Reader’s Comments
Today I’ll share a number of comments from our readers covering Disk Partition Alignment and Visual COBOL.
Disk Partition Alignment
Leif Writes:
This is true for Windows Server 2003 and earlier where the default alignment was 16K, 32K or 48K depending on the storage system behind, but for Windows Server 2008 and later (atm. Windows Server 2008 R2) the alignment will default to 1024K = 1MB – leading to no alignment problems on W2K8 and W2K8 R2.
Editor Note:
Thanks Leif. The Synchronization best practices also pointed this fact out regarding Windows 2008 Server handling the synchronization more efficiently. They did note differences in the Win 2K8 OS disk management capabilities as well, allowing you to tweak these features should the need arise.
Iain Writes:
Until recently I worked for a large consultancy company …and was surprised to find that none of the SQL DBAs, nor were any of the storage administrators aware of this issue. Having explained in detail the issue and pointing out the benefit of aligning partitions, the response to the suggestion that it should be done as a matter of course, was, “we don’t tune the servers here”.
Editor Note:
I guess if your performance is already good enough it is a non-issue. Also, as Leif points out, most likely alignment is already the default of most disk subsystems running on Windows Server 2008. However, I am sure there are still a lot of businesses with systems operating on Windows Server 2003.
Visual COBOL
Claude writes:
Hi, I just wanted to point out that the development of Visual languages had nothing to do with object orientation.
The term “Visual” really came about when we graduated from DOS and could program in an environment where things could be laid out visually.
Editor Note:
You tweaked my interest there. At least for Visual Basic, you hit upon an interesting point. The key with the first release of the product was to be able to visually lay out the screen design. VB 1.0 included both a dos screen layout for character only console, and a Windows layout. That was in the early ‘90s. If your interested in a little trivia, do a Google search on the history of Visual Basic. It’s an interesting read.
Now I am even more interested in what MicroFocus was able to do with their product. It seems like it would be a shame not to take advantage of the object oriented approach of .Net. I’ll have to check it out.
Michelle Writes:
Visual COBOL actually made it to the market, at last? Terrific!
My first programming languages were (in order of appearance) Fortran, GW-Basic, and COBOL. All through the mid-to-late 80s I was programming in COBOL on mainframes. Shoot, it’s an easy language to write, but it sure wasn’t lending itself to the new technologies of the time! That’s the first time that I heard the phrase "Visual COBOL". Nice to know that it’s finally here!
We’ll be moving on to some new things tomorrow. Drop me a note at btaylor@sswug.org if you have areas of interest.
Cheers,
Ben
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