I got a couple of responses on my query about some one asking about
problems they experienced with a server using a KZPSC RAID controller
and a heavily loaded DEFPA. My question was regarding using these
things in an Alphastation 250 4/266, and there are indeed some
problems:
Tim Janes has since responded that the problems he experienced was due
to administration (config?) problems. It appears to be working fine on
his Alphastations.
The other thing that he noted was that the Alphastation 250 only has 2
PCI slots (the third slot is ISA), and one of the PCI slots will be
occupied by the graphics card. This means that even if DEC had a FWD
SCSI card for the PCI (see below), I won't be able to install it with the
DEFPA FDDI to PCI card if I wanted to keep the graphics head. I would
have to find an ISA card for one of them that's supported by DEC or has a
driver for the OS.
Also, "Paul E. Rockwell" <rockwell_at_rch.dec.com> wrote:
>The KZPSC is *not* a FWD SCSI controller. It is a PCI-based RAID controller
>that happens to have its disk interconnects via Fast Wide SCSI - not
>Fast-Wide-Differential. (The SCSI-ness of the disk drives is hidden behind
>the RAID controller's presentation of logical disks.) And it doesn't use the
>Digital UNIX SCSI drivers - it is a different beast altogether. Each of the
>KZPSC's SCSI buses are limited to 3m of cabling (without
>using stuff such as a signal extender. And it doesn't support anything but
>disks - no tapes, etc..
>
>I'd also be careful about putting it on an AlphaStation. To my knowledge, no
>qualification has been done with that card on an AlphaStation 250.
>
>The Digital UNIX 3.2C SPD lists no FWD SCSI controller that's supported on
>AlphaStation 250's. The KZPAA (Fast Single-ended Narrow) controller is
>supported, and you can use a DWZZA to get to FWD for distance.
So it looks like there is no FWD SCSI card for the PCI bus of the
Alphastation 250, at least not from DEC.
eyc
,
Received on Fri Nov 03 1995 - 04:13:53 NZDT