<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      xmlns:if="http://projectmallard.org/if/1.0/"
      type="topic" style="task" version="1.0 if/1.0"
      id="disk-benchmark">

  <info>

    <revision pkgversion="3.6.2" version="0.2" date="2012-11-16" status="review"/>
    <revision version="13.10" date="2013-09-07" status="review"/>

    <credit type="author">
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
      <email>gnome-doc-list@gnome.org</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Natalia Ruz Leiva</name>
      <email>nruz@alumnos.inf.utfsm.cl</email>
    </credit>
   <credit type="editor">
     <name>Michael Hill</name>
     <email>mdhillca@gmail.com</email>
   </credit>

    <desc>Run benchmarks on your hard disk to check how fast it is.</desc>
    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
  </info>

<title>Test the performance of your hard disk</title>

  <p>To test the speed of your hard disk:</p>

<steps>

 <item>
<if:choose>
<if:when test="platform:unity">
  <p>Open the <app>Disks</app> application from the <link xref="unity-dash-intro">Dash</link>.</p>
</if:when>
  <p>Open the <app>Disks</app> application from the activities
  overview.</p>
</if:choose>
 </item>
 <item>
  <p>Choose the hard disk from the <gui>Disk Drives</gui> list.</p>
 </item>
 <item>
  <p>Click the gear button and select <gui>Benchmark Drive</gui>.</p>
 </item>
 <item>
  <p>Click <gui>Start Benchmark</gui> and adjust the <gui>Transfer Rate</gui>
 and <gui>Access Time</gui> parameters as desired.</p>
 </item>
 <item>
  <p>Click <gui>Start Benchmarking</gui> to test how fast data can be read from
 the disk. <link xref="user-admin-explain">Administrative privileges</link> may
  be required. Enter your password, or the password for the requested administrator
  account.</p>
 <note>
  <p>If <gui>Also perform write-benchmark</gui> is checked, the benchmark
 will test how fast data can be read from and written to the disk. This will
 take longer to complete.</p>
 </note>
 </item>

</steps>

  <p>When the test is finished, the results will appear on the graph. The green
   points and connecting lines indicate the samples taken; these correspond to
   the right axis, showing access time, plotted against the bottom axis,
   representing percentage time elapsed during the benchmark. The blue line
   represents read rates, while the red line represents write rates; these are
   shown as access data rates on the left axis, plotted against percentage of the
   disk traveled, from the outside to the spindle, along the bottom axis.</p>

  <p>Below the graph, values are displayed for minimum, maximum and average
   read and write rates, average access time and time elapsed since the last
   benchmark test.</p>

</page>
