Check Harddisk  v0.99 beta
(c) copyright 1996 Marnix Timmermans; All rights reserved

INTRODUCTION

This is a short introduction to CheckHD. Please read the on-line help as well
(especially the topic 'How a hard drive works'), to fully understand what this
program can do for you.

First of all, CheckHD will try to determine the physical characteristics of your
hard drive. CheckHD results look a bit like manufacturers specifications. It
will tell you your drive's sustained throughput on all parts of the disk, the
random seek time, the rotational speed and the latency. In most cases
CheckHD goes even further than that. If possible it will give you the exact
number of sectors per track, the number of platters and disk heads and even
the number of sectors that are used for defect-mapping! The advanced
information will give you more insight into why the sustained throughput is
what it is. 

Next to the physical characteristics, CheckHD will also measure the buffer to
host throughput. The buffer to host throughput depends mainly on your
diskcontroller and the way it is configured. By comparing the sustained
throughput with the buffer to host throughput, you'll be able to determine
which one of the two is the bottleneck in disk performance.

Last but not least, CheckHD features a database with a number of previously
tested hard drives. Using this database it is possible to make a thorough
comparison between several hard drives, helping you in future purchases.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    IBM compatible computer with about 512 KB of conventional memory;

    DOS 3.2 or higher. No sector-level disk-caching allowed (Smartdrive is
     O.K.). Cannot test in OS/2, Windows or Windows 95;

    One or more hard disk drives that are accessible with INT 13 (both IDE,
     SCSI and older MFM/RLL drives);

Optional

    EGA/VGA display or VESA compatible display (800x600x16 or
     1024x768x16);

    Mouse

    Printer

WHAT A RESULT LOOKS LIKE

Check Harddisk v0.98   (C)1996 Marnix Timmermans    All rights reserved

Tester:                     Marnix Timmermans (M.X)
E-mail tester:              checkhd@dds.nl
Tested on:                  1-Aug-1996  15:45  with version 0.98

Computer:                   Pentium running DOS (6.22)

------------------------- LOGICAL INFORMATION -------------------------

Name hard drive:            QUANTUM FIREBALL1080A
Serial number:              241525525781
Firmware revision:          A1M.0900
Buffer size:                167 sectors (83.5 KB)
Max. and current blockmode: 8 / 8 sectors per interrupt

---------------------- BUFFER TO HOST THROUGHPUT ----------------------

   1     2     4     8    16    32    64   127  (Blocksize in sectors)
 1.2   2.3   4.0   5.6   8.4   9.5  10.9  11.6  (Throughput in MB/sec)

------------------------- PHYSICAL INFORMATION ------------------------

Total size:                 1087.93 MB
Number of heads / platters: 4 / 2
Defect mapping:             1 sector every 4 tracks (0.25 per track)
Random seek:                9.5 ms
Head / Cylinder switch:     2.9 ms / 3.5 ms (around 3.1 ms)
Spinrate / latency:         5400 RPM / 5.6 ms
                                               Throughput
part                 relative speed  SPT  internal      sustained
  0% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 100%  177   8.15 MB/sec   6.35 MB/sec
 10% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 100%  177   8.15 MB/sec   6.35 MB/sec
 20% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX   96%  170   7.85 MB/sec   6.10 MB/sec
 30% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX   94%  167   7.70 MB/sec   6.00 MB/sec
 40% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX    93%  164   7.55 MB/sec   5.90 MB/sec
 50% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX      86%  152   7.00 MB/sec   5.45 MB/sec
 60% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX       81%  144   6.65 MB/sec   5.15 MB/sec
 70% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX         73%  130   6.00 MB/sec   4.65 MB/sec
 80% XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          66%  117   5.40 MB/sec   4.20 MB/sec
 90% XXXXXXXXXXXXXX             57%  101   4.65 MB/sec   3.60 MB/sec
100% XXXXXXXXXXXX               49%   87   4.00 MB/sec   3.10 MB/sec

avg. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX       81%  144   6.65 MB/sec   5.15 MB/sec

Max. Buffer to host throughput 183%                     11.65 MB/sec

The interface is FAST ENOUGH for this drive.

COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS

CHECKHD [/H /? /T /640 /800 /1024]

  /H /?   This helptext
  /T      Force text-mode (default with Hercules/CGA)
  /640    Force standard EGA/VGA graphics mode (default without VESA)
  /800    VESA 800x600 graphics mode (default with VESA support)
  /1024   Force VESA 1024x768 graphics mode
  /NOIDE  Do not execute IDE identify routine

SUBMITTING RESULTS

CheckHD took a great deal of time programming, testing and debugging. It is
however still FREEWARE. The only things I would like to see in return are
your opinions and YOUR TEST RESULTS. Today with the possibilities of the
internet, this shouldn't be too much to ask for! 

If A. you've tested a hard drive that was not already in the database or B.
you had problems testing your hard drive, please run the batch-file
MAILME.BAT. It will create a zip-file named MAILME.ZIP that contains two
files:

DEBUG.LOG      a text-file that can be used by me to debug the program
               and find out how your hard drive responds to the tests;

CHECKHD.DBF    a dbase file with all saved results. Please remember to
               save your result first using the save-command (F2)!

Please attach the MAILME.ZIP file to your e-mail message (using either
UUENCODE or MIME).

All E-mail can be sent to checkhd@dds.nl

Regular (snail) mail can be sent to:

Marnix Timmermans
Lange Nieuwstraat 145
5041 DB  TILBURG
THE NETHERLANDS
tel. +31 13 5446932

Thanks in advance,
Marnix Timmermans.
