Support for 36,4 Gb drives

[Rob Dijkhuizen]

Hello all !!

I have a proliant 3000 with a SMART 2DH controller. This controller only supports scsi drives up to 18,2 Gb. What should I do when I want to use 36,4 Gb drives ? Replace the smart controller for a newer one ? Or is it possible to upgrade my existing smart-2/dh controller ?

[JohnWRuffo]

HP does not list the 36GB or greater HDD for the 2DH controller, so you may have hit the limit with 18GB. Try updating the bios to v.4.50 and see if it will work with one.
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/storage/us/download/14694.html (Disk number 1 of this set)

[SAKET_5]

Hi Rob,

I would say you will need a replacement controller. Also, watch out for the support matrix of your server for the new controller.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Regards,

[Rob Dijkhuizen]

So there are basically 2 major things I have to consider. Does my PL3000 support another controller besides the SMART-2/DH ? Should I invest in a rather expensive 36,4 Gb harddrive (here in Holland they ask as much as â ¬135 for a refurbished model, equivalent to $160) knowing wheter a bios upgrade of the controller may possibly do the trick ?
Hmm, too many "maybe's" for my taste..I think I'll sleep on it for a while.
Thank for the reply's . I know now what I could do

[e4services]

Rob,

THe controller has no limitation on Hard Drive size. It is just 18GB was the largest available at the time of it's manufacture. But of course now we can talk about speed. A newer controller can add addition transfer speeds by adding U160 or U320 capabilities. And again, you do not need a Compaq controller. The new ones are manufactured by Adaptec, the old by LSI. A new one is $500. A used on is cheap.

[Rob Dijkhuizen]

to e4services.com

Ahaa ! I was allready afraid I could only install 18 Gb drives or smaller !

Now I can get myself a 36 Gb harddrive without having to worry it will work or not.
(Btw the strange sign in my previous message is a currency sign-EURO). Appearantly this forum doesn't show this sign properly.

Do you know some on tape drives ?
I also wanted to connect a Compaq DLT 2000 tape drive. It's an older model 15/30 Gb using DLT-III tapes, it's an internal model , used for mounting inside the Proliant. According to a manual I've read, the tape drive cannot be installed onto the SMART-2/DH controller since it only supports hard-drives.
I assume I must use an extra scsi card plugged into a free PCI slot ?