SCSI in home server

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Crafty

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I've got 2 x 76GB drives that was given to me after a drive upgrade on one of the work servers.
Now these drive as far as i know are fantasitcly fast and reliable.
Question:

How Can i use them in my home pc? Im running Windows Home server at home, and the drives will be used on this server. I will like to raid them. I've allready lost one of my 1tb drives due to the fact that this server has a lot of disk activity, and is on 24/7. Perhaps ide was not built for this. hence my excitement over the scsi drives. It is a hotshop drive, so I will need some sort of backplane converter to convert it to scsi + power.
Any advice?
 
Regarding the backplane converter, it would depend on the type of server you're using at home. Should the server be a blade, no hassles then. The SCSI controller card you're using/going to be using should be RAID compatible. Which card have you got/looking at in that respect?
 
Well I've only build a large pc to be used as a server.
The mobo is an intel p45 with a core2 duo 3.0.
As for the card, I don't have one yet. I need to buy one. What pci card should i get. Will I need the backplane converter regardless of the card i buy?
If i can get a card for more or less R1000 i will be gratefull. i've only seen cards 2k and up though.
So the question: What controller should I get, And will it require a backplane converter?
 
ps I've been told they are ultra 320
whatever that means.
 
I'm of the opinion that if you're going using them inside your current box and not hot swapping the drives, you shouldn't need to do a backplane conversion. The cards normally just fit into a PCI slot with the 2 adapters inside the casing. Ultra320 tells you about the type of interface on the drive and also guides you w.r.t. the cable thats needed.
 
You'll only need a u320 SCSI Controller with cable for the drives. Also remember that if you plan to boot of these drives the controller will need to be one with a bios and bootable.

u320 = 320Mbit/s interface.

These controllers are not cheap and you're looking at around R3,000 for a decent SCSI controller (Adaptec 29320LPE etc)
 
So these controllers and cables support drives that has no power plugs on the back? The drives I got only has the data section. power seems to be integrated into that.
I mean I'm sure my boss would not have offered them to me if i cannot use them. I do not mind paying for the controllers though. I need reliable media for the server, and this seems like it.
 
How much is it going to cost you to connect these "freebies"? It is soundling like a little more than it would cost to hook up a home RAID server with normal desktop SATA drives...
 
You need a Scuzzy card - but it's worth it, they are fast!
 
How much is it going to cost you to connect these "freebies"? It is soundling like a little more than it would cost to hook up a home RAID server with normal desktop SATA drives...
Click to expand...
I like the speed. Sure they are only 20mb/s faster than the new sata drives. But the higher rpm should make a big difference in seek time. And as I said in my 1st post. I do not think IDE was meant to be this hard working. Its on 24/7 and about 80% of the time, it's busy with video re-indexing.

The Data Drives (2 x 1TB) is allready in a raid config. This is for the boot partition.
 
Crafty said:
So these controllers and cables support drives that has no power plugs on the back? The drives I got only has the data section. power seems to be integrated into that.
I mean I'm sure my boss would not have offered them to me if i cannot use them. I do not mind paying for the controllers though. I need reliable media for the server, and this seems like it.
Click to expand...
not familiar enought with scsi (new ones) but it sure sounds to be like they are still sitting in their removable cases...

they all have a 4 pin molex like we are used to....until they land up in some hotswap tray....so remove the tray and you will find the drive+power+interface connectors.

may also explain why earlier in this thread you were talking about a backplane...wont be needed here, bare drives plugged into scsi controller and off you go.
 
Crafty said:
I like the speed. Sure they are only 20mb/s faster than the new sata drives. But the higher rpm should make a big difference in seek time. And as I said in my 1st post. I do not think IDE was meant to be this hard working. Its on 24/7 and about 80% of the time, it's busy with video re-indexing.

The Data Drives (2 x 1TB) is allready in a raid config. This is for the boot partition.
Click to expand...

If looking at only using SCSI in future it might be a good idea to buy the card. Otherwise your waisting your money for 170GB.
 
Crafty said:
So these controllers and cables support drives that has no power plugs on the back? The drives I got only has the data section. power seems to be integrated into that.
I mean I'm sure my boss would not have offered them to me if i cannot use them. I do not mind paying for the controllers though. I need reliable media for the server, and this seems like it.
Click to expand...


Hi Crafty

It sounds like you've got SCA2 80 pin interfaces on the drive which are the ones used by servers as they are hot swappable and plug into a chassis backplane providing the data and power requirements for the drive. I haven't come across a SCSI controller that provides an SCA2 80 pin ribbon cable before so you'll have to buy the following:

1) Adaptec (recommended) U320 Controller & U320 68PIN Cable with 2 connectors and built in terminator - This kit has both:
http://computersrus.co.za/catalog/a...t-is-a-u320-scsi-host-bus-adapter-p-1627.html

2) 2x SCA2 80pin to U320 LVD UW 68pin Convertors (These have a power connector similar to old PATA drives/CDRom Drives and the 68pin interface for the ribbon cable to the controller)
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SCSI-SCA2-8...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

I don't know if the above convertors are available in SA - I imported mine via ebay as well
 
quovadis said:
Hi Crafty

It sounds like you've got SCA2 80 pin interfaces on the drive which are the ones used by servers as they are hot swappable and plug into a chassis backplane providing the data and power requirements for the drive. I haven't come across a SCSI controller that provides an SCA2 80 pin ribbon cable before so you'll have to buy the following:

1) Adaptec (recommended) U320 Controller & U320 68PIN Cable with 2 connectors and built in terminator - This kit has both:
http://computersrus.co.za/catalog/a...t-is-a-u320-scsi-host-bus-adapter-p-1627.html

2) 2x SCA2 80pin to U320 LVD UW 68pin Convertors (These have a power connector similar to old PATA drives/CDRom Drives and the 68pin interface for the ribbon cable to the controller)
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SCSI-SCA2-8...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

I don't know if the above convertors are available in SA - I imported mine via ebay as well
Click to expand...
Awesome! thanks. This is just i what i wanted to see.
I've been searching for that converter for ages.
I've sent an email to Icy Dock. I need to find out if their internal U320 enclosure supports this. the converter might be cheaper though. Thanks!
 
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