Setting the Disk Access option
Configure->LocalConfig->DiskAccess
The Disk Access option in the Local Configuration
section can have one of two values, Faster or Safer.
This option will NOT take effect until you re-boot
the Server.
-
Faster - Means that writing data to the disk will be faster,
but it also means that data may not actually be written to disk for several
seconds, during which time it will be held in a cache in RAM. If further
changes are made to the data they will also be made in the RAM cache, thus
saving disk writes. This will normally mean that within about 5-10 seconds
of no data being saved, all of the data should have been written to the
disk, but if the Server is powered down whilst that data is being written,
some data will be lost and the file system may suffer corruption.
-
Safer - Means that all data destined for the disk is written
immediately. This gives a much better guarantee that there will be no disk
corruption or loss of data if the system is turned off without first being
correctly shut down, but also means that writing large amounts of data
to the disk is significantly slower.
Note : If the Server is powered down without being correctly
shut down, when it is next powered up it will automatically run an
integrity check on all the disks (in the same way as Windows automatically
runs SCANDISK). This will make the Server take longer to start up,
but will ensure as much data is recovered as possible. This check will
even be done if you have this option set to Safer, but in
that case the Server will normally asses that no repairs are necessary.
If you have a Soft-Off button on the front of your Server, using
this button to switch the Server off will ensure that it is always shut
down correctly. Having shut down, it should also automatically switch itself
off, depending on exactly what hardware you have.
These options do not affect the speed at which data is retrieved from
the disk.