FAQ for Assignment 1

What block size do we assume in Question 1(a)?

    You do not need this information to compute the answer to this question. The burst bandwidth refers to the rate at which data flies by the disk head and depends solely on the amount of data laid out on a track and the rate at which the disk spins. You may assume that data is laid out contiguously on the track.

In problem 2, what is the meaning of "block access time"?

    "Block access time" is the time to read the whole block into RAM.

In problem 5, are all of the required/optional fields contained in 30/10 bytes, or is it that each field is 30/10 bytes?

    Each required field is 30 bytes. Each optional field is 10 bytes.