Re: OS Block Size - MS Windows NT

On Tue, 22 Feb 2000 10:01:17 -0500, "Tommy Nobl" <tnoble_at_lawaudit.com> wrote:

>is also 4K (or less). Also note, if I am correct, with drives larger than
>some size (1 or 2G?), NT will usually default to 4K clusters when
>formatting, so that compression can be supported.

I believe so. I didn't mention it because I couldn't remember what the default for large partitions was. But you just reminded me: it is 4K. There was an article by Mark Minasi a while ago about that in the NT mag. Of course that may change with NT2K, so watch out. This type of thing tends to change unnoticed...

If your database is gonna be used for DSS or data-warehouse, I'd suggest investigating a cluster size of 8K or even 16K on the ORACLE-data disk partitions, matched by a database block size of the same . I don't have direct experience with 16K myself, but others I work with have tried it and vouch for the result. You can mix partitions of different cluster size in the same NT system, that is not a problem (apparently!). So stick with smaller cluster sizes for the other disks (the OS, s/w, etc.) but use larger ones for ORACLE data partitions.

Of course, remember this: NT2K just came out. If you plan to use it or upgrade to it, do yourself a favour - get a test bed system and re-check all this. Things changed with this version and neither MS nor ORACLE are forthcoming on exactly what did. Time will tell, I suppose.

HTH Cheers
Nuno Souto
nsouto_at_nsw.bigpond.net.au.nospam
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/the_Den/index.html Received on Wed Feb 23 2000 - 07:37:05 CST