[squid-users] Disk performance basics

Our aging squid proxy is due for replacement, and I am looking to maximize
performance and stability on the new box. The current platform is this:

Dual P3/733, Mandrake 9.2
768Mb RAM
4x 9Gb 10k rpm scsi drives on adaptec 3940, 1 for O/S, 3 for cache.

The above has served well for a few years, handling a consistent load of ~500
users, and about 350-450Gb/month of data. (with delay pools on most users).
Long-term MRTG graphing of load shows the system is not CPU bound, with a
steady avg CPU load of about 20%, avg http & dns times of 75ms, and typical
peak requests/sec of ~60 each day.

Our standard server is a Dell 2850 with 4 or more 15K drives and RAID5.
Obviously RAID5 isn't needed for the cache, so I'm wondering what is the best
disk option for cache performance in a machine like this, which offers up to 6
drives in a scsi backplane.

Any tips appreciated.

Thanks.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Shawn Wright, I.T. Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
http://www.sls.bc.ca
swright@sls.bc.ca
Received on Wed Mar 29 2006 - 15:30:11 MST