topic Smart Array 642 Vs. Smart Array 5302 Controller in Disk Enclosures

Smart Array 642 Vs. Smart Array 5302 Controller

Jessy Liu — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 18:45:24 GMT

I am trying to figure out which controller to upgrade to.

Specs of the 642: Entry Level 64 bit 133mhz , U320, 64MB DDR (would upgrade to 128MB BBWC).

Specs of the 5302: 64 bit, 66 mhz, Ultra 3, 128MB BBWC (Upgradable to 256)

Of the two the 642 is considered the entry level controller and costs less, but looking at the specs it looks like it outperforms the 5302 (Configured at 128MB BBWC) because it can operate at U320 as opposed to Ultra 3. Is the 642 a better controller than the 5302 because of this or is there another spec that I have not compared that would make the 5302 outperform the 642?

Thanks

Re: Smart Array 642 Vs. Smart Array 5302 Controller

Phillip Williams_2 — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:15:11 GMT

Doesn't quite match but a quick comparison with 532..

SA 641/642 SA 532 LC2
Data Compatible with all Smart Array Controllers Yes Yes Yes
Instant Upgrades to other Smart Array Controllers Yes Yes Yes
Consistent Software Management Tools Yes Yes No
PCI Bus 64-bit, 133 Mhz 32-bit, 33 MHz 32-bit, 33 MHz
PCI Peak Data Transfer Rate 1066MB/s 133MB/s 133MB/s
SCSI Protocol Support Ultra 320, Ultra3, Ultra2 Ultra3, Ultra2, Wide-Ultra Ultra2, Wide-Ultra
SCSI Peak Data Transfer Rate 320MB/s per channel 160MB/s per channel 80MB/s per channel
Channels 641 =1; 642=2 2 1
SCSI Ports (External/Internal) 641 1/0;642 1/1 1/1 1/1
Drives Supported (Max) 21 ** 21 ** 6
Cache 64 MB of DDR-RAM used for code, transfer buffers, and non-battery backed read cache, upgradeable to 128MB of DDR-RAM with the 64MB BBWC Enabler 32 MB of DRAM used for code, transfer buffers, and non-battery backed read cache 8 MB of DRAM used for code, transfer buffers, and non-battery backed read cache
RAID Support 0, 1, 0+1, 5 0, 1, 0+1, 5 0, 1, 0+1, 5
Online Spare Support Yes Yes Yes
BBWC Enabler Yes No No

Hope that helps,,

Eric

Re: Smart Array 642 Vs. Smart Array 5302 Controller

thierry chabanne — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:25:45 GMT

Data you have on the disks managed by the controller and how it will be access should define your choice. The cache ratio on the 642 controller cannot be change and is set to 100% read 0% write. In comparaison the 5302 cache ratio can be changed from 0% read 100% write to 100% Read 0% Write giving you better flexibility over the acccess to the data.
Fell free to ask more questions