[SunRescue] New SCSI-disks in old Sparc-boxen.

[Gregory Leblanc]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Magnus Hultin [mailto:e5hultin at cd.chalmers.se]
> Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2000 9:52 AM
> To: rescue at sunhelp.org
> Subject: [SunRescue] New SCSI-disks in old Sparc-boxen.
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I've got a bunch of SS2s and Classics, but only two
> (small) harddisks, so I've been thinking I should buy
> new, reasonably large disks for them.
> 
> What kind of SCSI-disks (available on the market today)
> will work in these boxes?
> If the disk doesn't have a 50-pin connector, will an
> adapter do the trick? (I suppose so, why would they
> make them if they didn't work? ;)
> Anything else I should keep in mind?

I'd stay away from the adapters, for a couple of reasons.  First, the space
tolerances in the SS2 and classic aren't that good, it may be hard to get
the cabling in there correctly.  For olden VME based chassis, adapters are
fine, they've got plenty of room.  The other issue is that cheap adapters
aren't always secure, they can slip loose easily, and then you can "lose" a
disk, either while you're running, or when you move the machine, and may be
left scratching your head as to why "ok boot disk" doesn't get the machine
running.  As for what disks to get, look for late model of whatever RPM
speed you choose, they will run cooler than the earlier disks.  The 32-bit
SPARCs can't load the kernel from past 2GB or so, and SILO doesn't seem to
be able to read past 1GB on my SS20, so be careful of that if you load up a
larger disk.  I'd look for some 4GB narrow SCSI drive, 5400RPM for those
machines.  Probably stay away from the 9GB drives, unless you can get
5400RPM or the newer 7200RPM drives, since they'll be a bit cooler.  Stay
away from the 10K drives, all the ones that I have run pretty hot.
	Greg