Re: Dumb question: Which is "better" SCSI or IDE disks?

Jeffrey B. Siegal (jbs@quiotix.com)
Sun, 06 Dec 1998 08:16:02 -0800


Leonard Zhang System Administrator ISD RVIB wrote:

> If the disk assembly is the same, the date output from the physical disk is the
> same either in SCSI or IDE. It depends on how many sectors/bits can pass under
> the aligned head. It depends on how fast the disk is spinning, and how many
> sectors the manufacture can squeeze in a cylindar.
>
> If the disk assembly is the same, the MTBF is the same either in SCSI or IDE.
> The reliability is the same.

Be careful with these assumptions. The disk assembly may appear to be the same,
and may in fact be the same, but the IDE product may be deliberately degraded in
order to segment the market between those who want a more expensive, higher
performance and quality drive and those who want a less expensive drive.

See http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/version.pdf for more discussion of
this strategy, including specific examples of products where it has been applied.

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