Setup and Benchmarks of Several ESDI Hard Disks and Controller Cards

The Results - 15 MHz Systems

Tested are two hard disks, the 342MB Micropolis 1654-7, and the 675MB Maxtor XT-8760E against 20 controller cards. The cards must support at least 15MHz ESDI data transfer speed.
To address the whole storage space of the Maxtor drive under the DOS operating system, the controller cards have to operate in the head mapping mode according to their capabilities. Because some cards support the 63-sector-translation mode only, I will test the Maxtor drive in both modes. Lets start with the Micropolis drive, first with the measurement results next with indexed values (Index 100=Average of 18 cards).

Table 20
Results - 15MHz Drive Micropolis 1664-7

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(milliseconds) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(megabyte/s) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(byte/s) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(byte/s)* 		Storage Space
(byte) 		Translation Mode Remarks

Micropolis 1664-7

Emulex MD21

31.946

2,962

503,243

588,797
(35.49%)

336,388,096

Head-Mapping-Mode

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Micropolis 1664-7

hyperSTORE 1600

29.742

3,103

1,619,850

535,001
(32.25%)

327,426,048

Head-Mapping-Mode

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra22C

31.073

3,110

4,900,246

843,900
(50.87%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6295-24

30.971

3,120

2,395,249

852,496
(51.39%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra22CA

30.975

3,120

4,672,363

844,672
(50.92%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12C

30.615

3,156

1,652,580

802,468
(48.37%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

PM3011E/75

25.98

3,197

1,643,419

203,828
(12.29%)

341,442,560

Head-Mapping-Mode

no support for
63-Sector-Translation,
4:1 Interleave

Micropolis 1664-7

ACB-2322B

28.871

3,286

1,256,482

583,438
(35.17%)

336,789,504

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6290-24

29.355

3,287

1,814,623

846,258
(51.01%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

EV-348A

27.642

3,433

1,523,893

805,461
(48.55%)

336,789,504

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

WD1007V-SE2

27.617

3,436

1,245,808

746,387
(44.99%)

336,789,504

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

WD1009V-SE2

27.476

3,453

1,713,469

1,212,512
(73.09%)

336,625,664

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6280-15T

27.77

3,480

499,521

911,137
(54.92%)

336,781,504

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12F32

27.481

3,516

1,522,412

1,062,705
(64.06%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

ACB-2322D

27.339

3,534

1,519,577

1,411,773
(85.10%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12F24

27.262

3,544

1,556,301

1,064,135
(64.15%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6282-24

26.366

3,665

1,971,605

1,500,559
(90.46%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

DTC-6282-15Z

26.242

3,676

1,978,544

1,499,747
(90.41%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1664-7

HardCache/ESDI

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

incompatible

Micropolis 1664-7

WD1007V-MC1

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

incompatible

* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

Table 21
Indexed Results - 15MHz Drive Micropolis 1664-7

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(28.596ms=100) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(3,338 MB/s=100) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(1,888,288 Byte/s=100) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(906,404 byte/s=100) 		Storage Space
(339,936,608 byte=100)

Micropolis 1664-7

Emulex MD21

112

89

27

65

99

Micropolis 1664-7

hyperSTORE 1600

104

93

86

59

96

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra22C

109

93

260

93

101

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6295-24

108

93

127

94

101

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra22CA

108

93

247

93

101

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12C

107

95

88

89

101

Micropolis 1664-7

PM3011E/75

91

96

87

22

100

Micropolis 1664-7

ACB-2322B

101

98

67

64

99

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6290-24

103

98

96

93

101

Micropolis 1664-7

EV-348A

97

103

81

89

99

Micropolis 1664-7

WD1007V-SE2

97

103

66

82

99

Micropolis 1664-7

WD1009V-SE2

96

103

91

134

99

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6280-15T

97

104

26

101

99

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12F32

96

105

81

117

101

Micropolis 1664-7

ACB-2322D

96

106

80

156

101

Micropolis 1664-7

Ultra 12F24

95

106

82

117

101

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6282-24

92

110

104

166

101

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC-6282-15Z

92

110

105

165

101

And now the same procedure for the Maxtor XT-8760E disk drive up to the storage space limit of the 63- sector-translation mode. Again the results are indexed in the next but one table (Index 100=Average of 15 cards).

