hard drive Buffer

mangojaijai · 04-19-2005, 11:34 PM

what does Buffer do? i have one which is 2MB and other one is 8MB, which one i should i use for operatiing system?

MoonShadow_1AU · 04-20-2005, 02:20 AM

Buffers are used when writing to disk. My simple understanding is that when the buffer is full it commits the data to the HDD, or if the system is idle it will flush the buffer writing the data to HDD.

If you have a small buffer you will have the drive activating writing more than a big buffer. So a big buffer means less drive ware and tear.

On the other hand .... if the buffer is not full and the power is lost ... any files in buffer will also be lost (and usually that means that the file on HDD gets corrupted).

For me I would choose he 2Mb buffered drive for the OS and the 8Mb buffered drive for the data (but I have no real explaination as to why).

Inactive · 04-20-2005, 06:58 AM

i'm curious as to where you'd assign buffers to any particular device? i thought that the buffers were controlled 'quietly' in the background by the bios. i'm sure the OS sends the command for the information to be moved and then the bios carries out the instructions, but my knowledge of OS's is limited.

**johnwill** · 04-20-2005, 07:24 AM

The larger disk drive cache will have a noticable effect on performance, my tests came up with about a 15-20% improvement with two 120gig 7200 RPM drives, one with a 2mb cache, and one with the 8mb cache.

I'd use the one with the larger cache for the OS, since that's the drive that normally has more random accesses.

freddyhard, the buffer is a hardware memory buffer on the hard disk, just like you have memory on your video card.

04-19-2005, 11:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
mangojaijai Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 14 OS: xp	hard drive Buffer what does Buffer do? i have one which is 2MB and other one is 8MB, which one i should i use for operatiing system?

04-20-2005, 02:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
MoonShadow_1AU Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 119 OS: Win Vista Ultimate	Buffers are used when writing to disk. My simple understanding is that when the buffer is full it commits the data to the HDD, or if the system is idle it will flush the buffer writing the data to HDD. If you have a small buffer you will have the drive activating writing more than a big buffer. So a big buffer means less drive ware and tear. On the other hand .... if the buffer is not full and the power is lost ... any files in buffer will also be lost (and usually that means that the file on HDD gets corrupted). For me I would choose he 2Mb buffered drive for the OS and the 8Mb buffered drive for the data (but I have no real explaination as to why). __________________ MoonShadow Dell 2405FPW, BenQ 17", D-Link DI524UP, Epson CX5100, Epson R310 + CIS Kit Vista Ultimate, P4 3.2ht, ASUS P4C800-E Dlx, 3Gb RAM, XFX 6600GT 128Mb AGP8x, 700Gb HDDs, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, SoundBlaster X-Fi

04-20-2005, 07:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,748 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	The larger disk drive cache will have a noticable effect on performance, my tests came up with about a 15-20% improvement with two 120gig 7200 RPM drives, one with a 2mb cache, and one with the 8mb cache. I'd use the one with the larger cache for the OS, since that's the drive that normally has more random accesses. freddyhard, the buffer is a hardware memory buffer on the hard disk, just like you have memory on your video card. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

04-20-2005, 06:58 AM	#3 (permalink)
Inactive Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,704 OS: ~	i'm curious as to where you'd assign buffers to any particular device? i thought that the buffers were controlled 'quietly' in the background by the bios. i'm sure the OS sends the command for the information to be moved and then the bios carries out the instructions, but my knowledge of OS's is limited.