PMP reports Ultra320 SCSI drive running at "reduced" Wide Ultra3 SCSI speed

[Steve Kadish]

Hi all,

I am playing around with PMP for the first time, having just upgraded to SIM 4.1, and for a Ultra320 SCSI 15,000-rpm Hard Drive in a brand new DL360 G3 it reports "Drive is operating at a reduced SCSI speed: Wide Ultra3 SCSI."

What speed *should* the drive be running at? And will the embedded SmartArray 5i controller support the proper speed? Is PMP telling me about a problem that can't be fixed?

Thanks,
- Steve Kadish

[Terry Hutchings]

You're using the 5i right? This is an Ultra3 adapter.

[Brian_Murdoch · Accepted solution]

Hi Steve,

Don't treat it as a problem. As Terry has pointed out, the Smart Array 5i is an Ultra3 controller and can only drive the SCSI bus at the maximum U3 speed.

As most disks are now manufactured as Ultra320 models they are backward compatible with U3 and U2 systems so that replacing an original 36Gb U3 drive with a 36Gb U320 model for example is safe and supported.

PMP is simply reflecting the fact that your U320 capable drives are running at U3 speed.

The new DL360G4 uses a 6i controller which is U320 capable.

I hope this helps,

Brian

[Steve Kadish]

Thanks, that does help. It also tells me that PMP is not the most helpful diagnosis tool and probably not worth spending money on.

- Steve Kadish