What Is Typical?
Caveat: Only you know what is typical for your apps
Caveat: Different computers have different performance
Caveat: New file systems respond differently than old ones
Notes:
Each application has a different set of requirements. Some applications perform very little in the way of file oriented disk I/O and do not require large amounts of memory. Some require large amounts of memory which induces virtual memory swapping, but do very little file I/O. Some programs do lots of file I/O (random and/or sequential), and no swapping. Lastly, some programs do lots of file I/O and lots of swapping.
Newer computers typically have faster processors and more (and faster) I/O buses. For example, the C160 has two SCSI buses, and the ability to add four more. The 715 has only a single bus, and can add only one more. The C160’s processor is up to four times faster than that in the 715, too.
As file systems age, files are created, deleted and copied from location to location. As part of this process fragments of unused areas are often created. As new files are written to the file system, these fragments are reused, and the data in the file may not be in as close proximity to each other as it would be if they were written to a freshly initialized file system. This fragmentation tends to slow down access to the data.