SCSI storage server questions

[GungSeng]

Hi

I recently "acquired" 13 SCSI hard drives, but the problem is that because I've never used SCSI hardware before I am quite lost on the interface thingys. All I know is that I should use SCSI 3 Ultra Wide, because it is the fastest. However, I have mixture of different interfaces in my drive collection so that I do not know what interface I should use.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/gungseng/tripla.jpg

The drive on the bottom is much taller than an average drive so I think it requires a 5.25" to fit properly. I have 6 of these tall drives, which means that I need a case with seven 5.25" drive bays :( (one for the CD-drive)

http://koti.mbnet.fi/gungseng/kaksois.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/gungseng/ainoa.jpg

These drives are going to used in the construction of a LAN mp3 server. Also, because I have so many hard drives I really should put them into a RAID configuration. However I havent decided yet what raid I ought to use.

I have heard that that if I have multiple interfaces in a raid array then the array works as fast as the drive with the slowest interface and because I have 10 drives of one interface, 2 of an other interface and one lonely drive and if the lonely drive or the drives with interface #2 appear to be slow then I probably should just dump 'em and only use the 10 drives. Is it possible to do it like this: use one raid card for 10 drives, another type for the 2 drives and another one for the lone drive and then combine all the 13 drives into a RAID array?

1. I need some recommendations for a RAID pci card that can be purchased from ebay or from europe.
2. I need a case with 7 or more 5.25" bays. Preferably a beige case, because I really like the oldskool nerdy beige cases, but other cases (such as Lian Li) will do just fine. So far I have been considering the Coolermaster CM Stacker 810

I hope I am making any sense to you. :stick: (sry the pictures are quite small , because i couldnt find my camera mem card so I had to use my mobile)

[Ugly n Grey]

Post the drive models numbers for me, tell me what kind of computer you have and I'll give you a couple choices for how to make this all work for you. The pics are pointless at the moment.

[GungSeng]

Hi

The computer that's gonna run this is gonna be a dual xeon +2.0 Ghz or socket A Athlon XP 2400+. I dont know yet. :confused:

Drives:

1 x Hewlett-Packard DDYS-T09170 (those are zeroes)

3 x Compaq MAB3091SC

4 x Compaq HC0183172A

1 x Compaq C2490A

1 x Seagate ST39140N Medalist

1 x Compaq HB01831B95 (not sure, so many numbers on it)

1 x Compaq 313758-001 (not sure, many numbers on it and this one says "drive CPN")

1 x IBM COMP IEC-950 (not sure, many numbers but no markings)

Thanks

[Ugly n Grey]

Hi

The computer that's gonna run this is gonna be a dual xeon +2.0 Ghz or socket A Athlon XP 2400+. I dont know yet. :confused:

Drives:

1 x Hewlett-Packard DDYS-T09170 (those are zeroes)
=IBM Ultrastar DDYS-T09170 9.1GB 10000rpm "Ultra160 SCSI 80-Pin"
This is the fastest drive of the bunch. The performance in burst mode is equivelant to an SATA 1 drive though sustained throughputs are faster than most SATA drives even though it's an older drive. But you have only one so it kinda bites...sell it on Ebay, might get a few bucks for it...

3 x Compaq MAB3091SC
=Fujitsu ...Interface SCSI-3 , 7200 RPM, 80 pin, 9.1 Gb
OK, nothing special

4 x Compaq HC0183172A
HC0183172A, HP/Compaq 18.2GB 10K WIDE-ULTRA SCSI-3 80PIN
OK, nothing special

1 x Compaq C2490A
2.1 Gb, SCSIN, 7200. 2GB SCSIN HDD 50-pin Narrow
junk

1 x Seagate ST39140N Medalist
ST39140N 9L1004-301 9.1 Gb SCSIN 7200
junk

1 x Compaq HB01831B95 (not sure, so many numbers on it)
HB01831B95 HP/Compaq Hard drive 18.2GB, 7200, WU SCSI-3, SCA-2, LVD, 80 Pin, 1.0
sell it on Ebay, might get a few bucks for it...but not very useful to you

1 x Compaq 313758-001 (not sure, many numbers on it and this one says "drive CPN")
SCSI 18.2GB 80 PIN HH
7200 HOT PLUG
sell it on Ebay, might get a few bucks for it...but not very useful to you

1 x IBM COMP IEC-950 (not sure, many numbers but no markings) -IEC-950 just means it meets certain safety requirements...doesn't matter, doubt it's a useful drive..

Thanks

So basically I suggest you keep the drives you have in quantity. That means the 3x Compaq MAB3091SC
(=Fujitsu ...Interface SCSI-3 , 7200 RPM, 80 pin, 9.1 Gb)
and the
4 x Compaq HC0183172A
(HC0183172A, HP/Compaq 18.2GB 10K WIDE-ULTRA SCSI-3 80PIN ) These are the faster set


Your next problem is all these drives were meant for servers or advanced workstations that allowed plug in for 80 pin drives...you need to be able to buy adapters that convert them to 68 pin SCSI with separate power adapters or buy an external chassis that support 80 pin drives. 80to68 pin adapters can be purchased off Ebay for a few bucks each I PM'ed you with a link, because I hate seeing ebay links in posts and I hope it's against forum policy :)

Now since you have not even decided on an interface, a good old school card for RAID on regular PCI is the Adaptec AAA-133SA controller. It has three channels. It can be bought cheaply.This allows you you to distribute the drives over the three channels and maximize throughput. If it were me... I'd do the following


2 HC0183172A on one channel
2 HC0183172A on another
3 MAB3091SC on yet another

Set the first four drives up as RAID 5 across two channels, they will have a sustained read/write throughput theoretical capacity of 160 MB/s on the drives, cut to 80MB/s because of the two 40MB/s channels on the controller. So sustained read write performance is a little better than the best single SATA II drive available today. Set the last three drives up also as RAID 5 on the third channel, no idea on performance, but not too bad, probably 40MB/s sustained for sure.

Hope that helps, you are on your own as far as a case etc...

Ugly

[GungSeng]

Sounds Good

So now I have to scour the eBay for that card, but eventually i'll find/get it.

Sorry for replying so late. I had some ISP problems and stuffo so, well, sorry.

Thanks for helping me out :)

[[XC] moddolicous]

Here is what comes up with a quick froogle:
http://www.cmishop.com/store/ShowDetails.asp?txtProductName=AAA133SAKIT-BX&txtMfgPartNo=AAA133SAKIT&nCategorySubID=125&txtSiteTrack=FG