Need a SCSI HDD guide (for utmost beginners)

[MutantToad]

Hey all,

I'm new to the world of SCSI hard drives, and I was wondering if anyone could give me an informative guide about them. (What to connect, what everything means, how to use adapters, etc.) I've searched online, but I don't understand much of the guides there. Also, I want to know if they are compatible with the DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI-DR mobo.

~Toad

 

[RealBlackStuff]

SCSI drives are usually more reliable, and used to be faster than IDE.
Nowadays they are not only much more expensive, they have lost their speed-advantage, and the size of SCSI drives is a lot smaller than IDE.

Your motherboard does NOT natively support SCSI drives, you would need to buy a PCI SCSI adapter, expensive SCSI harddisks and a different SCSI flatcable.

Go here for some in-depth info about SCSI:
http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/pr...nology/SCSI+(Premium)&prodkey=talk_about_scsi

 

[MutantToad]

Ok then, which PCI adapter do you recommend (in RAID 0+1.) Also, how should I connect all the cables and stuff like that? (The one on the PCI slot outside the case, the ones on the card itself, and the terminators.)

~Toad

 

[Samstoned]

are you going to mirror the drives?
how many do you need to have in your array?
are you going to boot from the drive drives?
http://www.adaptec.com/ what I use last 4 years
seagate drives
this is a very expensive way to setup arrays
todays systems use SATA arrays I think they just came out with SATA2
faster than 320 scsi
don't have info on prices
review
if booting from scsi will your bios handle it

 

[Nodsu]

You don't have to connect anything to the external SCSI connector. You donät have to bother with terminators either as long as you connect the SCSI cable so that one end is in the controller and the other end is connected to some drive. You may have to enable termination on that drive manually or it may be automatic.

There are many SCSI cable, plug and signalling standards but you don't have to concern yourself with it if you buy and use new devices. You should make sure all your devices support the same signalling method (SE/LVD/HVD) just in case. It shouldn't be a problam with decent new SCSI devices.

All you want to know about SCSI: http://www.scsifaq.org/

 

[MutantToad]

Ok then, will my mobo support a PCI adapter? (They say they need a 64-bit slot.) Will it work with the DFI Lanparty UT SLI-DR?

~Toad

 

[Samstoned]

it's got a pci slot don't it
if you are going to boot from the scsi adapter make sure you have bios
boot to scsi as first boot
go to seagate web sit all kinds of help on scsi
not all adapters need 64 bit

 

[Nodsu]

All 64-bit PCI devices are backwards compatible with 32-bit PCI.

 

[MutantToad]

Another question: Will my mobo be able to support the voltage of the adapter? (3.3V.) DFI didn't specify the FSB voltage; would anyone here happen to know?

~Toad

 

[Nodsu]

In general, if it fits in the slot then it will work. The PCI slots are keyed so that you can't put a 3.3V card into a 5V slot.

Your motherboard is brand new and unless the manufacturer is completely braindamaged then it supports the PCI 2.3 standard and therefrore 3.3V peripherals.