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Thread: Linux disk parameters...

  1. #1
    YUKIKAZE arthurleung's Avatar
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    Linux disk parameters...

    I have a CentOS based server sitting in a datacenter.

    /dev/hdc:
    Timing buffered disk reads: 10 MB in 3.62 seconds = 2.76 MB/sec

    /dev/hdc:
    multcount = 16 (on)
    IO_support = 0 (default 16-bit)
    unmaskirq = 0 (off)
    using_dma = 0 (off)
    keepsettings = 0 (off)
    readonly = 0 (off)
    readahead = 256 (on)
    geometry = 19457/255/63, sectors = 312581808, start = 0
    The disk performance is horrid at best.

    In the last server I tried, some hdparm option will damage the partition -> no boot.
    I can stop all the disk-accessing services on the server but I can't unmount partitions remotely.

    I wonder if there are some sort of automated script or which setting is safe to use to improve the disk performance.
    I will backup the server before I do anything but restoring is a b*tch.
    I only have remote ssh access to the server.

    I also wonder if there are any way to shrink/split a linux partition remotely, so I could somehow reduce the "fragmentation" (I know people say linux partitions don't fragment).

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    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
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    Re: Linux disk parameters...

    Well it's not using DMA, so I guess, unless that parameter isn't telling the truth, it's using PIO... which is dog slow. And if that's the case, I wonder why it isn't using DMA.
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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: Linux disk parameters...

    Quote Originally Posted by arthurleung View Post
    I have a CentOS based server sitting in a datacenter.



    The disk performance is horrid at best.
    the dodgy one is this one: using_dma = 0 (off)

    in theory, you want "hdparm -d /dev/hdc"

    In the last server I tried, some hdparm option will damage the partition -> no boot.
    I can stop all the disk-accessing services on the server but I can't unmount partitions remotely.

    I wonder if there are some sort of automated script or which setting is safe to use to improve the disk performance.
    I will backup the server before I do anything but restoring is a b*tch.
    I only have remote ssh access to the server.

    I also wonder if there are any way to shrink/split a linux partition remotely, so I could somehow reduce the "fragmentation" (I know people say linux partitions don't fragment).
    that's half true. linux partitions cannot fragment until they start to fill up - on windows, you can fragment an entire disk with just two .txt files, but the same is not true on linux - on linux, the more full it is, the more chance of file fragmentation. the "filefrag" command will tell you how badly fragmented a file is. to defrag a file, in theory, just copy it and delete the original. there are better defraggers on other filesystems than the norm (ext3)

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    Re: Linux disk parameters...

    I like OS X's solution to fragmentation. Every time you access a file that is fragmented and is <20MiB in size, it automatically defragments it (basically, moves the file to an area on the disk where it can fit contiguously). Pretty nifty idea, no?

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