I am about to build another PC to be used as a workstation. I picked up a box of 5 new Seagate SCSI 3 50 gig drives for $250.00 total, so I am thinking of using some them for this. Since SCSI controller boards are about $100.00 or so, I was thinking of using a server mother biard with built in SCSI. A couple of questions: 1. Is the physical format of the mother boards usually the same so they will fit in a standard case? (And what is the standard size?) 2. Any downfalls that you would know of going this route? TIA Harry G
On Thursday 30 October 2003 10:31, Harry G wrote:
I am about to build another PC to be used as a workstation. I picked up a box of 5 new Seagate SCSI 3 50 gig drives for $250.00 total, so I am thinking of using some them for this.
Whoa, good find.. Make a nice raid array...!!
Since SCSI controller boards are about $100.00 or so, I was thinking of using a server mother biard with built in SCSI. A couple of questions:
Look around, scsi boards are around $35
1. Is the physical format of the mother boards usually the same so they will fit in a standard case? (And what is the standard size?)
Yes. It just has one extra header on board. That's the only difference. Make sure they type of scsi controller is compatible with your drives. (number of pins on the header and drives, single ended or not, etc. You know, all the usual scsi questions.)
2. Any downfalls that you would know of going this route?
Its usually not the high end scsi controller that gets built on but it will be plenty good enough. Saves a slot too. Best to be sure of the chipset onboard and make sure there are drivers available in linux. There probably are drivers, because there are not that many built-on chipsets. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 12:31, Harry G wrote:
I am about to build another PC to be used as a workstation. I picked up a box of 5 new Seagate SCSI 3 50 gig drives for $250.00 total, so I am thinking of using some them for this.
Since SCSI controller boards are about $100.00 or so, I was thinking of using a server mother biard with built in SCSI. A couple of questions:
1. Is the physical format of the mother boards usually the same so they will fit in a standard case? (And what is the standard size?)
2. Any downfalls that you would know of going this route?
TIA
Harry G
A potential downfall with using a motherboard with a built-in SCSI raid is that if you have problems or compatibility issues with the built in raid then fixing the built-in can be a problem. A couple of years ago we built a server with a built-in SCSI raid motherboard. A few months later the SCSI raid was proven to be flakey. Tried to turn it off and use a separate SCSI raid card, but our IT guy was unable to solve some sort of issue between the built-in and the separate SCSI card. This was never satisfactorily resolved. Except that we finally decided to replace the IT guy. I consider the cost of a separate SCSI card to be small compared to the potential cost if there are any problems. -- Ralph Sanford - If your government does not trust you, rsanford@telusplanet.net - should you trust your government? DH/DSS Key - 0x7A1BEA01
participants (3)
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Harry G
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John Andersen
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Ralph Sanford