From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 11 20:04:18 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A12A916A4CE; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:04:18 +0000 (GMT) Received: from zhonka1.zhonka.net (zhonka1.zhonka.net [66.228.195.5]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1BFBF43D3F; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:04:18 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from freebsd@philip.pjkh.com) Received: from wolf.pjkh.com ([66.228.196.74]) by zhonka1.zhonka.net (Post.Office MTA v3.5.3 release 223 ID# 0-58414U4500L450S0V35) with ESMTP id net; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:05 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wolf.pjkh.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id A0041584B; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from wolf.pjkh.com ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (wolf.pjkh.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id 25548-01; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: by wolf.pjkh.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 66DB05849; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wolf.pjkh.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 617C75847; Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:11 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:04:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Philip Hallstrom To: NMH In-Reply-To: <73B9F311B457054FD8DF3A68@utd49554.utdallas.edu> Message-ID: <20050411130116.S25455@wolf.pjkh.com> References: <20050411193037.40627.qmail@web41827.mail.yahoo.com> <73B9F311B457054FD8DF3A68@utd49554.utdallas.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at pjkh.com cc: questions cc: hardware Subject: Re: Hard drive fullness limits information help request X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:04:18 -0000 >> Hi all >> I know hard drives tend to not run well when near >> full. They have trouble performing self adjustments >> (hardware), self defragging(unix/FFS) etc.. (as I can >> express it) However, I need to find some documentation >> or some help in explaining this better. >> I am working with some people who store loads of >> files, on many drives and tend to fill the drives to >> 95% and more and then can't understand why they become >> unstable. I need to be able to explain it better and >> I would also like to know more to be able to >> factually/sanely set a percent full safe limit. >> >> Any help would be appreciatted >> > Q: What happens when you fill a cabinet that is designed to hold 100 folders > with 95 folders, many of which are crammed full of papers? > > A: It gets much harder to put more folders in or to put more "stuff" in the > existing folders. And papers start to stick out and catch on the top of the > drawer because they no longer fit. And to add to that, when you realize you want to re-organize folder XYZ to make it "tidier", but you don't want to do it to the originals since they are important to you, where are you going to get the room to first make a a copy of the folder, then organize it, then replace the original once you've confirmed that you didn't leave any papers on the floor. So you are stuck with an untidy XYS folder. Yuck. Probably not the most accurate analogy, but it's easy to understand...