[linux-audio-user] Laptop + Multiface = Easy?

[Lee Revell]

On Sun, 2004-09-12 at 23:44, Mark Knecht wrote:
> On Sun, 2004-09-12 at 19:49, Cournapeau David (ENST) wrote:
> > Mark Knecht wrote:
> > 
> > >   While none of this directly applicable to what you are experiencing,
> > >when I read your note it seemed similar enough to go ahead and write
> > >back. It might not only be the type of files system, but also where on
> > >the drive you are writing. It's not always that well known, but most
> > >drives are 30-50% slower at the far end of the drive. Most drives are
> > >speed rated when they are empty.
> > >  
> > >
> > Without knowing anything about the details of
> > hard drive conception, I would think that ALL
> > drives are much slower for tracks near the
> > axe than on the border of the disks, since
> > the speed is proportional to the distance track->axe.
> > This is inherent to any system using a disk and having
> > constant angular speed.
> > 
> > I know that even windows
> > 95 tried to put the data on the borders of the disks of
> > an hard drive as long as it could. I am pretty sure linux does the same.
> > 
> Yep - that, and also that as a drive becomes more full it also naturally
> becomes more fragmented, and fragmentation causes more drive head
> movement seeking out places to put data.
> 

Many file systems also switch from their normal, fast layout algorithms
to a slower but more space efficient scheme when they reach 90% full.  I
believe the BSD FFS was the first file system to do this, and large
parts of Windows are known to be copied from BSD.

Lee