TBBS 2.x - What Type of Hard Disk Should I Use?

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
           15200 E. Girard Ave., Suite 3000
           Aurora, CO  80014
           (303) 699-6565      Voice
           (303) 699-6872      Fax
           (303) 699-8222      BBS
           support@esoft.com   E-Mail

WHAT TYPE OF HARD DISK SHOULD I USE?
------------------------------------

Generally, eSoft recommends that you purchase the fastest hard disk you can 
reasonably afford.  In most cases, selecting a faster hard disk has a bigger 
performance benefit than selecting a faster CPU.  

Modern fast hard disks, those in the 10 to 15 millisecond range, are 
interfaced using ESDI or SCSI controllers.  Either are fine for use with TBBS 
in most cases.  This speed range is ideal for TBBS installations with high 
lines counts and/or high speed modems. 

SCSI controllers can be tricky to install, however.  Most SCSI controllers are 
bus mastering, meaning that they perform their own direct memory access,
bypassing normal conventions.  This can cause conflicts with memory management 
software -- a part of most TBBS installations.  As such, if you select a bus 
mastering SCSI disk controller, you should also obtain VDS compliant software 
drivers from the manufacturer of the controller card.  These VDS drivers 
ensure compatibility between the SCSI controller and a memory manager, and 
must be installed properly prior to using a SCSI controller with TBBS when a 
memory manager (such as EMM386, QEMM or 386MAX) is installed.

Older AT-class hard drives, in the range of 20 to 30 milliseconds, are 
interfaced using IDE, RLL, ARRL or MFM methods.  All are fine with for use 
with TBBS.  This speed range is adequate for nearly every TBBS installation. 

Now ancient XT-class hard disks, with 65 millisecond access times and up, are 
usually interfaced using MFM controllers.  Although the interface technique is 
fine, the speed of these disks is usually on the slow side for many TBBS 
installations.  Still, this class of hard disk is adequate for low to medium 
line counts and/or installations using 2400 bps (or slower) modems. 

As far as the capacity of the hard disk you choose, the number of megabytes 
depends entirely on your situation.  A TBBS installation itself could fit on a 
single floppy disk, so plan hard disk space based on the number of files you 
will have on-line for download, and the estimated size of your message base.  
Even a 20 Meg hard disk is fine for most simple installations.  Some very 
large file-oriented TBBS systems have disk capacity in excess of 1 Gigabyte, 
so you can see it depends on how file intensive your system is.  In most 
cases, TBBS sysops start with about 300 Meg of available space and add more as 
needed.

TBBS0019
Rev. 10/90

Revised 10/93
Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
to distribute this file in its entirety, without modification, to any
interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
eSoft, Inc.

IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
Please call or write to confirm factual information of importance to you
or your organization.

