Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 10:50:21 -0400 From: Nathan Dorfman <nathan@fcc.net> To: Andrew Bromage <bromage@queens.unimelb.edu.au>, freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: CD writers as a backup medium Message-ID: <19980801105021.B12513@fcc.net> In-Reply-To: <19980801180401.24027@queens.unimelb.edu.au>; from Andrew Bromage on Sat, Aug 01, 1998 at 06:04:01PM %2B1000 References: <199807311940.MAA11663@hub.freebsd.org> <199808010247.WAA05287@pobox.ids.net> <19980801180401.24027@queens.unimelb.edu.au>
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On Sat, Aug 01, 1998 at 06:04:01PM +1000, Andrew Bromage wrote: > G'day all. > > Just wondered if anyone had thoughts on using a CD writer with > FreeBSD-stable as a backup medium. Does the lack of hard real-timeness > matter? Like, if some other process starts thrashing, will my CD be > ruined? Is the support for some writers better than others? Should I > just stick with tape? Yes, the lack of hard real-timeness matters. CD writers ideally want a constant stream of data. Depending on the size of the buffer in your drive, you can interrupt the stream for as much as a second or two. However, if some other process starts thrashing and the CDR drive's buffer *is* exhausted, there is nothing more to write and you're SOL, as that CD is now a coaster. This is why people make filesystems on their hard disk and then burn it to CD. However, if the system is mostly idle, and you have a fast disk, you shouldn't have too many problems backing up to CD. You may want to consider sticking to tape though. Tapes hold what, 4 gigs? CD-ROMS hold 650MB. > Cheers, > Andrew Bromage -- Nathan Dorfman | E-mail: nathan@fcc.net Frontline Communications | Front desk: 914-623-8553: To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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