Setup and Benchmarks of Several ESDI Hard Disks and Controller Cards

The Results - 20 MHz Systems

Hewlett Packard's HP97548E and Hitachi's DK515-78 are high-end ESDI drives. In contrast to the other drives, the HP drive spins with 4002rpm, which should improve access time. With 678MB, it has 5MB more storage space than the 673MB DK515-78. The Hitachi drive supports 69 sectors per track, twice as much as a 10MHz drive. Due to the higher spin rate the HP drive has 'only' 57 sectors per track.
To address the whole storage space of both drives 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 drives in both modes. First the 63-sector-translation mode with the measurement results, next with indexed values (Index 100=Average of 13 cards for 2 drives).

Table 28
Results - 20MHz Drives 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

DK515-78

Ultra 12C

33.123

4,499

1,654,385

725,429
(34.22%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

Ultra 22CA

32.083

4,640

4,707,652

925,252
(47.53%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

Ultra 22C

31.937

4,662

4,888,403

927,970
(47.67%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

DTC6295-24

31.708

4,691

2,419,778

921,280
(47.33%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

Ultra 12C

31.134

4,782

1,618,230

638,397
(32.80%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

DTC6290-24

30.516

4,878

1,829,669

909,472
(46.72%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

Ultra 22CA

30.175

4,934

4,707,649

1,002,123
(47.28%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

Ultra 22C

29.641

5,023

4,888,243

1,002,286
(47.28%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

EV-348A

29.455

5,054

1,456,738

660,418
(33.93%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

DTC6290-24

28.268

5,270

1,819,738

994,063
(46.90%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

DTC6295-24

28.142

5,285

2,419,700

1,002,657
(47.30%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

WD1009V-SE2

25.746

5,775

1,713,899

1,033,313
(48.75%)

527,138,816

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

Ultra 12F32

25.618

5,812

1,524,368

1,001,411
(47.24%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

Ultra 12F24

25.538

5,830

1,559,284

1,322,384
(62.39%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

WD1009V-SE2

25.425

5,838

1,713,725

940,257
(48.30%)

527,138,816

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

ACB-2322D

25.405

5,855

1,519,561

111,0711
(52.40%)

527,138,816

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

ACB-2322D

25.133

5,910

1,496,431

1,073,007
(55.12%)

527,654,912

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

Ultra 12F24

25.123

5,926

1,540,770

1,120,465
(57.56%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

Ultra 12F32

24.948

5,968

1,524,397

1,116,021
(57.33%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


DK515-78

DTC 6282-24

24.186

6,156

1,970,278

1,933,466
(91.21%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

DTC 6282-24

23.611

6,306

1,966,500

1,584,990
(81.42%)

528,171,008

63-Sector-Translation


HP97548E

hyperSTORE 1600

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation Mode

HP97548E

PM3011E/75

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation Mode

DK515-78

hyperSTORE 1600

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation Mode

DK515-78

PM3011E/75

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
63-Sector-Translation Mode

DK515-78

EV-348A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

incompatible

* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

Table 29
Indexed Results - 20MHz Drives in 63-Sector-Translation Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(27.948ms=100) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(5,385 MB/s=100) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(2,330,448 Byte/s=100) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(1,045,018 byte/s=100) 		Storage Space
(527,900,672 byte=100)

DK515-78

Ultra 12C

119

84

71

69

100

HP97548E

Ultra 22CA

115

86

202

89

100

HP97548E

Ultra 22C

114

87

210

89

100

HP97548E

DTC6295-24

113

87

104

88

100

HP97548E

Ultra 12C

111

89

69

61

100

HP97548E

DTC6290-24

109

91

79

87

100

DK515-78

Ultra 22CA

108

92

202

96

100

DK515-78

Ultra 22C

106

93

210

96

100

HP97548E

EV-348A

105

94

63

63

100

DK515-78

DTC6290-24

101

98

78

95

100

DK515-78

DTC6295-24

101

98

104

96

100

DK515-78

WD1009V-SE2

92

107

74

99

100

DK515-78

Ultra 12F32

92

108

65

96

100

DK515-78

Ultra 12F24

91

108

67

127

100

HP97548E

WD1009V-SE2

91

108

74

90

100

DK515-78

ACB-2322D

91

109

65

106

100

HP97548E

ACB-2322D

90

110

64

103

100

HP97548E

Ultra 12F24

90

110

66

107

100

HP97548E

Ultra 12F32

89

111

65

107

100

DK515-78

DTC 6282-24

87

114

85

185

100

HP97548E

DTC 6282-24

84

117

84

152

100

There are 31 index points difference between the slowest and the fastest controller card for the HP drive and 30 index points for the Hitachi drive if you look at the measurements for sector access velocity. Datatechnology's DTC 6282-24 is way ahead of the field, followed by Ultrastor, Adaptec and Western Digital cards.
With 23.611ms access time the HP97845 is a high-speed drive. The DK515-78 is able to proceed over 1.9MB/s sustained data throughput over the ISA bus, which is very well too.

20MHz drives always have more than 528,482,304 byte (528MB) storage space. In order to make use of the whole storage space under the DOS operating system, 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. Alas, 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 the HP97548E and the DK515-78 disk drive and the next table but one the indexed values (Index 100=Average of 13 cards for two drives).

