# How about a computer problems forum? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 9, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075 "2002-07-09T14:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/41 "2002-07-15T16:54:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\* > > The reason I asked is that if there are larger boards out there using the same software, I wonder how they deal with their server issues - do they just have larger servers, do they tweak the code themselves, do they wait for the latest vBulletin, etc. \*\* Typically they are faster due to a much faster server(s) and bigger net pipe. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/42 "2002-07-15T21:33:32Z")
> [@](#): > > but there isn’t any class of honest question (other than the ones that belong in the other forums) in GQ that isn’t allowed, is there? Well, there are questions on how to perform an illegal activity (as defined by the laws of the city of Chicago, state of Illinois, and the United States of America). Questions like “how do I make a bong” or “how do I defeat copyright protection measures” will get shut down very quickly, with a close look at the person posting, as well. But of course, that’s completely different from “questions on computer issues”. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/43 "2002-07-16T02:41:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by partly\_warmer \* > **2) Buy RAID disks. Even RAID 0, which is the cheapest, still doubles most kinds of disk access.** Hmmm. Since this is a computer (Kinda) related thread, it should probably be kept on the up and up. When you say, “doubles most kinds of disk access”, aren’t you implying the speed of disk striping, and not necessary the redunacy of RAID? - I’m either going to look really smart here, or a complete dummy. I await with baited breath. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried_ > **So have you noticed that since we created Cafe Society the number of posts in General Questions had diminished? Or since we created IMHO that the number of posts in MPSIMS has diminished?** To be honest with you, no I haven’t noticed… one way or the other. I assume by your rhetorical answer, it hasn’t. Interesting. So, since the question begs asking, why were the splinter forums created? ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/44 "2002-07-16T03:04:35Z")
Doh! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/45 "2002-07-16T14:33:19Z")
**Chaim** ; you could probably reduce it to four lines just by tweaking the formatting, especially the hard returns, thus: “Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective Chaim Mattis Keller ([Chaim.Keller@verizon.net](mailto:Chaim.Keller@verizon.net)) Of course this hardly affects the bandwidth issue as it’s only about three or four characters shorter in total, but it would ensure that you don’t set any unfavourable precedents for people who would truly abuse the sig function. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/46 "2002-07-16T14:38:17Z")
:smack: Well, it worked in preview, just ignore me. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075/47 "2002-07-16T19:57:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > **When you say, “doubles most kinds of disk access”, aren’t you implying the speed of disk striping, and not necessary the redunacy of RAID?** Yes. I’ve got Fasttrack’s RAID 0 on my computer, which reads and writes half the data to each disk. Actually I’m not sure how much faster this particular setup is (I got tired of testing the exact improvement of my performances changes). But it feel a LOT faster. The next step up in RAID is to spread the data out over several disks. Here’s a site with RAID info: [http://www.acnc.com/raid.html](http://www.acnc.com/raid.html) * * * On the subject of forbidding threads, it seems to me there are computer threads that are fair game for the SDMB. An example would be, “Should the government limit export of high-end computer technology?” But I’d rather not have the board’s performance littered with 100s of questions that have been answered conclusively on technical boards. We end up with 1,000s of posts, few of which are completely technically correct (often they’re dead wrong). My preferred solution is to have someone catch these threads early in the process, refer the questioner to a technical solution site, and (then, possibly) close the thread. Except the last, we’re doing this to some extent, now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-computer-problems-forum/118075.md?page=2)