RE: [ProgSoc] Storage Media

[alister air <baitoven@nospam.progsoc.uts.edu.au>]

On Thu, 11 Jun 1998, Jedd wrote:

>  This is something I'm probably simply not capable of understanding.
>  Perhaps due to my experience as a part-time student at UTS.  Next
>  you'll be suggesting yachts for everyone!  ;)

No, what I'd suggest would be a "pool" of yachts which can be borrowed for
a set amount of time, rather than private ownership which is inherently
inefficient.  But this is slightly off topic :-)

If ypu're going to offer something to one group of students (say, email to
SoCS students)  there's no valid reason why, say, Humanities students
should not also have access.  Who's to say SoCS students need email more?
  
>  Oh - so the data is replicated ?  You've got 5 Novell servers (did someone
>  say 5 before?) and they're all exact copies of each other?  What a
>  bizarre idea.

Why bizarre?  If one falls over, the others are still around.  Also, this
ensures that all the labs are *identical* in every way (except hardware,
of course :-)  So a disaster can only take out one group of machines.
See?

>  would you necessarily use the existing Netware infrastructure to provide
>  individual space for 22k students?

You couldn't use existing infrastructure... at least you'd have to change
the config of the servers.  If you're talking about moving away from
NetWare, IMHO there's no reliable alternative...

> I know you don't have (nor should you be responsible for) the answers
> to all these .. but with what's been revealed so far, I'm overwhelmed
> with questions. 

Not my department, I'm just passing on what I know.  And making
assumptions about what I don't know :-)

>  (Do any com-sci / IT subjects ever set as an assignment a task of
>  re-designing the UTS network ?)

Hey!  That was going to be my final project for my master's :^)

>  Uhm - what kind of files are you suggesting here?  As in what kinds of
>  sizes?  I'm presuming we're talking small (well under 2Mb) generally.  

With a standard Word file (about ten pages), on a P-100 with ISA network
card, I've witnessed a 10 second delay n closing a file that's open on the
server, and that's *within* my own subnet.  A PCI network card slashes the
delay, but it can still take up to five seconds.  Now, imagine a Nursing
student (who'd have files saved to Magpie at Kuring-gai) saving a 100 page
Word file from a Broadway lab.  This goes across the network, back to a
campus with five labs all full of students using Netscape to find their
favourite porn/viruses/games/warez etc (and who take up 96% of the 2Mb/sec
link).  Can you estimate how long a student could be sitting waiting for
their file to save?  "Oh no, my PC just crashed while I was trying to save
a file... I've already been here a minute.  I'd better turn it off..."
 
>  probably a bit of a non-issue anyways.  No one ever *really* bothers with
>  backups.

You weren't around when ironbark fell over last year...
 
Alister

--

              alister air | graduate computing student 
           libertarian socialist | and a few other things

"By all means lets agitate for    |  "Still, politicians are the ideal
handouts, tax cuts, freebies,     |    tripe liars. Lying (in addition
bread and circuses (why not bite  |   to giving orders) is what we pay
the hand that feeds you? the      |  them for, or rather what they pay
flavor is excellent) but without  |    themselves for with our taxes."
illusions."            --(Bob Black, 1982/1985)--


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