Smartdrv vs NCache2
EST...@mvs.oac.ucla.edu
of NCache2 which is the disk caching program included in NU 8. I am
currently running DOS 6.2 with Smartdrv 5.0 on a 386-25 with 4MB RAM.
Which one of these would offer better performance? thanks for the
advice.
Yves Bellefeuille
I have found NCACHE2 to be somewhat quicker than SMARTDRV, although that
depends a lot on what you're using it for. This was with a 486-33 with
8 MB. NCACHE2 is certainly more configurable.
Interestingly, I found that using a RAM-Drive in addition to the cache
improved both SMARTDRV and NCACHE2. You may have too little memory to make
this worthwhile, though.
A bug involving NCACHE2 was discussed some time ago. I don't remember the
details, but if you installed NCACHE2 in CONFIG.SYS instead of
AUTOEXEC.BAT, it failed to properly detect a change of diskette.
--
Yves Bellefeuille, Ottawa, Canada
an...@freenet.carleton.ca (finger here for PGP key)
ua...@fim.uni-erlangen.de
Erik Laan
>Subject: Re: Smartdrv vs NCache2
>From: an...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Yves Bellefeuille)
>Date: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 02:29:49 GMT
>In a previous article, EST...@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU () says:
>>I recently purchased NU 8. I was wondering if anyone has any opinions
>>of NCache2 which is the disk caching program included in NU 8. I am
>>currently running DOS 6.2 with Smartdrv 5.0 on a 386-25 with 4MB RAM.
>>Which one of these would offer better performance? thanks for the
>>advice.
I'm using it and I like it very much. I think it's quicker and I have the
feeling the it is less 'lazy' in writing. I mean, it (ncache2) writes as soon
as resources are available. I'm under the impression that smartdrv is somewhat
'lazier' with it's writes. Ncache is certainly more configurable. I've done
some testing of different caches with my machine and found that Ncache2
is/was the quickest.
No, I don't have shares, I'm just an happy user. Erik
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erik Laan Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory
E-mail: el...@duteisp.et.tudelft.nl Department of Electrical Engineering
Telephone: 015-(78)4723, Room: 14.23 Delft University of Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Akopov Mikhail
YB>I have found NCACHE2 to be somewhat quicker than SMARTDRV, although that
YB>depends a lot on what you're using it for. This was with a 486-33 with
YB>8 MB. NCACHE2 is certainly more configurable.
YB>Interestingly, I found that using a RAM-Drive in addition to the cache
YB>improved both SMARTDRV and NCACHE2. You may have too little memory to make
YB>this worthwhile, though.
There is combi.sys which is much more clever and convenient than both
smartdrv and ncache (and any other).
It is cache and ramdrive and free xms simultiniously!
-First, you (program :) may require some XMS - you will get it.
-Second, you may write some files on ramdisk.
-Third, all remained memory will be used as disk cache!
All this works dynamically and provides general perfomance far better
than any other cache or ram-disk.
No advertisment - I'm just a satisfied user.
It works fine with Windows etc.
Vale! -Michael Akopov
P.S. Sorry for possible errors, English is my second language.
EST...@mvs.oac.ucla.edu
a...@skfgvc.pyatigorsk.su (Akopov Mikhail) writes:
Where can one find this combi.sys? Ftp site? thanks...
EST...@mvs.oac.ucla.edu
>smartdrv and ncache (and any other).
>It is cache and ramdrive and free xms simultiniously!
>-First, you (program :) may require some XMS - you will get it.
>-Second, you may write some files on ramdisk.
>-Third, all remained memory will be used as disk cache!
>All this works dynamically and provides general perfomance far better
>than any other cache or ram-disk.
>
>No advertisment - I'm just a satisfied user.
>It works fine with Windows etc.
>
>Vale! -Michael Akopov
This program sounds great... where can you find COMBI.SYS? Is it
commercial? Shareware? FTP Site? thanks...
Akopov Mikhail
ESTU>a...@skfgvc.pyatigorsk.su (Akopov Mikhail) writes:
[...]
ESTU>>There is combi.sys which is much more clever and convenient than both
ESTU>>smartdrv and ncache (and any other).
