How to select a server that supports Windows scheduled file IO

Posted by Kristof Verbiest on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by Kristof Verbiest
Published on 2011-01-12T10:48:46Z Indexed on 2011/01/12 10:54 UTC
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Background:
I am developing an application that needs to read data from disk with a fairly consistent throughput. It is important that this throughput is not influenced by other actions that happen on the disk (e.g. by other processes).

For this purpose, I was hoping to use the 'Scheduled File I/O' feature in Windows (throught the GetFileBandwithReservation and SetFileBandwithReservation functions). However, this StackOverflow question has thought me that this feature is only available if the device driver supports it. Currently I have no computer at my disposition that seems to support this feature (I have an HP Proliant server and a Dell Precision workstation).

Question:
If I were to order a new server, how can I know beforehand if this feature will be supported by the device driver? How 'upscale' does the server have to be? Has anybody used this feature with success and cares to share his experiences?

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