Table 30
Results - 20MHz Drives 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

DK515-78

Ultra 12C

36.314

5,122

506,654

401,024
(18.92%)

661,454,848

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

Ultra 22CA

33.794

5,644

4,673,411

886,152
(45.52%)

677,167,104

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

PM3011E/75

33.664

5,649

788,616

240,192
(12.34%)

674,955,264

Head-Mapping Mode

5:1 Interleave

HP97548E

DTC6295-24

33.651

5,657

2,306,530

921,308
(47.33%)

676,888,576

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

Ultra 12C

33.483

5,705

506,614

404,283
(20.77%)

677,167,104

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

Ultra 22C

33.285

5,730

4,889,017

913,647
(46.94%)

677,167,104

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

hyperSTORE 1600

29.198

5,763

1,634,846

648,603
(30.60%)

597,180,416

Head-Mapping Mode

physical sector count

HP97548E

hyperSTORE 1600

32.379

5,840

1,624,700

638,896
(32.82%)

671,252,480

Head-Mapping Mode

physical sector count

DK515-78

Ultra 22CA

31.351

5,932

4,689,839

1,015,160
(47.89%)

660,406,272

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

Ultra 22C

31.084

5,983

4,889,084

1,015,974
(47.93%)

660,406,272

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

PM3011E/75

30,197

6,244

780,894

218,864
(10,33%)

669,073,408

Head-Mapping Mode

5:1 Interleave

DK515-78

Ultra 12F32

29.766

6,258

841,840

878,262
(41.43%)

661,454,848

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

DTC6295-24

29.552

6,264

2,323,648

1,004,551
(47.39%)

658,325,504

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

Ultra 12F24

29.584

6,294

864,211

881,321
(41.58%)

661,454,848

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

Ultra 12F32

29.608

6,454

842,016

815,196
(41.88%)

677,167,104

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

Ultra 12F24

29.494

6,466

863,784

816,626
(41.95%)

677,167,104

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

DTC 6282-24

28.575

6,478

504,600

561,690
(26.50%)

658,325,504

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

DTC 6282-24

28.051

6,786

504,906

565,046
(29.03%)

676,888,576

Head-Mapping Mode


DK515-78

WD1009V-SE2

27.184

6,917

1,450,601

1,035,267
(48.84%)

668,647,424

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

WD1009V-SE2

27.304

6,972

1,674,510

938,963
(44.30%)

676,888,576

Head-Mapping Mode


HP97548E

ACB-2322D

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Drive Split Mode only

HP97548E

EV-348A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Drive Split Mode only

DK515-78

ACB-2322D

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping Mode

DK515-78

EV-348A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

incompatible

HP97548E

DTC6290-24

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping Mode

DK515-78

DTC6290-24

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

no support for
Head-Mapping Mode

* in brackets percent of the theoretical sustained data throughput

Table 31
Indexed Results - 20MHz Drives in Head-Mapping Mode

Disk Drive Controller
Card 		Access Time
(30.876ms=100) 		Sector Access
Velocity
(6,108 MB/s=100) 		Burst Data
Throughput
(1,858,016 Byte/s=100) 		Sustained Data
Throughput
(740,051 byte/s=100) 		Storage Space
(HP97548E: 676,270,899 byte=100)
(DK515-78: 655,672,934 byte=100)
DK515-78

Ultra 12C

118

84

27

54

101

HP97548E

Ultra 22CA

109

92

252

120

100

HP97548E

PM3011E/75

109

92

42

32

100

HP97548E

DTC6295-24

109

93

124

124

100

HP97548E

Ultra 12C

108

93

27

55

100

HP97548E

Ultra 22C

108

94

263

123

100

DK515-78

hyperSTORE 1600

95

94

88

88

91

HP97548E

hyperSTORE 1600

105

96

87

86

99

DK515-78

Ultra 22CA

102

97

252

137

101

DK515-78

Ultra 22C

101

98

263

137

101

DK515-78

PM3011E/75

98

102

42

30

102

DK515-78

Ultra 12F32

96

102

45

119

101

DK515-78

DTC6295-24

96

103

125

136

100

DK515-78

Ultra 12F24

96

103

47

119

101

HP97548E

Ultra 12F32

96

106

45

110

100

HP97548E

Ultra 12F24

96

106

46

110

100

DK515-78

DTC 6282-24

93

106

27

76

100

HP97548E

DTC 6282-24

91

111

27

76

100

DK515-78

WD1009V-SE2

88

113

78

140

102

HP97548E

WD1009V-SE2

88

114

90

127

100

In the head-mapping-mode the Western Digital WD1009V shows it's superiority. As a caching controller card, it's able to maintain burst data transfer, but not at the expense of the access time, like the other caching controller cards do. It's even faster than the DTC 6282-24.
The PM3011E/75 operates the 20MHz drives with a 5:1 Interleave and with accordingly worse data transfer rates.
Perceptive Solutions' hyperSTORE 1600 does not translate the physical sector count to the logical 63-sector count, like the other cards do. No problem, as long as the drive has not more than 63 sectors physically, but the DK515-78 has 69 sectors per track. A software driver has to be loaded, to make sector 64-69 available to the operating system. On the other hand it seems, that the sacrifice of logical sector translation provides for exceptional read and write performance, which isn't reflected adequately by the 'sector access velocity' measurement. File operations, like copy or move, seem to be very fast on this controller card. From my feeling the hyperSTORE 1600 should be ranked higher than it is here.
The 20MHz drives demand active cooling of the hyperSTORE 1600 controller card.

Now let's go on to benchmark results of the 23MHz 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