 
hard disk for quite some time.

                                 Mark Brinsmead @ University of Calgary

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Disclaimer:  What do I know about this? I'm a software type.