Computers are fast

Re:Computers are fast by alecco on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @03:26PM (#1784564)

CPUs are fast but the ratio of latency of random access vs. maximum bandwidth is getting worse.

In nanoseconds, approximately:

  10^7 Disk seek
  10^4 2KB over 1Gbps
  10^2 RAM uncached reference
  10^1 L2/L3 cache reference
  10^0 L1 cache reference

That's why systems don't feel fast lately. In particular for big data or bloated software that can't fit well within the caches or shared systems doing a lot of frequent switches (VMs in particular.)

Many classic assumptions for algorithms are outdated. Like avoiding full sequential scans. Those are fast for simple operations.

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Re:Computers are fast by jjcm on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @05:16PM (#1785012)

SSD's have become viable in terms of $/GB to justify them in a server room these days. I'd highly recommend moving to them (for your boot drive/VMs at least). It will make a world of difference. $400 may seem like a lot to spend for 160GB of storage, but knocking off two orders of magnitude off your seek time quickly becomes worth it when you're running four VMs off it at once.

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Re:Computers are fast by alecco on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @05:31PM (#1785055)

Seagate Momentus XT hybrid is very cool. Probably the best bang for the buck at the moment.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3734/seagates-momentus-xt-revi...

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Re:Computers are fast by thelabyrinth on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @08:08PM (#1785511)

If you haven't read a lot about SSDs, you should read the big Anandtech article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738 .

I didn't think SSDs were that important until I read this and was like, "Oh, I should get one." Which I haven't done yet -- soon, though. When AppleCare on my iMac expires.

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Re:Computers are fast by alecco on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @08:31PM (#1785548)

SSD (80GB, Intel) + hybrid (500GB, Seagate)

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