Brother, can you spare a couple of SCSI SCA disks?

Ben Scott dragonhawk at gmail.com
Mon Oct 22 14:10:14 EDT 2007


On 10/22/07, Tom Buskey <tom at buskey.name> wrote:
> What kind of hardware are these?  Linux x86?

  Linux x86.  Actually, the hardware is x86 no matter what OS is
running on it.  ;-)

  Gory details are available:

http://wiki.gnhlug.org/twiki2/bin/view/Organizational/ServerHardware

> SCA SCSI is kind of rare on x86 ...

  If you say so.  I've been getting SCA on most of my x86 servers for
something close to a decade now.  :)  I suppose if you compare vs the
entire population of x86 boxes, including $200 Wal-Mart specials, then
yah, SCA is rare.

  Of course, SCA is being displaced by SAS now, which has a yet
another incompatible connector.  Yay standards!  ;)

> ... bang/buck is low.

  Divide by zero error.  (The server was also "free".)

> If it's an option, how about a SATA PCI card & SATA drives?

  Thought about it.  Thing is, I think the SCA backplane also serves
to connect some of the chassis fans.  If so, removing it (to make room
for the SATA and power cables and connectors) would be a bad idea.
Even if it is possible, we'd loose hot swap, and so disk changes would
be a pain.  Not that we can't take it out of the rack if we have to,
but it'd be nice not to have to.  That said, the chassis does have
room for a PCI card, and my hacksaw still works, so it may be an
option, should push come to shove.  :)

-- Ben


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