[shahed26]

Hello Guys, I need some help connecting SCSI hard disks to my workstation pc.
I don’t know hardly anything about SCSI’s, so some clear simple guide will be really helpful.

I have got 4 of these SCSI hard disks.









This is my motherboard




But funny thing I don’t even know how many PIN connector this is, that’s why I took some pictures of it.

My motherboard
Asus P5W DH DELUXE (I have 1 spare PCI-Express slot and 1 spare PCI slot)

Case
Antec Server Case

I do know that I will need a SCSI adaptor, but don’t know which one to get. Will I need any additional components apart from a SCSI adaptor?

Would really appreciate if anyone can help me getting my SCSI hard disk set up.

Thank you

[CoffeeFiend]

Why would you even bother? They're 18GB/ea. They're just about free everywhere you can find them (like this pair which went for 1 penny), and for a reason.

Assuming cheap hydro electricity prices like around here (10 cents/KWh), you're looking at $40/year or more just to keep 72GB of space running (more than the drives are worth in the first place). If you keep them for 3 years or so, you're looking at more in power costs alone than replacing it with a modern 1TB SATA drive now which will perform MUCH better everywhere, save for rotational latency. The drives are quite slow being so old, and the SCSI bus only slow (40MB/s) to begin with and shared.

You're going to need a SCSI card of course -- preferably a SCSI RAID card (mind you, most decent PERCs require slots which your motherboard doesn't have i.e. PCI-X or PCI 64), unless you want 4 separate really small and really slow drives... Getting one of those, a bunch of 80 to 68 pin adapters, the 68 pin cables and terminators will run you a lot of $$ for unimpressive performance and very little space.

Seriously, you'd get better performance and more space out of a $40 80GB SATA drive (less power wasted too, less space wasted inside your case as well), even though it's a pretty bad value (500GB'ers are like $50). This is 10 year old tech we're talking about (the drives are likely pretty worn out too, I don't think I'd trust them to hold my data). Even the newer SCSI types have been replaced by SAS a while ago. It's a bit like making yourself a P3-class Xeon server in this day of dirt cheap quad core monster CPUs.

[bonestonne]

Wholeheartedly agree with Coffeefiend here...and I have a P3 class Server, so I know what he means.

although I wouldn't say dirt cheap, because I can't afford a quad...but the rest of my system is waiting for one (P45 + 8gb of RAM).

the only thing those drives have going for them is 15k RPM, which to be honest, is useless unless you need a lot of performance, and I work with multi-track audio, and I don't even need 10k RPM, although I have been eyeing a Velociraptor for my boot drive.

[CoffeeFiend]

bonestonne, on Nov 1 2009, 09:15 PM, said:

I wouldn't say dirt cheap, because I can't afford a quad...

$99 gets you a basic quad core these days Which should be a massive upgrade from that P3 server, and handle Hyper-V (it has AMD-V) and everything else just fine. Decent Intel quads (that aren't crippled i.e. VT not disabled) start at like twice that price, I'll grant you that.

Not that I have a quad yet!

[bonestonne]

I've got an E6750 with 8gb of RAM...i don't need quad yet.

but i think the OP could get the point by now.

if you need 15k RPM, get SAS...not SCSI

[jaclaz]

Hey peeps, as always I may be wrong, but if someone asks a question, wouldn't it be nice to answer that question AND if needed bash the idea that led to it, instead of just the latter?

@shahed26
The drives look like SCA ones or "SCA 80", a "special" version used on Servers that integrate an 80 Pin connector that includes the power ones, to be used on hot-swap trays, like the one in the pictures that looks a lot like Compaq ones.

Most "user level" SCSI interfaces, even if Ultra3 will have "conventional" 68 Pin connectors (without the power ones) in which case you will need a converter, similar to this one:
http://www.pccables.com/01071.htm

However if you take a bit of time on e-bay you will probably find a "server level" SCSI card with the 80 Pin cable and connectors for a few bucks.

Most cards were/are manufactured by Adaptec thus "Adaptec" is a good "keyword" to search for.

This:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=8706
is very handy for a quick reference of connectors.

jaclaz

[CoffeeFiend]

jaclaz, on Nov 2 2009, 03:30 AM, said:

wouldn't it be nice to answer that question

You're right, it's not like I mentioned a SCSI RAID card, 80 to 68 pin adapters, 68 pin cables and terminators

Edit: LOL.

jaclaz, on Nov 2 2009, 03:30 AM, said:

Hey peeps, as always I may be wrong, but if someone asks a question, wouldn't it be nice to answer that question AND if needed bash the idea that led to it, instead of just the latter?

And here, you try to make fun of my post in your reply, because I did exactly what you said one should do instead, and you lack the reading comprehension to understand it (willingly or otherwise)?

Some people can't recognize being wrong, or losing an argument, and gotta dig deeper I guess.

[shahed26]

Thanks to all you guys for your kind help. I have ordered an Adaptec PCI-E SCSI card with an converter. I was thinking of getting a SCSI RAID card, but they are way too expensive.

Btw i have also got another 3x 148gb 15k RPM drives (same model as above but higher capacity) , so I wont bother with those 18.2gb anymore and instead will use the 15k rpm hdd's instead.

Thank you

[jaclaz]

CoffeeFiend, on Nov 2 2009, 01:19 PM, said:

jaclaz, on Nov 2 2009, 03:30 AM, said:

wouldn't it be nice to answer that question

You're right, it's not like I mentioned a SCSI RAID card, 80 to 68 pin adapters, 68 pin cables and terminators

You're right , I read it as (besides the innuendo and the nice lesson on calculating electricity costs and hints towards the calculation of T.C.O.):

• it's pointless SCSI
  
• it's no good anymore RAID
  
• PERC (whatever it is ) might be better, but you cannot use it
  
• it's old card
  
• it's vain 80 to 68 pin
  
• you are wasting your money

and doubted than one asking the question would have been able to extract from the above the actual answer to the original question.

I mean, and as said I may be wrong, I read the original question as:

Quote

I do know that I will need a SCSI adaptor, but don’t know which one to get. Will I need any additional components apart from a SCSI adaptor?

and not as:

Quote

What do you guys think of my foolish idea of attaching some obsolete SCSI drives to my PC? And what will I need in order to do so, should the idea be judged environmentally and economically sound?

jaclaz

[shahed26]

Ok, guys, the reason why I asked for help in connecting SCSI, because am getting 15-20 148GB 15K RPM Hdd's for FREE. For me, and am sure for you guys as well, anything for free is always welcomed unless it is a complete piece of junk.

I know about SAS, and also do know that SCSI is an old tech, but because am getting them Hdd’s free, I thought why not just connect them to my workstation pc as I have only 1 Raptor and 1 500GB HDD currently connected to that pc.

This post has been edited by shahed26: 02 November 2009 - 03:26 PM

[jaclaz]

Actually a SCSI 320 15K is not that bad :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI
and remember that you usually get what you pay for (talking of new drives), as an example:
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Seagate_Chee...356SS/p/1538711
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Seagate_Barr...813AS/p/1538714

Of course if you are looking at price per Mb, SATA wins hands down, expecially on the large sized hard drives that are becoming common nowadays.

The size of buffer and rotational speed may make a difference:
http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.ph...formanceFactors

Try going here:
http://www.storagere...tbed4Compare.sr
choose "Average Write Access Time"
then check a "Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 147 GB" and a "Seagate Barracuda ES with NCQ (750 GB SATA)" and click on "head to head comparison".

Repeat for any couple of drives you would like to compare.

jaclaz