[mythtv-users] Question about hard drives

[James L. Paul]

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Jim Foster wrote:
| I have been experimenting with MythTV on a non-dedicated box just to get
| a feel for it and see if it fits my needs.
|
| I am getting closer to creating a dedicated MythTV box, but I have a
| question about drives.  I have always been taught that faster is better,
| but doing a Google search on drive information, I found this from Maxtor
|
(_http://www.maxtor.com/en/documentation/white_papers/hdd_considerations_white_paper.pdf_).

| First, they are selling their QuickView drive the set-top PVR
| manufactures. These drives do appear to have a corresponding equivalent
| in the desktop line, but are very slightly different in specs.
|
| The article, in short, it says that a 5400 RPM drive has more than
| enough bandwidth to handle up to 5 simultaneous input streams. The
| advantage then is that the drive runs cooler and quieter as well as uses
| less power.
|
| What I would like to know is there anyone who has any real-world
| experience using 5400 RPM drive (desktop version, presumably) with MythTV?

I have an environment that is very warm, and so cooling is a major
concern for me. Some 5400RPM drives are easier for me to keep cool and
so I use several of them as appropriate when disk throughput isn't a
bottleneck.

Modern 5400RPM drives should all have DMA and at least ATA-100, which
more than enough for compressed video. If Myth was storing uncompressed
video it would be another story, but that's not the case.

With MythTV we're talking about gigabytes per HOUR, not gigs per minute.
~ Our compressed video needs are about an order of magnitude or more
under the capabilities of a modern drive with DMA.

I backed up 100GB from my server array to an old 100GB Maxtor drive last
month in about 90 minutes, and that wasn't even particularly fast. A 90
minute movie is about 1/15 as big. To turn that around, I could record
15 movies at the same time before disk speed would be a factor.

DMA keeps your CPU from taking a huge hit moving that much data, if you
have it, then even a 4200RPM laptop drive on ATA-33 is way more than enough.

| Thanks
| Jim
|
|
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