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> I think my real reason for posting this is I'm unhappy with my IO |
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> performance. I've got a 320GB Seagate SATAII drive. How much better |
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> can I do with conventional hard disks? Is there a test I can run to |
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> make sure my Seagate is performing as it should? |
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How about you go to single user mode issue the command hdparm -tT |
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/dev/<yourdisk> three times, and post the results here? |
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Second, here are some basic hints about disk performance. |
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1) Disk speed is faster in the beginning of the disk (because the |
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beginning of the disk is stored in the outer border of the disk, which |
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has greater linear velocity than the inner border). It may be a good |
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idea to put you swap partition first (and don't exaggerate on its |
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size, since it is occupying valuable space in the beginning of the |
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disk), then your main partition, then other partitions. |
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2) Your filesystem should not be too full; one of the problems this |
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causes is fragmentation |
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3) If your filesystem is very old, it is probably fragmented. While |
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fragmentation in LInux is a much smaller problem than in Windows |
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(specially Windows 95/98/ME), it happens over time, specially if the |
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filesystem is too full. I don't know how easily you can defragment in |
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Linux though. Have other people in this list tried sys-fs/shake? I am |
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afraid of it because it is ~x86 and would operate on important areas |
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of my filesystem. |
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4) file access is slower if there are too many files in the directory. |
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Consider cleaning up your system (such as by wiping out software you |
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never use, and unmerging software you rarely use after creating a |
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package of it with quickpkg) |
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5) Use lighter-weight software such as Xfce (yeah, obvious). |
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