           XFERRATE v1.0 - measure disk transfer rate
           ------------------------------------------

XFERRATE version 1.0 is Freeware by Roger Burrows, Anodyne Software.
It is hereby placed in the public domain, and may be freely copied
and distributed.  Please keep the program executable and this
documentation together - thanks.



Description
-----------
XFERRATE is a program that measures the sustained data transfer rate
of your hard disk drive(s), using standard bios calls.  This means
that what is measured is a combination of raw drive speed, interface
speed, and disk driver performance.  The data transfer rate is measured
by performing reads of multiple adjacent data sectors (192 kilobytes
per transfer), and is reported in kilobytes per second (kb/sec).
NOTE: 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes for this measurement.

To detect variations across a partition, the rate is measured at both
the start and the end of the partition; if the measurements differ by
more than 10 kb/sec, a range is reported (the first number applies to
the beginning of the partition, the second to the end).  Otherwise, an
average is reported.  Rates are always rounded to the nearest 10kb/sec.

Data transfer rate is measurable on any drive from C to Z (inclusive)
that supports the standard bios calls Getbpb() and Rwabs().



XFERRATE and CD Recorders
-------------------------
XFERRATE was written to provide additional information for users of
Anodyne Software's CD Recording package, CD Writer Plus.  Knowing the
data transfer rate of your hard drive will enable you to _estimate_
the maximum rate at which you can successfully record from a given
partition, using the following tables:

     Data transfer rate              Maximum recording rate
     ------------------              ----------------------
     Less than 170 kb/sec             Probably not possible
       170 - 250 kb/sec                   1X, marginal
       250 - 360 kb/sec                        1X
       360 - 450 kb/sec                   2X, marginal
       450 - 900 kb/sec                        2X
       900 - 1200 kb/sec                  4X, marginal
     More than 1200 kb/sec                     4X

NOTES:
1. These are guidelines only; since other factors can affect the
   success of a CD recording, the only sure way to determine the
   maximum recording rate is by use of the "Simulate" feature within
   CD Writer Plus.
2. At a given speed, more data must be transferred for audio recording
   than for data recording.  Therefore, for recording rates listed as
   marginal in the table above, data recording may be successful where
   audio recording is not.
3. When writing audio CDs, certain types of audio files require less
   processing than others (the Info button on the CD Writer Preferences
   screen will show this for your recorder).  Therefore, particularly
   on slower CPUs, these types of files may be successfully written
   where others are not.



How to use XFERRATE
------------------
Double-click on XFERRATE.TTP.  When the dialog box is displayed, just
press enter.  You will be prompted for the drive letter(s) (i.e. disk
partition(s)) to measure.  After entering the drive letter(s), the data
transfer rate test will be run in turn for each partition and the
results displayed; note that each test will take approximately ten
seconds.  When all tests are complete, XFERRATE will wait for you to
press enter before returning to the desktop.

If you are running from a command-line shell such as Gulam, you may
enter the drive letter(s) as an argument to XFERRATE; in this case,
there will be no prompt, and no pause at the end of processing.

As a convenience, you may enter an asterisk as the drive letter to
request tests of all online disks.



Sample results
--------------
The following results were obtained for selected systems,
using XFERRATE v1.0:
                                                      Hard disk       Data transfer
   System      Drive                 Interface          driver        rate (kb/sec)
   ------      -----                 ---------        ---------       -------------
   1040ST      Seagate ST157N        ACSI/ICD AdSCSI+ ICDBOOT (note1)      570
   1040ST      Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/ICD AdSCSI+ HDDRIVER 7.55       1200
   1040ST      Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/ICD AdSCSI+ ICDBOOT (note1)     1235
   1040ST      Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/ICD Link    HDDRIVER 7.55       1200
   1040ST      Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/WB Link97   AHDI 5.0            1100
   1040ST      Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/WB Link97   HDDRIVER 7.55       1200
   1040ST      IBM Ultrastar 2.16GB  ACSI/WB Link97   HDDRIVER 7.55       1240
   Falcon030   CSC 128MB 2.5"           IDE           HDDRIVER 7.55      60-940 (note2)
   Falcon030   IBM 344MB 2.5"           IDE           HDDRIVER 6.0       570-880 (note2)
   Falcon030   IBM Travelstar 3.2GB     IDE           HDDRIVER 7.61       1650
   Falcon030   IBM Ultrastar 2.16GB     SCSI          HDDRIVER 7.55       1525
   Falcon030   Iomega JAZ 1GB           SCSI          HDDRIVER 6.0        1520
   Falcon030   Seagate ST3610N          SCSI          HDDRIVER 7.55       1510
   TT030       Maxtor LXT-200S          SCSI          AHDI 5.0           750-950 (note2)
   TT030       Fujitsu M2624S           SCSI          HDDRIVER 7.55     1300-1780 (note3)
   TT030       IBM Ultrastar 2.16GB  ACSI/WB Link97   HDDRIVER 7.55       1240
   TT030       IBM Ultrastar 2.16GB     SCSI          HDDRIVER 7.55       1730
   TT030       Seagate ST3610N          SCSI          HDDRIVER 7.55       1610
   TT030       Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/ICD Link    HDDRIVER 7.55       1260
   TT030       Seagate ST3610N       ACSI/WB Link97   HDDRIVER 7.55       1220
Notes:
   (1) versions 5.2.0 & 6.0.4 tested
   (2) varies by partition, i.e. distance from disk spindle
   (3) in this case, the variation in effective data transfer rates
       was due to read retries slowing down transfers in some parts
       of the disk

We welcome any additional results that you may care to send us,
especially if you have attained higher transfer rates, and we'll
publish them on our web page if there is sufficient interest.
Please email your results to: anodyne@cyberus.ca.  Be sure to
include all of the information, as shown above.



Some tentative conclusions from the above results
-------------------------------------------------
1. We can estimate the maximum data transfer rates of the various
   interfaces, as follows:

   Interface     Max data xfer rate (kb/sec)
   ---------     ---------------------------
   ACSI                    1300
   IDE                     1700
   SCSI          1600 (Falcon) to 1800 (TT)

2. The ICD AdSCSI+ and Link have the same performance; the Link97 is
   0-3% slower, possibly due to the additional overhead of managing
   SCSI arbitration.

3. Both the ICD driver and HDDRIVER are significantly (about 10%) faster
   than AHDI.



About CD Writer Plus and ExtenDOS Gold
--------------------------------------
CD Writer Plus, in conjunction with ExtenDOS Gold, allows you to
create audio and data CDs on your Atari, using a standard SCSI CD
recorder (CD-R or CD-RW).

ExtenDOS Gold is an extension to Atari operating systems, including
TOS, MultiTOS, MagiC, and Geneva.  It supports a wide range of both
CD-ROM and CD-R drives on all Atari TOS-based systems, including the
ST, STe, TT030, Falcon030, and compatibles.

ExtenDOS Gold and CD Writer Plus are available from your Atari dealer,
or direct from Anodyne Software at the following address:

     Anodyne Software
     6 Cobbler Court
     Ottawa
     Ontario K1V 0B8
     CANADA.

If you have Internet access, visit our web site at:
     http://www.cyberus.ca/~anodyne
or contact us by email at:
     anodyne@cyberus.ca

Roger Burrows
26/January/1999
