Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 10:22:37 +0100 From: Mike Clarke <jmc-freebsd2@milibyte.co.uk> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: switching discs during install Message-ID: <200809071022.37765.jmc-freebsd2@milibyte.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <4b2381fb0809062307x4b7ef550lfba5d74e9057dccf@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b2381fb0809060359u53f85d06u4696d527063c5e4d@mail.gmail.com> <48C26870.7050100@gmail.com> <4b2381fb0809062307x4b7ef550lfba5d74e9057dccf@mail.gmail.com>
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On Sunday 07 September 2008, James Strother wrote: > That said, I still think that as long as the freebsd foundation > distributes CD images it would be worthwhile to make them as > effective as possible. Actually, even if the install were moved to a > DVD, the ordered install I proposed would still improve the > situation. =A0When the packages are haphazardly ordered on the disc, > the CD/DVD reader is forced to perform a large number of seeks that > dramatically reduces data throughput. =A0When they are read in order, > read rates should be much better. They might not be as haphazard as you suggest. ISTR once reading that=20 the CDs were arranged with the most popular packages on the first CD so=20 that you would only need to download disk 2 (and 3) if you wanted some=20 of the less common packages. With your suggested layout it's quite=20 likely that a package which most of the others depend on would be right=20 down at the bottom of the list with the result that you'd invariably=20 need to download all 3 CD images. I think the best way to avoid the need for frequent CD switching would=20 be for sysinstall to sort the list of selected packages into CD order=20 before installing them. I imagine this would require some changes to=20 pkg_add to prevent it from installing dependencies and I expect the=20 possible benefits would not be considered to be sufficient to justify=20 the effort. =2D-=20 Mike Clarke
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