On Sat, Oct 30, 2004 at 12:01:43AM +0100, Joao Clemente wrote: > Hi. > For the first time I'm gonna setup a server with SCSI disks (until now > I've done it only with IDE - regular ATA or SATA) > > I'm getting a completly new server (P4 3Ghz, Dual-Channel DDR 400, MB > with intel chipset) and, while I have a good ideia on these components, > I would like to setup a RAID-1 system with SCSI disks... > > I'm looking for advice on these: wich scsi controller should I buy? > Software or Hardware RAID-1? Wich disk brand? (I'm getting a couple of > 36GB, it is more than enough space for my setup) Adaptec are pretty good, though not the cheapest; widespread and well-supported. Would be my choice. Or Intel do some nice SCSI controllers with RAID. Tekram a bit mickey mouse IMO. Some Initio cards weren't supported in 2.6 last time I looked. > Which are the tradeoffs of hard vs software raid1? What happens/How do > we proceed if 1 disk fails (how do we know it, how do we replace/resync > them?) Never used RAID, sorry. > This server can be shutdown for maintenance at off-work hours, so I > don't need any hot-plugging capability.. (this is a controller feature, > right?) And the connector/mounting arrangements for the drives. SCA drives and some neat mechanism for sliding them in and locking them in. > I'm quite confused about all the SCSI variations.. > > This is what I've found so far are somewhat like this: > - SCSI disks, all Ultra320Wide: > Seagate Cheetah 10K 68 pin, 36Gb - 160 EUR > Fujitsu 10K 68 pin, 36Gb - 150 EUR > Fujitsu 10K SCA/80pin, 36Gb - 150 EUR > Fujitsu 15K 68 pin, 18Gb - 185 EUR > Fujitsu 15K SCA/80pin, 18Gb - 185 EUR > Ok, no problem with these... any brand/model suggestions? Fujitsu. Model - that's your tradeoff of speed/capacity/price :-) > - Controllers > Several Adaptec SCSI Cards from 200 to 400 EUR, wich can have: > - 32 or 64bit > - 160MB or Ultra320 > - Raid (or not, when they say nothing.. I think) (the RAID ones start > at 400 EUR and I've seen up to 950 EUR) > > I'm confused... none of the descriptions of the Adaptec controller I've > seen state the connectors (68/80 pins)... If it says SCA it will have 80 pins. Stick the type number of the card into Google and you'll find plenty of descriptions :-) > now add more controller to the > mess: > > Tekram PCI DC395UW - 56 EUR > Tekram PCI DC390U2B - 102 EUR > Tekram PCI DC390U2W Ultra 2 Low WIDE SCSI - 126 EUR > Tekram PCI DC390U3W Ultra 3 WIDE SCSI 160 - 182 EUR > Tekram PCI DC390U4W Ultra 4 WIDE SCSI 320 - 223 EUR > > Damn... Really confused... Please confirm these toughs also: > UltraWideSCSI = 68 pin ... What is "2", "3" or "4" ?!? These seem > "similar" to ATA 66/100/133 - the bus speed, is that it? Yeah, pretty much. People play silly games with the ultra names, so best to look behind the ultra bit at the actual bus speed - 160, 320 etc. (figures in MHz) > So, what's SCA? None of these controllers says SCA... SCA puts the power and data connections down the same cable so you only have one plug on the drive, which is handy for hot-swap racks. > Ps: I supose getting a SCSI crontroller built-in on the motherboard is > stupid? Those are low-value/performance controllers? Not necessarily, but it severely limits your choice both of motherboard and of SCSI controller. Remember: Google is your friend :-) -- Pigeon Be kind to pigeons Get my GPG key here: http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x21C61F7F
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