Configuring the Windows 2000 I/O Subsystem

The Windows 2000 operating system brought considerable changes to the capabilities and configuration options of the I/O subsystem over those available with the Windows NT operating system. This paper will cover, in terms of impact on performance, the options available for configuring this very critical component of Windows 2000. We will describe the available choices at each layer of processing moving from the hardware level to the file system and application layer. Topics that will be discussed include hard drive options and capabilities, interface options and capabilities, file system options and capabilities, and add-on software options.