Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Why Not To Shout At Your Disk Array

Posted by timothy on from the that's-what-your-subordinates-are-for dept.

Brendan Gregg of Sun's Fishworks lab has an interesting video demo up at YouTube demonstrating just how bad vibes, if expressed with sufficient volume in front of a rack full of disks, can cause a spike in disk latency. White noise, evidently, doesn't do them much harm. (Maybe they just feel awkward to get yelled at on camera.)

19 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. Youtube comments by slugtastic · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...always made me laugh.

    he's like the crocodile hunter of loud server rooms

    1. Re:Youtube comments by owlstead · · Score: 2, Funny

      ...always made me laugh.

      Yeah, they get you less tense.

  2. Maybe this is why Windows gets slower all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    People yelling too much at their computers

  3. This Discovery by nitsnipe · · Score: 5, Funny

    It bothers me,
    How this guy actually made the discovery.

    He must have let off quite a bit of steam towards that rack.

    1. Re:This Discovery by thermian · · Score: 2, Funny

      'The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.'

      George Carlin

      --
      A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    2. Re:This Discovery by Killjoy_NL · · Score: 2, Funny

      *sniff*
      I'm dry and pedantic now

      --
      This is the sig that says NI (again)
    3. Re:This Discovery by TheLink · · Score: 2, Funny

      And udderly inspired he was.

      Q: How did the <insert target cultural/racial/whatever group here> man die whilst drinking milk?
      A: The cow sat on him.

      Sorry, couldn't resist milking it for what it's worth ;).

      --
    4. Re:This Discovery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      >white liquid that tasted so good

      The first few brave adventurers were killed by bulls.

  4. Is this a feature? by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 2, Funny

    Might the the drives themselves be sensing the induced vibration via an embedded accelerometer and momentarily parking the heads to avoid damage? It seems like the marketing folks shouldn't have too hard of a time putting a positive spin on this behavior.

  5. Great.... by Whillowhim · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now when Skynet finally goes sentient, it'll sue for emotional abuse. I thought metal death machines were bad, but now Lawyer-bots? We're doomed.

  6. Re:Interesting... by sakdoctor · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would say yes. When I was a teen my mother walked into my room and started moaning about the mess.
    Right then, windows blue screened and later I found the hard drive was completely dead. (Think it was a 15GB Maxtor or thereabouts) That cost me some pocket money to replace at the time.

    If you have women living in the house, factor this into your backup procedure.

  7. Re:Interesting... by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    You made me wonder; if the the effect could be detected and "read", a you say, it would be possible to use it as a way of transmitting information to the computer by shouting at it.

    I then remembered microphones.

  8. Re:Maybe this is why Windows gets slower all the t by Gandalf_Greyhame · · Score: 5, Funny

    hmm, bit of a chicken and the egg scenario there, isn't it?

    is it slow because you yell at it, or do you yell at it because it is slow?

    Either way, in the end it only degenerates into a downward spiral, where the computer gets slower and slower, while you get more and more pissed off at it and yell louder...

    --
    I am not stubborn. I am right!
  9. Re:On colors of sound by Jaden42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    And are those kept near the nuclear wessels?

    Sorry, could not resist.

  10. Also by Brendan Gregg by Gord · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also from Brendan Gregg comes the always useful /usr/bin/maybe. Other funnies from him here.

  11. before making fun of hard disks by mugurel · · Score: 3, Funny

    go and measure your own performance degradation while your hard disk does something mean to you

  12. the disk whisperer ... by BigMike · · Score: 4, Funny

    I dub this guy the disk whisperer ...

  13. Re:Why isn't this under idle? by trolltalk.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's been known for a long time vibrations are not good for discs (see notebooks). Even by early 90s music CDs had skip protection. If a disc skips, latency will of course momentarily increase. And with tolerances down even further, it's probably worse than back then.

    There's BAD vibrations, and then there's GOOD Vibrations.

    --
    Kevin Smith on Prince
  14. Re:Interesting... by apoupc · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I would say yes. When I was a teen my mother walked into my room and started moaning..." I thought this was going to go somewhere else...