Re: IDE versus SCSI

"Keith Boulton" <kboulton_at_ntlunspam-world.com> wrote in message news:<wsc%7.5695$1s6.1122769_at_news6-win.server.ntlworld.com>...
> "Dusan Bolek" <pagesflames_at_usa.net> wrote in message
> news:1e8276d6.0201090007.6ca3e87d_at_posting.google.com...
>
> > Oracle database on IDE ? Maybe some very small database, or perhaps
> > some tiny test box.
>
> Has no-one told you that size doesn't matter?

Hey, tell this to my girlfriend. :-))))))

> > I've never seen a productional database on disks with IDE interface.

> Which has nothing to do with its feasability and everything to do with
> prejudice and the herd mentality.

Maybe. And maybe it also has something with no IDE drives in cataloques of spare and upgrade parts for UNIX servers or external storage boxes.
Wake up ! Everything runs on SCSI. For medium sized database I need about 300 gigs of space. How will I get this size with IDE ? Using four IDE positions and fill them with 4x120GB Western Digital drives ? However I need a RAID array, because I have to have a redundancy in case of disk failure. Can I use an ATA RAID controller for PC workstation ? That's nonsense. We're talking about database servers. Database servers are running Unix, has RAID1 or combination of RAID1 and RAID5 arrays. I've never seen an UNIX box with IDE. Of course, with exception of some low end Linux servers.

> Amusing that people use SCSI for its better performance and then make it
> RAID5.
RAID5 is not about (or not only) performance. You need an array because you can't loose your precious data.  

> Fundamentally, there is no reason not to use IDE if you can live with having
> only four devices and it meets your performance requirements and that is
> (basically) depends only on the device throughput and the number of devices
> you have.

You can't live with four devices in database server.

> And before someone say SCSI is a lot faster - it might be a little faster,
> but who cares? Fast enough is fast enough!

The biggest advantage of SCSI is that their controller has its own logic to handle data transfer. IDE drive gives a lot of work to your CPUs and I think that we have better work for our CPUs than handle disks.

--
_________________________________________

Dusan Bolek, Ing.
Oracle team leader

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