Fibre Cable HDD

[Kevin16]

Fibre Channel HDD

Hey guys,

I have a Seagate Cheetah ST336605FC HDD. It uses a "fibre channel" connection. I was just wondering if this type of HDD is compatible with a PC. If so, where can I find one of these cables?


Thanks

 

[Nodsu]

Are you talking about Fibre Channel?

You need a Fibre Channel adapter and an enclosure for your drive. Expect a budget of roughly $1500+

 

[Ph30nIX]

i have researched fibre channel a little bit. It appears to be a "new interface" which allows for more speed, up to 100mbits, instead of 40-80mbits for SCSI. It also allows for 126 max drives on one loop, instead of 15 supported by SCSI. On top of this, you can un/plug drives while the system is in operation.

I would buy that drive, so long as your system supports it :giddy:

For more info http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/fibre_channel.html

Ph30nix.

 

[Kevin16]

I got the drive for free from a server at work...i think. I'm not willing to spend that much money on it :haha: . I just wanted to know if I could use it or not.

And Nodsu, if you go to Phoenix's link, you will see that it says fibre channel is cheap because it doesn't need any adaptors.

Thanks

 

[Nodsu]

Ph30nIX: looks like your "research" was just a visit to this Seagate marketing page with dated information..

Currently FC can do 2 gigabits per second (~200MBytes) and you can have up to ~16 million FC nodes when you use a FC switch.
The current SCSI standard - U320 allows for 320MBytes per second.
Both SCSI and FC are hotplug capable.

Kevin: If you don't need an FC adapter then good luck connecting that FC gear to your PC or anything else that doesn't have FC built in.. I don't know what Seagate means by the no needed adapters but you do need a FC card in every machine you want to connect to the FC fabric..

 

[Ph30nIX]

well, i had no idea. I wouldnt except segate to have a dated page .

 

[Kevin16]

ok.......just wondering

 

[LNCPapa]

I use a 2 Gb fibre channel connection to my X-Serve RAID. The fibre channel card cost $900 alone.

 

[Kevin16]

http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,327,00.html

"Interface options include Ultra160 SCSI and the new 2Gbit/sec Fibre Channel."

So does this mean I can use SCSI?

 

[Nodsu]

No, it means there are other versions of the drive with SCSI interfaces like ST336605LC, ST336605LW, ST336605LCV.