Efficient tape I/O with 386/ix; How??

[David Brown]

In article <317 at focsys.UUCP>, larry at focsys.UUCP (Larry Williamson) writes:
> Streaming tape I/O with 386/ix seems to be rather slow.  The drive
> is not streaming very well.  It spends most of it's time stopping
> and starting.  I'm using an Everex Excel 60 with a long controller
> card. 
> 
> The command I've used is
> 	find . -print | cpio -ovc >/dev/rmt0
> 
I use an AT&T 6386, but I've heard that the UNIX sold by AT&T for the
6386 passed through Interactive.  I've gotten much enhanced performance
by using the -B flag to cpio:
 	find . -print | cpio -ovcB >/dev/rmt/c0s0

The difference (on an external Mountain 60mb (DC600A) drive) was something
like 45min vs. 4 hours for a full tape.  It still sounds like it's
stopping and starting a lot, though.

-- 
David Brown	 415-649-4000
Orion Network Systems 1995 University Ave. Suite 350 Berkeley CA 94704
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