Simultaneous Writing to HD?

Could I simultaneously write to a desktop HD from 2 networked laptops If all
three were networked using XP Pro?

Thanks

"dlbtiger" <dlbtiger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:069DF677-EA4C-4075-8C02-80D710E31311@microsoft.com...
> Could I simultaneously write to a desktop HD from 2 networked laptops If
> all
> three were networked using XP Pro?
>
> Thanks
As there is only one controller and only one set of heads, simultaneous
operation to a disk is impossible. However, if two or more processes
(wherever they might be), issue access requests simultaneously, the
controller driver can put the requests in a queue. The controller would
then execute the requests in sequence. You might be hard pressed to see
much degradation.

In your particular case, the desktop will always win because requests from
the laptop are slowed down by the speed of the network and by the processing
time required to go from the network to the controller.

Jim

Thanks. When I said 'simultaneous' I quess I was really asking if it would
buffer or be put in a que.

So, if it will que the writes/reads to the HD, is it comparable to using a
server for the purpose of disk access?.

"Jim" wrote:

>
> "dlbtiger" <dlbtiger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:069DF677-EA4C-4075-8C02-80D710E31311@microsoft.com...
> > Could I simultaneously write to a desktop HD from 2 networked laptops If
> > all
> > three were networked using XP Pro?
> >
> > Thanks
> As there is only one controller and only one set of heads, simultaneous
> operation to a disk is impossible. However, if two or more processes
> (wherever they might be), issue access requests simultaneously, the
> controller driver can put the requests in a queue. The controller would
> then execute the requests in sequence. You might be hard pressed to see
> much degradation.
>
> In your particular case, the desktop will always win because requests from
> the laptop are slowed down by the speed of the network and by the processing
> time required to go from the network to the controller.
>
> Jim
>
>
>

"dlbtiger" <dlbtiger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0CC21AA5-8A4A-4715-BB9C-733850EF3B6A@microsoft.com...
> Thanks. When I said 'simultaneous' I quess I was really asking if it would
> buffer or be put in a que.
>
> So, if it will que the writes/reads to the HD, is it comparable to using a
> server for the purpose of disk access?.
>
> "Jim" wrote:
>
>>
>> "dlbtiger" <dlbtiger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:069DF677-EA4C-4075-8C02-80D710E31311@microsoft.com...
>> > Could I simultaneously write to a desktop HD from 2 networked laptops
>> > If
>> > all
>> > three were networked using XP Pro?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> As there is only one controller and only one set of heads, simultaneous
>> operation to a disk is impossible. However, if two or more processes
>> (wherever they might be), issue access requests simultaneously, the
>> controller driver can put the requests in a queue. The controller would
>> then execute the requests in sequence. You might be hard pressed to see
>> much degradation.
>>
>> In your particular case, the desktop will always win because requests
>> from
>> the laptop are slowed down by the speed of the network and by the
>> processing
>> time required to go from the network to the controller.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
Yes. A server might be a trifle slower because it may have a queue for
incoming requests and a queue for disk access. Exactly how servers work
depends on who writes the code.
Jim