8.1 Overview of SCSI
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The American National Standard for information systems — Small Computer System Interface-2 (SCSI-2) specification defines mechanical, electrical, and functional requirements for connecting small computers to a wide variety of intelligent devices, such as rigid disks, flexible disks, magnetic tape devices, printers, optical disks, and scanners. It specifies standard electrical bus signals, timing, and protocol, as well as a standard packet interface for sending commands to devices on the SCSI bus.
Certain OpenVMS systems employ the SCSI bus as an I/O bus. For these systems, HP offers SCSI-compliant disk and tape drives. The operating system also allows devices including disk drives, tape drives, and scanners, supplied by sources other than HP, to be connected to the SCSI bus of such a system.
SCSI has been widely adopted by manufacturers for a variety of peripheral devices; however, because the ANSI SCSI standard is broad in scope, not all devices that implement its specifications can fully interrelate on the bus. HP fully supports SCSI-compliant equipment sold or supplied by HP. Proper operation of products not sold or supplied by HP cannot be assured.
For more information, see the following documents:
American National Standard for Information Systems — Small Computer System Interface-2 (SCSI-2) specification (X3T9.2/86-109)
Copies of this document can be purchased from: Global Engineering Documents, 2805 McGaw, Irvine, California 92714, United States; or (800) 854-7179 or (714) 261-1455. See document X3.131-198X.
American National Standard for Information Systems — Small Computer System Interface specification (X3.131-1986)
Copies of this document can be obtained from: American National Standards Institute, Inc., 1430 Broadway, New York, New York, 10018. This document is now known as the SCSI-1 standard.
HP publishes two additional documents to help third-party vendors prepare SCSI peripherals and peripheral software for use with DIGITAL workstations.
The Small Computer System Interface: An Overview (EK-SCSISOV-001) provides a general description of the DIGITAL SCSI third-party support program.
The Small Computer System Interface: A Developer's Guide (EK-SCSIS-SP-001) presents the details of implementation of SCSI within DIGITAL operating systems.