Table 22
Results - 15MHz Drive Maxtor XT-8760E in 63-Sector-Translation Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(milliseconds) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(megabyte/s) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(byte/s) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(byte/s)* 		Storage Space
(byte) 		Translation Mode Remarks

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22CA

30.702

4,850

4,701,512

864,135
(52.09%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22C

30.304

4,913

4,901,785

871,520
(52.54%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12C

29.584

5,033

1,653,124

803,192
(48.42%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6295-24

28.894

5,148

2,430,310

891,414
(53.74%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1007V-SE2

27.623

5,379

1,245,900

910,220
(54.87%)

527,138,816

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6290-24

27.507

5,407

1,835,732

882,361
(53.19%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322B

27.389

5,436

1,256,520

593,259
(35.76%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F32

26.75

5,566

1,522,395

1,101,931
(66.43%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

HardCache/ESDI

26.184

5,680

998,311

871,223
(52.52%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322D

26.138

5,690

1,519,616

1,396,111
(84.16%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

EV-348A

26.041

5,717

1,504,742

839,139
(50.58%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6280-15T

24.676

5,744

499,982

868,696
(52.37%)

503,021,568

60-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F24

25.649

5,809

1,556,165

1,101,982
(66.43%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

24.941

5,969

1,976,274

1,613,566
(97.27%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC-6282-15Z

24.763

6,006

1,979,732

1,606,337
(96.83%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

Emulex MD21

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Maxtor XT-8760E

hyperSTORE 1600

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Maxtor XT-8760E

PM3011E/75

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1007V-MC1

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1009V-SE2

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

not tested

* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

Table 23
Indexed Results - 15MHz Drive Maxtor XT-8760E in 63-Sector-Translation Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(27.143ms=100) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(5,490 MB/s=100) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(1,972,140 Byte/s=100) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(1,014,339 byte/s=100) 		Storage Space
(526,253,534 byte=100)

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22CA

113

88

238

85

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22C

111

89

249

86

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12C

109

92

84

79

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6295-24

106

94

123

88

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1007V-SE2

102

98

63

90

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6290-24

101

98

93

87

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322B

101

99

64

58

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F32

99

101

77

109

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

HardCache/ESDI

96

103

51

86

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322D

96

104

77

138

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

EV-348A

96

104

76

83

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6280-15T

91

105

25

86

96

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F24

94

106

79

109

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

92

109

100

159

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC-6282-15Z

91

109

100

158

100

Since the 15MHz drives have 50% more sectors on a track and a track density about 40% higher than the 10MHz drives, all performance measurements show better results. The lack of the early 10MHz controller cards with their minor performance adds to that.
Apart from that results appear similar. Controller cards with at least 32KB track cache perform best when operating in the 63-sector-translation mode. Cards with support for head-mapping mode only have a slower access time and so an inferior sector access velocity. The caching controller cards come in last, except for the HardCache/ESDI which performs on an average level.
15MHz drives often have more than 528,482,304 byte (528MB) storage space. In order to make use of the whole storage space under DOS, controller cards have to operate in head mapping mode. Adaptec and Everex offer a virtual drive split as a method to access the storage space above 528MB. But drive split leads to two partitions on the drive and it leads to a mess, if you add a second drive to the controller card.
The following table shows the results for head-mapping-mode on a 675MB Maxtor drive.

Table 24
Results - 15MHz Drive Maxtor XT-8760E in Head-Mapping Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(milliseconds) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(megabyte/s) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(byte/s) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(byte/s)* 		Storage Space
(byte) 		Translation Mode Remarks

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12C

33.288

5,712

506,294

447,208
(26.96%)

675,069,952

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

Emulex MD21

32.485

5,734

503,492

609,335
(36.73%)

661,454,848

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22CA

32.161

5,903

4,708,426

855,505
(51.57%)

674,021,376

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

hyperSTORE 1600

30.373

5,908

1,628,536

535,609
(32.29%)

636,960,768

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F32

31.709

5,996

837,998

789,164
(47.57%)

675,069,952

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22C

31.199

6,085

4,903,017

843,011
(50.82%)

674,021,376

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6295-24

30.354

6,233

2,319,704

892,321
(53.79%)

672,759,808

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F24

30.409

6,243

866,544

788,974
(47.56%)

674,021,376

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

PM3011E/75

29.832

6,320

780,264

206,695
(12.46%)

669,073,408

Head-Mapping-Mode

4:1 Interleave

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

29.058

6,511

505,433

547,742
(33.02%)

672,759,808

Head-Mapping-Mode


Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322B

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

ACB-2322D

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

drive split only

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6280-15T

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC-6282-15Z

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6290-24

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

EV-348A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

drive split only

Maxtor XT-8760E

HardCache/ESDI

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1007V-MC1

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

incompatible

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1007V-SE2

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping-Mode

Maxtor XT-8760E

WD1009V-SE2

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

not tested

* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

And now indexed results (Index 100=Average of 10 cards).

