Re: Adding a smaller drive

["Martin K. Petersen" <martin.petersen@oracle.com>]

>>>>> "Leslie" == Leslie Rhorer <lrhorer@satx.rr.com> writes:

>> That's how it's supposed to be.

Leslie> You mean that's how IDEMA specs read.  Unless there is some
Leslie> legal agreement signed by the drive manufacturer (or whomever)
Leslie> requiring adherence to a certain spec, they can do just about
Leslie> anything they want.  Compliance with a published spec is great,
Leslie> but unless some licensing agreement is in place, it isn't
Leslie> enforceable.

Oracle is not a member so I'm not sure what (if any) leverage is
available as part of the IDEMA membership agreement.

I do think, however, that you are underestimating the power of industry
associations and standards bodies.  System manufacturers, enterprise
customers and governments absolutely refuse to buy things that are not
compliant.  So this is not about whether you can legally cut corners.
It is about being able to sell your product in the first place.

In this particular case IDEMA is an organization founded and run by the
drive manufacturers themselves.  They collaborated on the LBA spec and
have all publicly stated that they'll adhere to it.  It is not a
requirement that was forced upon them by an external entity.  Although
it was, of course, motivated by customers unhappy with the annoying
variation in LBA count between brands and even drive models...

-- 
Martin K. Petersen	Oracle Linux Engineering