Smart-2/P Array Controller

[Ayman Altounji]

Hi, we are planning to reconfigure our Proliant 2500 server.
Currently, we have 5 x 4,1 Gb harddisks connected to a Smart-2/P Array controller in 2 Raid 5 configurations.
We want to replace these disks with 3 x 9.1 Gb harddisks and I'd like to know if these disks: 1 x 9.1 Gb Wide Ultra Scsi, 7200 rpm and
2 x 9.1 Gb Wide Ultra Scsi 3 disks can be connected to the Smart-2/P controller and if they can be configured as one Raid5.
If this is possible, what happens to the array if the Wide Ultra Scsi disk fails and is replaced by a Wide Ultra Scsi 3 disk?
Will this improve the performance of the array?

[Ayman Altounji]

As long as those "Wide Ultra" drives are NOT the newer Wide Ultra2 or Wide Ultra3 types, they should work fine in the system and with the Wide Ultra SCSI-3 drives. The newer drives won't even fit due to a completely different type of tray (black in color) but all of the Wide Ultra SCSI-x drives do use the older beige trays.

The only thing you may have to do is update the controller's firmware. What version does it have now?

[Ayman Altounji]

Hi Ron,
thanks for your answer. I'm happy to tell you that we've succeeded in reconfiguring our server. No complaints so far, so everything worked out right. I've looked up the firmware-version of our Smart-2/P controller:
it's version 2.08. I've seen there's an update available, but I can't seem
to download this Softpaq (SP16276.exe). Can you tell me if there's
a problem with this file?

Regards, Martin.

[Ayman Altounji]

I downloaded the file tonight with no problem. Please try againhttp://www.compaq.com/support/files/server/us/download/9434.html