Table 25
Indexed Results - 15MHz Drive Maxtor XT-8760E in Head-Mapping Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(31.087ms=100) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(6,065 MB/s=100) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(1,755,971 Byte/s=100) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(651,556 byte/s=100) 		Storage Space
(668,521,267 byte=100)

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12C

107

94

29

69

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

Emulex MD21

104

95

29

94

99

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22CA

103

97

268

131

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

hyperSTORE 1600

98

97

93

82

95

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F32

102

99

48

121

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra22C

100

100

279

129

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6295-24

98

103

132

137

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

Ultra 12F24

98

103

49

121

101

Maxtor XT-8760E

PM3011E/75

96

104

44

32

100

Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

93

107

29

84

101

The caching controller cards make up ground, especially Datatechnology's EISA controller card DTC 6295-24. Distributed Processing Technology's PM-3011E/75 seems to be even more fast but it's burst data throughput drops and it's sustained data throughput is cruel, due to the 4:1 interleave. This shows a limit of the significance of the sector access velocity as an overall performance measurement: it doesn't say anything about data throughput. Burst transfer speed especially is crucial for system performance.

It seems that I have not much luck to find a compatible 15MHz drive to test the WD1007V-MC1 micro channel controller. For that reason here are the results of the Micropolis 1568.

Table 26
Results - 15MHz Drive Micropolis 1568 in Head-Mapping Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(milliseconds) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(megabyte/s) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(byte/s) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(byte/s)* 		Storage Space
(byte) 		Translation Mode Remarks

Micropolis 1568

WD1007V-MC1

27.768

6,624

511,533

1,220,746
(73.59%)

653,066,240

Head-Mapping-Mode

53 Sectors per Track
* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

This micro channel controller reaches excellent results as against the other controller cards when in head-mapping mode. Remarkable is the sustained data transfer rate, twice as fast as the other cards are able to deliver.

The most fast ISA controller card in terms of data access speed is again Datatechnology's DTC 6282-24. It will now benchmark the other available 15 MHz drives.

Table 27
Results - Several 15MHz Drives

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(milliseconds) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(megabyte/s) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(byte/s) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(byte/s)* 		Storage Space
(byte) 		Translation Mode Remarks

Micropolis 1664-7

DTC 6282-24

26.366

3,665

1,971,605

1,500,559
(90.46%)

342,982,656

63-Sector-Translation


Seagate ST-2383E

DTC 6282-24

24.966

3,801

1,965,079

1,565,182
(94.35%)

336,789,504

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

24.941

5,969

1,976,274

1,613,566
(97.27%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Micropolis 1568

DTC 6282-24

23.812

6,252

1,967,723

1,579,931
(95.24%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


Maxtor XT-8760E

DTC 6282-24

29.058

6,511

505,433

547,742
(33.02%)

672,759,808

Head-Mapping-Mode


Micropolis 1568

DTC 6282-24

28.192

6,711

504,166

553,862
(33.39%)

672,759,808

Head-Mapping-Mode


* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

The Seagate ST-2383E - which is a relabeled Imprimis 94246-383 - outruns a comparable Micropolis drive, while Maxtor's XT-8760E is outrun by a comparable Micropolis drive.

Now let's go on to benchmark results of the 20MHz systems.



Table of Content

Setup and Benchmarks of Several ESDI Hard Disks and Controller Cards
Project Introduction

Part 1: ESDI Hardware Setup and System Integration
Tested Hard Drives and General Drive Setup
Tested Controller Cards and General Controller Card Setup
Controller Card and Drive Cabling
System Integration and Manufacturer Specific Setup
Resources, Setup Utilities and Software Driver
ESDI Troubleshooting

Part 2: ESDI Benchmark Tests
Test Setup and Results - 10MHz Systems
Results - 15MHz Systems
Results - 20MHz Systems
Results - 23MHz System
Result - 24MHz System and Conclusions
back to project list

© 2016 Wolfgang Gehl