If you know SCSI

Terry · #1 04-29-2005, 12:43 AM

Basically, the only thing I know about SCSI drives is that they are expensive and fast. I just started doing some research and found this: “the SCSI controller can multitask, so the CPU is not locked up during hard disk operations.”

Is SCSI the real answer to speeding up PokerTracker? Would the difference be large? Does a 15000 rpm SCSI drive actually “work” over twice as fast as a 7200 rpm IDE? Even faster than that because of the multitasking? Or will the difference be less than that because of things I don’t understand?

Any tips, hints, links to “how to” information appreciated.

Thanks.

Deathbear · #2 04-29-2005, 12:50 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Basically, the only thing I know about SCSI drives is that they are expensive and fast. I just started doing some research and found this: “the SCSI controller can multitask, so the CPU is not locked up during hard disk operations.”

Is SCSI the real answer to speeding up PokerTracker? Would the difference be large? Does a 15000 rpm SCSI drive actually “work” over twice as fast as a 7200 rpm IDE? Even faster than that because of the multitasking? Or will the difference be less than that because of things I don’t understand?

Any tips, hints, links to “how to” information appreciated.

Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it would make that much of a difference. I'm using a 10k SATA drive (western digital raptor) and don't see much of a speed increase.

Hiding · #3 04-29-2005, 12:52 AM

what if they were set up as a raid?

astroglide · #4 04-29-2005, 12:53 AM

http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-in...ormanceFactors

they have forums as well

short answer: don't worry about scsi or raid

Hiding · #5 04-29-2005, 12:58 AM

can you set up SATA drives on RAID?

astroglide · #6 04-29-2005, 01:04 AM

http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-in...leDriveVsRaid0

Terry · #7 04-29-2005, 01:34 AM

Thanks for the link.

Why do you say “don't worry about scsi”? Are you speaking from experience or from what you’ve read?

The more I’m reading the more it sounds like it will make a big difference, particularly in seek time which is extremely important in database access. It appears to me that a fast SCSI drive actually would “perform” at more than twice the speed of an IDE. Not?

fulltilt · #8 04-29-2005, 01:43 AM

scsi is for servers. U dont' need that kind of power for poker. If u want, the best thing to go for is western digital raptors set up in raid 0. That is fast and much cheaper and more compatibale that scsi. raptors run around 130 i believe a piece and u get two, set up raid 0.

waffle · #9 04-29-2005, 02:25 AM

The real trick to speeding up pokertracker is to get away from access databases.

Terry · #10 04-29-2005, 02:27 AM

/sigh

I know I don’t “need” the power. That is not the question. The question is “Will a SCSI drive significantly reduce the lag when PT accesses the database?”

I am not concerned with cost, only with performance. From my past few hours of research, it appears that a computer boots twice as fast and programs open twice as fast just because of the drive speed. It also appears that the random seek time of SCSI drives is less than half of that of IDE – and it seems to me that that seek time is the actual bottleneck in database access.

Has anyone here used a SCSI drive?

BTW, from personal experience, I can tell you that Raid 0 makes very little difference even if it is set up correctly, using two channels.