[rescue] Re: scsi drives

[Robert Novak]

On Tue, 24 Jul 2001 s at avoidant.org wrote:

> Kevin Loch wrote:
> 
> > Does anyone know of an online store that sells SCSI drives?  
> 
> I believe the drives I just got from softwareandstuff are new. They were
> in sealed static bags. Surplus doesn't necessarily mean used. 

And new doesn't always mean with-warranty. I bought a "new" IBM 9GB SCA
disk a year or so ago for an Ultra 1. The local vendor (Fry's) told me it
had a 1 year manufacturer's warranty, and if I didn't buy their extended
service plan, I'd have to deal with the manufacturer for any service.

Well, knowing that IBM disks tend to have slightly longer warranties (3-5
years for the SCSI LVD ones I've bought for work), I sent the serial
number to IBM's hard drive support people. They wrote back and told me it
was an OEM drive sold to Tandem for integration, and that IBM did not
warrant it for retail sale. I took the drive back.

So be aware that you may have challenges with warranty service on OEM
drives even if they are brand new brand name high quality disks. You may
never need that service, but if you do, it's good to know in advance if
it's there and who provides it (seller or manufacturer).

If you really need reliable drives, get them from a reseller or integrator
who offers an advance replacement warranty. We used to get a lot of drives
from Zzyzx in San Diego CA with an advance warranty; they'll ship the
replacement and then you return the bad one. Never needed it when we did
get it, but it made me and my management more comfortable to know we
wouldn't be waiting too long.

--Rob

-- 
Robert Novak, Indyramp Consulting * rnovak at indyramp.com * indyramp.com/~rnovak
        "And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
           Maybe this year will be better than the last...." -- counting crows