Hi,
I'm just posting the answers I got. To save bandwidth, I don't post my
original question as it is sufficiently quoted in the answers.
Thanks to "Dr. Tom Blinn, 603-884-0646" <tpb_at_zk3.dec.com>
and Donald Rye <rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil>
Thanks again everybody -- Tom
From: "Dr. Tom Blinn, 603-884-0646" <tpb_at_zk3.dec.com>
Subject: Re: SCSI upgrade advice sought ......
> I'm seeking advice for my current plans to upgrade the SCSI busses
> of our Alpha PC164 running Digital Unix 4.0b. Currently I got
> two NCR 810 cards. One bus currently contains the system disk
> (an old ST51080N and an HP DAT streamer). The second bus contains
> two user disks (CONNER CTP4207, SEAGATE ST32550N), a second HP
> DAT Streamer and a CD-ROM drive.
>
> My main intention for the upgrade is to replace the old and slow
> ST51080 system disk by a fast Barracuda 9LP 4GB ultra/wide disk.
>
> So I think I'll just replace one of my NCR 810 controllers with
> an IntraServer ITI-3140 or ITI-3280.
Seems like a reasonable approach, PROVIDED INSTRASERVER OR THEIR LOCAL
DEALER OFFERS A 100% CASH BACK RETURNS POLICY. Their stuff SHOULD work OK
with the AlphaPC 164 (that's the correct way to write the model name), but
we here in Digital UNIX have never tested them with an AlphaPC 164 and as
far as I know Digital Semiconductor hasn't done so either. But as far as I
know, it SHOULD just plug in and work. I believe the InstraServer SCSI
controllers all use a PCI to SCSI controller chip that's compatible with the
NCR810 PSIOP driver scripts sufficiently to be able to boot from it and do
an installation up to the point where you can install their driver.
> BTW: All devices are in external cases for easy replacement in
> cases of problems.
>
> Now for my questions (and sorry if they are a bit ignorant but
> this is my first experience with ultra/wide SCSI - I only got
> plain narrow SCSI now):
>
> 1.) When I buy a ITI-3280 (the dual ported version) can I just
> connect my old narrow SCSI devices to the second wide port
> provided that I use a suitable adapter cable?
You should be able to do so, if you use a suitable adapter. Their
controller and our software should be able to negotiate the bus speed and
talk fast or ultra to a fast or ultra device.
> 2.) Is it better to keep wide-SCSI devices on one bus and
> narrow devices on a separate bus or does'nt it hurt to mix
> devices on a bus?
If it were me, I'd move all the slow and narrow devices to the NCR810 (if
you're not getting rid of both of the existing NCR810 controllers) and put
all of the fast/ultra/wide devices on the new controller, spread across the
available ports.
> 3.) With some Digital hardware (I think it was the old DEC
> station 5000/33) I got a cable labelled: BC56H-03 which
> I've never needed and which looks like a wide (68pin high-
> density) to narrow SCSI (50pin centronics) adapter cable.
> The cable catalog on:
>
> http://www2.digital.co.uk/info_uk/Tech/cables.htm#BC56h
>
> says:
>
> BC56H SCSI Adapter Cable
> Description Single-ended SCSI cable.
> Connectors One 68-way, high-density, Honda, female, straight connector
> with cut-out locating
> keys; one 50-way low-density, Centronics style, straight connector.
> Typical Usage To connect the first SCSI device to an InfoServer 150.
> Ordering Information: E0-BC56H-03, -06, -09 (feet)
> (17-02008-01, -02, -04).
> The BC56H-03 and the BC19J-1E are generally shipped with non-embedded
> SCSI options.
>
> Question: So what is this? Is it what I've expected: A wide to
> narrow scsi adapter cable which I could use to connect my narrow
> devices to the IntraServer controller?
That cable is useless. It's for slow/narrow SCSI only. The connector on
the back of the old DECstation 5000 products had a weird SCSI interface plug
that used that cable. I've NEVER seen products from any other vendor that
use that same socket/plug combination; everyone else seems to use Centronics
style or even DB25 (Apple Mac). If you don't still have a DECstation 5000
you can throw the cable away -- it's useless.
> 4.) If I go for the dual-ported Intraserver controller, I'll have a
> maximum of 3 SCSI busses available. Doesn't that conflict with the
> internal IDE busses of the PC164 which currently show up as PKC0
> and PKD0 under the SRM console? Or will the IDE busses show up as
> PKD0 and PKE0 then without any problems?
No, because there is NO support in Digital UNIX for those ports, and while
they show up in the current console firmware, they may go away in a later
version. Although you MIGHT manage to boot an IDE disk through them, once
you got to Digital UNIX, you'd be unable to access the device, because the
kernel won't configure it (on an AlphaPC 164).
> 5.) If mixing of devices (narrow/wide) on one bus can be done without
> problems, I could just buy a single port IntraServer and connect
> the disks (wide and narrow) to it and use one NCR810 for the slow
> devices (tapes + CD-ROM). Anything wrong with that?
Not that I know of. And it might be cheaper and even perform better.
Just my opinions -- don't have one of the IntraServer controllers, don't
have any reason to test it in an AlphaPC 164 (although I have one of them in
my office), do know the kernel won't support the IDE ports because I did the
code to make sure they don't get used. Don't know why the console firmware
is showing them, but I suspect it's because it's from a common code base
with the AlphaPC 164/LX (and maybe the SX), and the IDE ports are supported
for CDROM drives (and sort of work for a system or data disk) on both of the
newer designs.
Tom
Dr. Thomas P. Blinn, UNIX Software Group, Digital Equipment Corporation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Donald Rye <rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil>
Subject: Re: SCSI upgrade advice sought ......
Hello...
We have juts upgraded, painfully, to the intraserver dual channel ulta scsi
cards. These are installed in a Tru-Cluster of 8400's. Things to be aware of
:
Make sure you have a floppy drive on your system, the driver is sent that way.
If you are using Digital SCSI cards, be very carefull in upgrading firmware,
we wiped out 4 cards.
Version 4.0B is supported, I recommend the Large patch also.
Get the manual from Intraserver, they are very helpfull..
Regards...
Don
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Donald Rye <rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil>
Subject: Re: SCSI upgrade advice sought ......
Thomas..
The driver is indeed necessary, the firmware must be from the 3.9 CD at
a minimum to see the devices at the console level.
Don
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Received on Thu Oct 16 1997 - 13:57:57 NZDT