[ale] how do I list big files

Tue Mar 22 08:35:49 EDT 2011

I remember the big 5 MB disk packs used in Datapoint systems and others.
At one job we did remote support for clients that had those.  They had
to manually switch out the disk packs to do backups.   We'd always say
"Press the button to spin down the disk pack, when it stops open the
cover and swap out with the other disk pack.   Wait 5 minutes for it to
spin up (this was because it would blow forced air over the platters to
insure there was no dust on them) and let us know when you've done
that."   Usually, about 30 seconds after we told them that they would
say "OK I'm ready."   Apparently the clients were at sites traveling at
relativistic velocities since 5 minutes at the remote sites was only 30
seconds at our support center.  :-)

My favorite incident came when one of these sites called and had a major
issue so we had to have them restore the previous night's backup.   They
hemmed and hawed then told us they hadn't done one the night before.
We told them that was unfortunate and they'd need to go to the previous
night.   Again they hemmed and hawed and said they hadn't done one then
either.   After a couple of more iterations we finally asked: "When DID
you last do a backup?" After some background whispering they came back
and said as near as they could figure about 6 months earlier.

What is scary is there are still people today who don't see the need for
regular backups until something goes belly up on them.   

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Tom
Freeman
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 8:11 AM
To: jimbakerforlinux at comcast.net; Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] how do I list big files

I must have gotten started late or something. The biggest (physical)
drive 
platters I got to deal with were 12 inch 5 MB platters for a RL02 drive 
from DEC. Between the platter and the travel case a heavy beast to lug 
around. So of course I had to dog trot one and personal gear through the

length of Washington National airport. Years ago and I was in better
"out 
of shape" then. Spent the flight home trying to stop huffing and
puffing.

On Mon, 21 Mar 2011, jim wrote:

> I used to clean the "fixed" platter by hand! I had a plastic flat
stick
> and I slid a cotton sock looking thing over it. Then I sprayed it with
> this chemical and wiped the surface of the disk as I turned it by
hand.
> I also slid the cleaning swab between the heads to clean them. It's
> weird to think about it now. I think the fixed platter was 2.5 MB and
> the removable platter was another 2.5 MB for a total of 5. And it was
> HUGE. Like 18" across or something.
>
> On 03/20/2011 10:39 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
>> Yup. Times sure have changed a lot since then. I used to work with
some
>> of those giant drives at Delta Air Lines. A whole stack of ~ 15"
>> platters held a whopping 300 MB. It was made very clear to me that
you
>> had to shut those down properly and treat them gingerly.
>>
>> Ron
>>
>> On 03/20/2011 09:26 PM, Scott Castaline wrote:
>>> On 03/20/2011 04:07 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Scott,
>>>>
>>>> That's pretty cool. It was good of you to check before shutting
down.
>>>> That's one thing I try to reinforce to anyone I advise about
computers
>>>> of modern vintage, never never just power off. Always use the
shutdown
>>>> procedure and wait for it to finish. Modern drives will autopark
the
>>>> heads, but you don't want a bunch of open OS and applications files
>>>> hanging around at power off.
>>>> Ron
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Actually if memory serves me correctly the heads not parking or just
>>> landing wherever they were at power off was on stepper drives and
the
>>> one or two servo drives at the time did auto-retract at power off.
When
>>> I started with UNIX on mini systems and super-minis the HDDs used
then
>>> had the large 18" platter(s) and were servo controlled with huge
>>> voice-coils that the heads would retract into. The first time I used
a
>>> DOS system I thought it strange that you only had to enter the date&
>>> time after turning it on. When I went to shut it off I entered my
>>> usually shutdown -g0 -y and it gave me an error, probably something
like
>>> Command not found and I was afraid to just shut it off. After making
a
>>> call to NY from FL I had some doubts and confusion that if you're at
a C
>>> prompt just flip the switch. I also knew nothing about stepper
drives at
>>> the time as I never seen a small drive before at least a hard drive.
Had
>>> 2 floppies and a cassette on my Commodore 64, which to me was a toy
at
>>> first.
>>>
>>>> On 03/20/2011 03:37 PM, Scott Castaline wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 03/20/2011 11:28 AM, Ron Frazier wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Michael,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for the tips.  I suspected it was something like that, but
didn't
>>>>>> know what.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm learning all the time, but it's a slow process.  I've been
learning
>>>>>> DOS / Windows for 26 years, Linux for 1 year.  It will take a
while to
>>>>>> develop comprehensive knowledge.  The first part of the learning
curve
>>>>>> is the hardest.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ron
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> I went the other way, UNIX first than DOS. It cost me a $5 LD call
to
>>>>> find out that DOS didn't have a shutdown command. I later wrote a
bat
>>>>> file that parked the heads and echoed "Safe to Power Down!"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 03/20/2011 10:21 AM, Michael Trausch wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes,>      is the shell redirection operator. 2>      says to
redirect CD
>>>>>>> number two, which is the stderr stream.  Without an integer
supplied,
>>>>>>> the stdout stream (number 1) is the default.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The<      operator is input redirection. Its default target is
the
>>>>>>> process' fd 0 (stdin), though again that can be changed. A
program
>>>>>>> that, for example, opened a socket connection as fd 5 and fd 6
could
>>>>>>> be used with shell redirection (and even fancier pipelining) if
desired.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Again, I think you should spend some time getting familiar with
"UNIX"
>>>>>>> as a whole.  Even concepts from the late 60s and 70s are still
>>>>>>> applicable on moden systems, and the basics are essentially
unchanged.  :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Sent from my phone... a G2 running CM7 nightlies!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>
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