How does SCSI Hot-Swap work?

[CrazyHelloDeli]

Title pretty much says it. Im confused when looking at cases that say Hot-Swap vs one that dont, but dont know what make the two actually different. Would a Hot-Swap capability be something an enterprise class RAID 5 card would support, or is it entirely dependant on the case? For example, would I be able tyo do HotSwap provided I had the right case, with any controller card? If somone could clarify I would appriciate it.

Also, is there a maximum ammount of HD Space a Hot-Swap capable case can support? Or is storage space maximum determined by only the controller card IE Single channel 19160 from Adaptec?

 

[dkozloski]

SCSI hot swap is done with 80 pin SCA drives which have signals and power all in one connector. The pins are of different lengths which connects signals and power in a sequence to prevent damage to hardware. The SCA connectors are part of a cage or enclosure that holds the drives and there is no cable as such. To do hot swaps you would have to have the correct RAID controller card that is compatible with management software such as an American Megatrends Enterprise or Mylex Accelleraid.