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Date:      Fri, 13 Jul 2001 18:28:02 -0700
From:      Cy Schubert - ITSD Open Systems Group <Cy.Schubert@uumail.gov.bc.ca>
To:        "Albert D. Cahalan" <acahalan@cs.uml.edu>
Cc:        freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG, jfortin@akalink.com
Subject:   Re: Regarding New FreeBSD BenchMark From Sysadmin Mag (left  out a fiew tuning options)
Message-ID:  <200107140128.f6E1Stx06358@cwsys.cwsent.com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 12 Jul 2001 22:05:00 EDT." <200107130205.f6D250Y136048@saturn.cs.uml.edu> 

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In message <200107130205.f6D250Y136048@saturn.cs.uml.edu>, "Albert D. 
Cahalan"
writes:
> 
> Jonathan Fortin writes:
> 
> > It is regarding the new benchmark (FreeBSD-tuned),
> >
> > They forgot to enable write-cache behind (enabled by default in windows2000
> > and linux) and a bit other options I would liked of seened.
> >
> > hw.ata.wc = 1
> 
> That is for ATA. They used SCSI.
> 

SCSI write back cache is enabled in the drive's firmware.  Linux and 
Windows enable it by default  To enable SCSI write back cache you'll 
need to edit the WCE (Write Cache Enable) bit in modepage 0x08,

	camcontrol modepage da0 -m 0x08 -e -P 3

You will be entered into a vi session.  Change the WCE value from 0 to 
1 to enable write back cache and save.  Once set, the drive will 
remember the value across reboots and power cycles.  I suppose there 
might be some way to automate this through a camcontrol cmd command.  
Alternatively you can install the SCSI drive on a Linux or NT system 
first.  Both will enable WCE from the get go.  Then install the drive 
on a FreeBSD system.  Some SCSI drive manufacturers ship their drives 
with WCE enabled.  Other SCSI drive manufacturers, who are more 
concerned with data integrity as opposed to performance figures, will 
ship their drives with WCE disabled.  The default your drive will be 
shipped with depends on the drive's manufacturer.


Regards,                         Phone:  (250)387-8437
Cy Schubert                        Fax:  (250)387-5766
Team Leader, Sun/Alpha Team   Internet:  Cy.Schubert@osg.gov.bc.ca
Open Systems Group, ITSD, ISTA
Province of BC



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