🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <rdempste.9.722354510@unpcs1.cs.unp.ac.za> rdempste@unpcs1.cs.unp.ac.za (Rob Dempster) writes:
>I am currently in the process of considering migrating to Windows 3.1
>I am running Windows 3.1 on a 25Mhz 80486SX with 8 MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard
>disk. I have a 2 MB SMARTDRV disk cache running and this makes the software
>that I run from the hard drive very snappy. Unfortunately I also have to pull
>some applications of a Novell LAN server and this really slows things down.
>I have tried some fixes such as putting my Borland C include files on the
>local hard drive. I would have put the library files there as well but don't 
>have the space. So at the moment it seems that I will have to get a larger 
>drive or find a driver similar to SMARTDRV that works with Novell file 
>server drives? I would be most interested to hear whether such a driver 
>exists or alternatively any other advice that would be useful.
>Please email the address given below. Thanks!!
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>rdempste@unpcs1.cs.unp.ac.za          department of computer science
>dempster@unpsun1.cc.unp.ac.za         university of natal

Good luck ... If you find one, I would appreciate hearing about it ...
 
I doubt you'll have too much luck, though -- First, most disk caches cache at
the cluster level.  There is no such thing on server drives - they are
strictly file oriented - not block oriented (i.e. there is no such thing as an
INT 25 call on a server drive - where caching frequently takes place) ... so
it would require more than eliminating the check that locks out network drives 
in SMARTDRV.EXE - it would have to be redesigned to cache at the file level.
 
Also (although this shouldn't preclude a network cache - there are lots of other
programs that can be dangerous if used incorrectly), caching some network
drives would be harmful (i.e. a drive containing a database file that is
being continually updated by many users - how would file locks work - you
lock a record, then I go to read it - I shouldn't be able to do so, but I am
because its in my cache, so the server never gets asked) - but programs
(such as C or whatever) that aren't being changed should be able to be cached.
 
(Probably have to specifiy caching or not on the drive level).
 
       - Brett