On Tue, 5 Dec 2023 11:13:15 -0500
Steve Litt <slitt@???> wrote:

> Martin Steigerwald said on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:24:30 +0100
>
>
> >Steve talked about using a monster spinning disk in his mail not for
> >backup purposes, but for example for "/var" and "/home" I think, I
> >bet for his workstation. My comment was related to that. I would not
> >tolerate such a disk in my workstation nowadays anymore I bet.
>
> Yeah, it's loud. Of course, I have about 6 fans spinning at full speed
> constantly, which is the main component of my noise. I want everything
> running cool in my computer, and for me (YMMV), 35 db or whatever
> isn't the end of the world. Heck, I used to code 8 hours a night in a
> computer room with bunches of Vaxes, PDP-11s, and full size suction
> controlled reel to reel 9 track tape drives, and I lived to tell
> about it.

No printers? LUXURY>

I once worked in the computer room of a stock exchange. A cavernous
place of a dozen mainframes of various vintage, most of whom had a reel
to reals in continuous use along with a see of washing machines (little
stubby hard disk towers) and a central feature of two enormous
Honeywell(?) drum printers about 20' feet high clammering away almost
24x7. Both were open frame with absolutely no sound deadening.
No factory I ever went into was as noisy as that place. The place was
lucky to have about 70% of needed operations staff at any time.

>Of course I'm halfway deaf now. Was it that computer room, or
> the 90db factory I used to work in, or the rock concerts or the
> parties with the stereo cranked up to 100db? I don't know. And of
> course being halfway deaf makes it easier to put up with fan noise
> :-).

It is when the fans suddenly stop and you can not put your finger on
exactly what has happened you get a glimmer into how your hearing
ability to selectively automatically filter certain sounds.
>