Re: How to make a REALLY FAST db server?

> Tunning is somewhat of a black art to get the right balance.  If you
have to
> make a choice, buy fewer processors, faster disks, and as much RAM as
the
> board will handle.

  Wow.  I'd buy more RAM and processors, and maybe skimp a *little* on the
disks.  The RAID array in my machine is made up of some 9-gig Quantum
Atlas 4's that I bought for something like $80 each, far from being
state-of the art:  But with all of the RAM, the disk lights only blink
*occasionally*.  The number of drives makes up for the lower transfer rate
of each individual unit, and the disk cache (both on the controller and
from the kernel) make up for the latency.

steve