SCSI Help needed - Tips needed!

[SaigonK]

Ok here is the story:


Lets start off with what i have and where i would like to go...

Gear:

1. Adaptec 2940 UW Pro pci scsi card
1. Adaptec 2940 UW pci scsi card
1. Seagate <FONT face=Verdana size=1><FONT color=#333333>Cheetah 18XL model # </FONT><FONT color=#000000>ST318404LC 18.2 gig drive (ultra160)</FONT></FONT>
1. Quantum Atlas III 3.5 series 4.5SCA. (i am assuming it is an 18gig Ultra160 unit)
1. Quantum Atlas 10k 3.5 series Ultra 160 drive.

I have some cables...they all appear to be 50 pin items, and one drive has an adapter alreay plugged into it.

Here are my questions:

1. What SCSI adapter should i get for these drives...i plan to put at least two of them in my machine, but possibly all three if it is worth it.

2. They dont use a regular connector, they seem to be using LVD (is that right?) on the drive itself so the one adapter I have appears to be the right one, but does anyone know of aplace i can get more and are there specific ones that are the best to get?

3. I dont have any terminators at all..so i cant do squat right now But i will buy them if need be (i imagine i need them...do i?)

4. What config should i use? What would be the fastest or most benifitial to me? Video editing being my main focus right now..im thinking a couple of these drives setup on a 160 controller would get me much better throughput when rendering....hopefully cut down on my current 3hour times.....


Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[SaigonK]

Bump for some help! ^^^

 

[Nothinman]

1. What SCSI adapter should i get for these drives...i plan to put at least two of them in my machine, but possibly all three if it is worth it.

Get a real SCSI 160 controller, the drives will only run as slow as the controller (or cable).

2. They dont use a regular connector, they seem to be using LVD (is that right?) on the drive itself so the one adapter I have appears to be the right one, but does anyone know of aplace i can get more and are there specific ones that are the best to get?

Adapters to make them 50 pin will slow them down to the point of making you wonder why you're using SCSI.

3. I dont have any terminators at all..so i cant do squat right now But i will buy them if need be (i imagine i need them...do i?)

Some drives have jumpers to enable termination on them, if you have one you could terminate the chain with it, but you need a terminator.

4. What config should i use? What would be the fastest or most benifitial to me? Video editing being my main focus right now..im thinking a couple of these drives setup on a 160 controller would get me much better throughput when rendering....hopefully cut down on my current 3hour times.....

RAID 0 (even software RAID) will give nice speeds, but you'll want to have a seperate backup scheme just incase since there's no getting your data back if 1 drive fails.

 

[Lorne]

The 2940 or the pro your choice, Will work fine by itself with all 3 of the hardrives.
You dont need a Ultra160, Its just bragging rights and your not pushing that much throughput.

Suggestions, Make sure you put the teminated drive on the end and no others are terminated.
or put the 50 pin drive onto the 50 pin connecter and the others on the 68pin, again watch the termination for both channels.

 

[SaigonK]

Thanks for the info...i have more questions though....



By using the adapter (the lvd) will it make my setup slower?
I am including photos of the drives, tags, and adapters etc etc

---------------
Drive-1: Tag - <a class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://home.adelphia.net/~rdrivas/photos/Pic008.jpg" target=blank>Connector
</A>Drive-2: Tag - Connector
Drive-3: Tag - Connector is the same type as other two....
---------------
Adapter: Angle-1 - Angle-2 - Angle-3



Again, I want to make sure i get the correct adapters and setup so including the photos might help out a bit.....


Thanks!

 

[Marine]

Your 2940 U2W/UW is the SCSI adapter.
These adapters will pass up to 80MB/s.
Using a 50 pin ribbon cable will cut this down to 20 MB/s.
Buy a good LVD terminated cable, and if all three of your drives are in fact 160 capable, you should be able to move (theoretically of course), 80 MB/s of data using the high side connection on the 2940U2W Pro. The only use for a 50 pin cable would be to connect a peripheral such as a scanner using the internal/external connection on the Pro card or internally, a 50 pin CD-ROM/CD-RW. You will need to terminate the last device on this bus -- typically the external device(s). Connect any 68 pin CD-ROM/DVD players to the low side 68-pin internal connection with a standard 68 pin cable. Most of these devices are internally terminated with jumpers. The settings are on their web sites.
I don't see an need to install the second SCSI adapter if you are using only three HDDs. You should be able to drive 14 HDDs with either of these Adaptecs.

 

[Richard98]

From the pics, it looks like you have SCA80 connectors on the drives. If the drives are lvd/se drives, try here for the adaptors:

symmic

 

[SaigonK]

Richard98 - are these just "pass through" connectors? meaning they wont affect my performance?

Thanks!


EDIT:

Also can you point me in the direction of some terminiators i would need and cables?
You guys are a great help!

 

[Richard98]

<< Richard98 - are these just "pass through" connectors? meaning they wont affect my performance?

<< >>



I don believe so, but it's irrelevant as you can not connect a SCA 80 pin drive without such an adapter.



<< Also can you point me in the direction of some terminiators i would need and cables?
You guys are a great help! >>



You should get a lvd/se cable with a built in terminator. Should be able to pick one of these up for $10.

 

[Marine]

Almost any "connector" you put between a device and the SCSI cable will in fact impact your performance. For best results, match your cables to the devices you want to connect. If you have an Adaptec 2940U2W, you have three SCSI connections on the card, one 80 MB/s LVD, one 40 MB/s standard 68 pin, and one 50 pin SCSI-2 connection. Don't try to make things work with cheap pin step ups or step downs, just buy the appropriate cables for your applications and you'll be much happier with the results, and you'll be able to forget about all these terminators you're worried about. A good quality custom-built terminated LVD cable might set you back a bit more than $10, but sometimes you can find them for a song at small computer shops. Ordinary SCSI-3 68 pin cables don't have to be terminated, the hard drives are internally terminated.

 

[Richard98]

<< Almost any "connector" you put between a device and the SCSI cable will in fact impact your performance. For best results, match your cables to the devices you want to connect. If you have an Adaptec 2940U2W, you have three SCSI connections on the card, one 80 MB/s LVD, one 40 MB/s standard 68 pin, and one 50 pin SCSI-2 connection. Don't try to make things work with cheap pin step ups or step downs, just buy the appropriate cables for your applications and you'll be much happier with the results, and you'll be able to forget about all these terminators you're worried about. A good quality custom-built terminated LVD cable might set you back a bit more than $10, but sometimes you can find them for a song at small computer shops. Ordinary SCSI-3 68 pin cables don't have to be terminated, the hard drives are internally terminated. >>



Marine. If he has an 80 pin SCA drive, he ain't gonna be able to buy a cable to connect it directly to his card or any other scsi card. I'm confused with your last sentence. LVD drives are NEVER internally terminated.

Edit: Do you have a 2940u2w or is it a 2940UW Pro. If I'm not mistaken the 2940uw Pro supports a maximum of 40mb/sec.

 

[SaigonK]

I have the 2940uw pro, but i would like to buy the Ultra160 card if need be.
Thanks for all the info, I am sure i will have yet more questions for you in the morning =)

 

[SaigonK]

Went looking for a card today, found my adapters that I need (Thanks! SunDogOne),
should i get the 29160 or the 29160n ? ?
Or a 19160 ?

Whats the difference besides one being a 64bit and intended for a server i assume?

Thanks!