To add up on Wayne's comment, there is another issue to consider, and that
is disk size. I've read that the biggest disk that can be configured these
days on MPE is about 400 gigs. WHere that figure comes from, I have no idea.
My last chance to look within the source of MPE is 6 years old today, and
even MPE's proverbial stability provides for enhancements in such a long
time window.

My point is this : if you can get a 120-gig, or 400-gig, or for that matter
a 10,000 gig drive off-the-shelf, and can only configure 73 gigs, then it's
a waste of money. Even worse, if you can't configure the disk at all because
MPE, for any reason, can't handle such a large beast, then it's an even
greater waste of money.

That leads to an obvious subsequent question : what's the REAL (i.e.
technical, not marketing) disk that can be configured on MPE as of today ?

Christian

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : OpenMPE Support Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]De la part de
> Wayne R. Boyer
> Envoye : mercredi 2 juillet 2003 23:41
> A : [log in to unmask]
> Objet : Re: FW: Why HP disk drives
>
>
> In a message dated 7/2/03 12:02:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > Perhaps some of the third party hardware vendors would care to
> > chime in with their prospective on this topic.
> >
> >
>
> Part of the focus of this discussion relates to the probable
> failure of disc
> drives in the future...
>
> Some drives last a lot longer than the average person
> expects.  HPIB disc
> drives for example, are still available on the used market.
> And yes they do work
> just fine.  A 10 year old drive is normally not a big
> maintenance issue.  A
> 20 year old drive on the other hand is.
>
> Important questions for MPE users are:
>
> How long do you intend to use a HP-3000 with certain models
> of disc drives?
> What is your upgrade path in the future?
> Will you be able to obtain enough good used drives in the
> future to handle
> greatly expanded future storage needs?
>
> A new current technology 100GB drive is equivalent in space
> to 50 older 2GB
> drives.  If you need 100GB of space in the future, do you
> have SCSI address
> space, controllers, and slots to set that arrangement up?
> Think about what if
> you need 1000GB for website graphics or whatever and the
> biggest drives that you
> can obtain are say 18GB.  That's still about 50 drives.  I
> personally would
> love to know that very high capacity current model SCSI
> drives will work fine
> on older (9x7?) type systems.  I am not sure where the limit
> is though.
>
> The best solution is to not have to worry about all this and
> perpetuating
> older hardware.  That's why I continue to push for the
> availability of MPE source
> code.  If nothing in a future non-HP version of MPE locks us
> into current
> hardware, we do not have to worry about the existence and
> reliability of this
> current hardware.  While as a long time used equipment
> dealer, I know from
> experience that hardware can and will last a long time, I
> also know that eventually
> there will come a time when the failure rate makes
> perpetuating the hardware a
> poor business decision.  MPE and current/future technology
> hardware is a
> sound foundation.  We just need a way to accomplish that plan.
>
> Wayne Boyer