What to do with 2 scsi drives?

nxcess

nxcess

2[H]4U
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Dec 22, 2004
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I've been out of the computer loop for a while. Last time I built a computer was when amd tbred xp (1700+ oc'd to 2.5ghz) and ati 9700pro were the best you could get. So go easy on me. I've acquire 2 Compaq 36.4Gb 10k Wide Ultra 3 SCSI brand new. It was still sealed in it's anti-static bag. Well, I'm back to building another one, but it won't be the best of the best. Only from parts that I've acquired from the past year or so.

Anyways, back on topic. My knowledge about scsi is limited. What type of card would I need to get these drive working? I read into it a little bit, and I'm going with software raid. It's a personal computer and not a server so hardware raid would be overkill for me. And out of my price range. The motherboard is going to be DFI Lanparty SLI-DR eXpert s939. If you guys need to more info, let me know.

There's a guy on the for sale forum that's selling Sun Storage PCI/PCI X Dual U320 SCSI Host Adapter. Would this work, and what kind of adapter/cable would I need?

Thanks.
 
Ultra3 would be Ultra160. I'm guessing that these drives came with the compaq drive carriages? If so, you will need an 80 pin scsi cable, and a card capable of running those drives. The card you mentioned should work fine. By the way, with a card like that, you would not run software raid. The card itself is capable of making a RAID0/1 array just fine. If you are not going to be using the drive carriers, then you will need a 68pin cable. Make sure the card you buy will fit either the 80 pin or 68 pin cable. The 80 pin cable is one that carries power to the drive as well as data.

I would look for a cheaper HP/Compaq SmartArray 5300 or something like that, make sure that it is compatible with PCI (not just PCIX). Not totally sure if that would work with your mobo, it should though. The smartarray 5300 (or 5i) is what those drives would natively use in that model/year of compaq server.
 
If you can't find drivers for that card, see if you can find an Adaptec 29160 / 19160 / 29320 / 39160, or some combination like that. Most of those will be 32/33 PCI capable, and OSes like Win 2000 and XP have the drivers for those natively. However, cheaper versions of these cards will not do hardware RAID.
 
Rocco123 said:
Ultra3 would be Ultra160. I'm guessing that these drives came with the compaq drive carriages? If so, you will need an 80 pin scsi cable, and a card capable of running those drives. The card you mentioned should work fine. By the way, with a card like that, you would not run software raid. The card itself is capable of making a RAID0/1 array just fine. If you are not going to be using the drive carriers, then you will need a 68pin cable. Make sure the card you buy will fit either the 80 pin or 68 pin cable. The 80 pin cable is one that carries power to the drive as well as data.

I would look for a cheaper HP/Compaq SmartArray 5300 or something like that, make sure that it is compatible with PCI (not just PCIX). Not totally sure if that would work with your mobo, it should though. The smartarray 5300 (or 5i) is what those drives would natively use in that model/year of compaq server.
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It came in the cartridges but I removed the harddrives and threw away the outside casing. The other card has been sold. Now I'm considering buying the Smart Array 5300 from eBay. Would I need the 80 pin still, or 68pin? I'm kinda lost on that one. ;x

*edit* BTW. Would it be compatible with Windows XP?
 
i'm a bit hesitant to use PCI-X SCSI controllers on PCI slots cos the performance is going to be limited.

I would like to suggest Adaptec 29320LPE which using a PCIe-x1 interface. Its pretty expensive. Alternatively, u can look at Dell Perc 4e which uses the PCIe-x8 interface.
 
naro said:
i'm a bit hesitant to use PCI-X SCSI controllers on PCI slots cos the performance is going to be limited.

I would like to suggest Adaptec 29320LPE which using a PCIe-x1 interface. Its pretty expensive. Alternatively, u can look at Dell Perc 4e which uses the PCIe-x8 interface.
Click to expand...

Max theoretical output for the hard drives I have is 160 MB/S. PCi is limited to 133 MB/S output. If I can get close to 100 MB/S I'm satisfied. Besides that, I'm not looking to go all out and build a scsi beast. This is something for me to play with and see where it takes me. =D Nothing to expensive for now.
 
naro said:
i'm a bit hesitant to use PCI-X SCSI controllers on PCI slots cos the performance is going to be limited.

I would like to suggest Adaptec 29320LPE which using a PCIe-x1 interface. Its pretty expensive. Alternatively, u can look at Dell Perc 4e which uses the PCIe-x8 interface.
Click to expand...
The only time you'd ever need a 66MHz or 64-bit card is with a more substantial array anyway. It's a measly two disks, and old 10K ones at that.

So the drives are 80-pin? If so, you'll need some adapters to use them internally, or you could get an SCA cage.

And I don't like whoring, but I have a single channel 29160 for sale (cheap) if you're interested.
 
No, the drives themselves should be 68 pin, as well as the card inputs should be 68 Pin. I was simply saying the drives WITH the compaq carries would be 80 pin (for hotswap purposes). In that case he probably would be needed a backplane for it.

68pin scsi cable will work fine.
 
feigned you have pm.

Another thing. I took a quick look at the drives. There's no molex adapter on the hard drivers. How/where does it draw power from?
 
nxcess said:
feigned you have pm.

Another thing. I took a quick look at the drives. There's no molex adapter on the hard drivers. How/where does it draw power from?
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Mystery solved. :p

You have 80-pin SCA disks. You'll need two of these things, but you don't have to buy them from this link (e.g. not pimping eBay site, just an example): Example
 
feigned said:
Mystery solved. :p

You have 80-pin SCA disks. You'll need two of these things, but you don't have to buy them from this link (e.g. not pimping eBay site, just an example): Example
Click to expand...

You're right. Did some searching for 68-pin scsi hd. They have molex connectors on them. eBay is good for one thing at least, pictures. ;x Find out more and more everyday.

Considering the hard drives are 80-pin. And knowing now that I need to get a 2x 80-pin to 68-pin adapter, a host adapter, and I'm guessing 68-pin cable too. Am I missing anything else? I read somewhere that I would need a terminator. Anyone want to explain that to me? Another question I have is do I run both hard drive off the same cable? Can I still do a raid with both drives on the same cable ribbon?
 
nxcess said:
You're right. Did some searching for 68-pin scsi hd. They have molex connectors on them. eBay is good for one thing at least, pictures. ;x Find out more and more everyday.

Considering the hard drives are 80-pin. And knowing now that I need to get a 2x 80-pin to 68-pin adapter, a host adapter, and I'm guessing 68-pin cable too. Am I missing anything else? I read somewhere that I would need a terminator. Anyone want to explain that to me? Another question I have is do I run both hard drive off the same cable? Can I still do a raid with both drives on the same cable ribbon?
Click to expand...
The terminator should be built into a SCSI cable that you get after this is all said and done. You should be able to get a three port cable for cheap just about anywhere with the terminator on the end to satisfy your needs. Most things should be self-terminating nowadays anyway. But, SAS is (finally) taking over and most of this talk will be a lost art at some point.

The beautiful thing about SCSI is that on a single channel card and the proper cable you could technically run 14 devices off of one cable with varying speeds. 80,160, 320 that sort of thing and not have a hiccup.
 
Any newer LVD/SE SCSI cable worth its salt has a terminator at the end of the cable. Check the description of the item to ensure it has one.
Yes, you can still do a RAID if the drives are on the same cable. The SCSI IDs will be set on the 80 to 68 pin adapters. If it so happens that the drives spin down for no reason after spinning up, it is likely that there isn't enough power getting to the drive and you'll need another 80 to 68 pin adapter.
 
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