Boston Linux & Unix (BLU) Home | Calendar | Mail Lists | List Archives | Desktop SIG | Hardware Hacking SIG
Wiki | Flickr | PicasaWeb | Video | Maps & Directions | Installfests | Keysignings
Linux Cafe | Meeting Notes | Blog | Linux Links | Bling | About BLU

BLU Discuss list archive


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Parallel vs Serial speed



markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
> The drives I am testing are Western Digital WD2500JS and WD2500JB,
> which are identical except for the interface, and the SATA drives are
> more than 10% faster, and since the same computer was used and exact
> same drive mechanics are involved, and writing directly to the
> device, one has to assume that the different transfer characteristics
> lead to that.

There are other variables to consider. The SATA drive is no doubt 
attached via a different host controller chip, which might have a more 
efficient internal design that has nothing to do with the fact that it 
is SATA. In addition, that host controller might be attached to the CPU 
differently - passing through more or fewer PCI bridges. And lastly, the 
device driver, which I believe is different between PATA and SATA under 
Linux, might introduce differences in performance.

At least the good news is that the new style interfaces isn't 10% 
slower. :-)

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.





BLU is a member of BostonUserGroups
BLU is a member of BostonUserGroups
We also thank MIT for the use of their facilities.

Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS!



Boston Linux & Unix / webmaster@blu.org