Disk Technology. Suppose we have a magnetic disk (resembling an IBM Microdrive) with the following parameters:
Answer the following questions. (Note: you may leave any answer as a fraction.)
(a) What is the average time to read a single sector?
(b) What is the average time to read 8 KB in 16 consecutive sectors in the same cylinder?
(c) Now suppose we have an array of 4 of these disks. They are all synchronized such that the arms on all the disks are always on the same sector within the track. The data is striped across the 4 disks so that 4 logically consecutive sectors can be read in parallel. What is the average time to read 32 consecutive KB from the disk array?

Question

Disk Technology. Suppose we have a magnetic disk (resembling an IBM Microdrive) with the following parameters:
  Answer the following questions. (Note: you may leave any answer as a fraction.)
(a) What is the average time to read a single sector?
(b) What is the average time to read 8 KB in 16 consecutive sectors in the same cylinder?
(c) Now suppose we have an array of 4 of these disks. They are all synchronized such that the arms on all the disks are always on the same sector within the track. The data is striped across the 4 disks so that 4 logically consecutive sectors can be read in parallel. What is the average time to read 32 consecutive KB from the disk array?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer of Disk Technology. Suppose we have a magnetic disk (resembling an IBM Microdrive) with the following parameters:
  Answer the following questions. (Note: you may leave any answer as a fraction.)
(a) What is the average time to read a single sector?
(b) What is the average time to read 8 KB in 16 consecutive sectors in the same cylinder?
(c) Now suppose we have an array of 4 of these disks. They are all synchronized such that the arms on all the disks are always on the same sector within the track. The data is striped across the 4 disks so that 4 logically consecutive sectors can be read in parallel. What is the average time to read 32 consecutive KB from the disk array?