[...]
ESTU>>No advertisment - I'm just a satisfied user.
ESTU>Where can one find this combi.sys? Ftp site? thanks...
I can add that I use combi for about 2 years. It really works great.
You can find it at
ftp.kiae.su
msdos/sys/cache/combi113.zip of 48256 bytes
Hmm, the last version I know (and use) is 116. It's much better.
I went to send it (116) to interested persons, but I found too many
people interested in combi. Therefore I'll try to connect with
combi's author, Vadim Vlasov, to resolve this problem.
Anyway I advise to get .zip mentioned. It's quite OK.
I recall its price was about 30$ (it is shareware).
Vale! -Michael Akopov
Akopov Mikhail
AM>EST...@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU wrote:
AM>ESTU>Where can one find this combi.sys? Ftp site? thanks...
AM>ftp.kiae.su
AM>msdos/sys/cache/combi113.zip of 48256 bytes
AM>Hmm, the last version I know (and use) is 116. It's much better.
AM>I went to send it (116) to interested persons, but I found too many
AM>people interested in combi. Therefore I'll try to connect with
AM>combi's author, Vadim Vlasov, to resolve this problem.
I had a chat with Vadim. He promised he will update that archive in a
few days.
His e-mail address changed against that in combi113.zip and is
v...@ms3.inr.ac.ru
Nigel Horne
an...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA "Yves Bellefeuille" writes:
> A bug involving NCACHE2 was discussed some time ago. I don't remember the
> details, but if you installed NCACHE2 in CONFIG.SYS instead of
> AUTOEXEC.BAT, it failed to properly detect a change of diskette.
This happens to me with ncache2 loaded from autoexec.bat, so I went back
to smartdrv. I probably would have done it anyway, because I found compilations
to be up to 25% slower (MSC version 8.00) with ncache2 that smartdrv on a
16Mb 486 DX/66 with 512K ram disc.
-Nigel
--
Nigel Horne, G0LOV. Technical Director, SoftCare Media Systems Ltd.
Internet: n...@smsltd.demon.co.uk; Fidonet: Nigel Horne @ 2:250/408;
Packet: QSP Via G4LUE@GB7WRG; Phone: +44-1226-283021.
Peter Herweijer
>ftp.kiae.su
>msdos/sys/cache/combi113.zip of 48256 bytes
My system says "unknown host". Anyway, it's also on SimTel, directory
diskutil.
>Hmm, the last version I know (and use) is 116. It's much better.
That's GOOD NEWS! I have tested combi v1.10-1.13 extensively and felt
it was the best idea since sliced bread. However, these versions were
marred by a couple of design flaws; with a couple of inexplicable cases
of filesystem corruption that may or may have not been due to combi on
top, that was enough for me to dump it. But in some ways, I still miss
combi; it's brilliant.
Oh, the design flaws as far as I remember were:-
Combi did not empty itself on a drive reset; many programs and
installation utilities expect a cache to flush itself in response. I
have gotten my filesystem corrupted a few times by programs that
assumed it was safe to reboot the computer after a drive reset.
Writes could be delayed for an indeterminate amount of time, this is
potentially -very- dangerous, eg a FAT may get completely outdated
The cache could get completely filled up with deferred writes, which
effectively kills all caching functionality (it's as bad as having
no cache at all). This happened routinely eg when doing a massive
copying operation or when making a huge archive. What it -should-
have done is a (partial) flush to free up some core or at least
reserve a percentage of memory for read caching.
I sent my observations to the author, who appeared to agree, but after
v1.13 work on combi seemed to have stopped (a lot of things happened in
quick succession in Russia at the time, so I wondered what happened) and
I haven't used it since.
If v1.16 addresses above issues PLEASE upload it to SimTel. I'm sure
many people would be happy to see a new version. It is potentially the
greatest cache around... even v1.13 virtually slaughtered any other
cache in every benchmark I could find. Not to mention the intelligent
memory pooling technique... once you get used to it, every other cache
seems incredibly stupid.
>I went to send it (116) to interested persons, but I found too many
>people interested in combi.
Me too! Me too! ;^>
- Peter Herweijer
pie...@sci.kun.nl