modems

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>>>>> "Len" == Len Ovens <len.ovens@studio.cbbs.org> writes:

 MO> Out of curiosity, how come folks running MS Doze seem to have
 Len> little
 MO> problem with faxing. I'm sure the modems in the boxes they are
 Len> buying
 MO> are nothing special. Admittedly, my sample size is quite
 MO> small.

 Len> Try sending a fax in windoze through one modem and
 Len> downloading a file from another site through another at the
 Len> same time. Windows is still a single user system and
 Len> primarily a single tasking system. Most people I know, sit
 Len> and watch the fax go through. Try formating a floppy at the
 Len> same time :-)

 Len> Len

Try formatting a floppy under Linux at the same time much else is
going on. The floppy problem is a hardware problem. The hardware was
designed around the assumption that the processor would be dedicated
to servicing the floppy controller for the duration of any floppy I/O
operation. Formatting is just more stressful than reading or writing.
It is also much easier to retry a read or write if it failed that to
retry formatting an entire track. Crummy PC hardware is the problem
with floppys. 

I hardly ever use floppies anymore. DAT is much better backup medium
in this age of GB drives. How many floppies would it take to back up
my 5 GB server? How long would it take? What would the floppies
cost? What would my time cost as a consultant. It would be cheaper
to buy another GB drive and do a drive to drive DD.

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