ACARD ARS-2000SUP versus SCSI2SD - round 1

[Swift Griggs]

On Sat, 25 Jun 2016, pete wrote:
> > I'd love to see results under IRIX, as I was thinking of trying one or both
> > of those myself!
> Seconded, though it looks like it'll be considerably slower than a real SCSI2
> hard drive.

I'm not sure about that. I've got another ACARD unit (the faster SCA 
model) that I use in my Tezro. I also have a second disk (the Tezro can 
hold a couple) that's a spinning rust 15k Barracuda. I don't have numbers 
right now (next time I fire up my Tezro I'll get some). However, 
anecdotally, the ACARD disk (also predicated on a Samsung 850 Pro SATA 
SSD) will absolutely stomp the Barracuda's guts out in every stat and 
especially on latency. 

The main time I can "feel" it is when I run Photoshop or a browser. The 
SSD-based ACARD makes the system feel a lot faster. Pages finish loading 
faster, 'rqsall' takes about half as long, packages install much more 
quickly, and the silly delays you get when 'inst' is reading package 
metadata takes a lot less time. I curse at it only about half as much (I 
love IRIX but 'inst' and I aren't pals - I haze it often).

I know that's all anecdotal, but I'm pretty sure I tested the disk when I 
first got it and it blew the rust-based drive away. I've just got my bench 
all covered with Quadra 700 parts and various jury-rigged SCSI cables so I 
can install from CDROM on a machine that doesn't have space for a CDROM 
etc.. When I finish refurbing this thing with a MacOS + A/UX 3 dual boot 
rig, I'll grab the SGIs. I'll try out the ACARD vs SCSI2SD on my R5k/180 
Indy.

-Swift