Date: Mon, 08 Jul 1996 14:04:43 -0400 From: Ron Steele <ron@infi.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Optical Jukebox support in FreeBSD Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19960708180443.00664de4@mailhost.infi.net>
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At 05:24 PM 7/8/96 +0200, you wrote: >Eric J. Schwertfeger writes: >> >> How capable is FreeBSD of supporting 2 terrabytes worth of CD jukeboxes? > >No more than any other operating system, I would think. > >> I can't see buying several million in hard drives, but a CD jukebox may be >> affordable, and this information shouldn't be updated too often. >> >> O.K., I admit that even if it does work, the numbers will be so staggering >> that my boss will turn all sorts of colors, and the project will get >> killed or redesigned, but I at least want to have the numbers available. > >OK, let's look at the numbers first. Assuming you have every CD-ROM >full to the gunwhales with data (666 MB), you'll need 15,000 CD-ROMs. >The biggest junk box I know holds 7 CD-ROMs, so you'd need a good 2000 >drives. At 7 drives per host adaptor, you'd need the best part of 300 >host adaptors (why does this remind me of St Ive's?) There's no way >you can address that number of SCSI devices on a PC. > >Of course, if you can find a *real* juke box, like an overgrown >version of the real juke boxes they had in the 50's, and you can put >1000 disks in one device, you should be able to do it with two host >adaptors. But I don't know of any such device. > >Greg > > I think the question does not refer to CD-ROMs. Optical jukes are available with platters of at least 5GB each that I know of, and likely bigger. Even the 5 1/4" HP disks hold something like 1.3GB each. For the most part, once the disk is in place, these look like a normal SCSI drive, although some are worm. It is a question of controling the robot arm and getting the drive spun up. Ron
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