E50 server - added hard disk capacity

[Rene Zwart]

I understand that the E50 server does not support IDE hard disks and further that the only way to increase capacity is the addition/replacement with higher capacity SCSI drives. However, could I fit a USB2 board and connect some external hard disks? This would seem a cost-effective expansion. Or is there a way to fit an IDE disk after all? Appreciate your input, many thanks! Rene.

[Sean T. Craig]

Hi Rene,

I'm afraid I can't help you with the USB or IDE as this server does not support either one, but what I can tell you is that this server supports up to 5 common-tray hard drives and if you're running on a NetRAID Controller, you can expand the array to incorportate the space of the new drive. You can also migrate from RAID-1 to RAID-5 if that was your plan. In a Windows environment, most of the NetRAID Controllers use NetRAID Assistant to do all that. In NetWare and Linux/SCO, the utility is called MegaManager (Megamgr).

Check out Paramount Computers for a list of parts that they have available for this model. Here's the link:
http://www.pmount.com/options_choi.asp?gc=15&choi=20&tt=E50%20OPTIONS

Hope this is helpful,

Sean T. Craig Sr. C.E.T., M.C.P.

[Sean T. Craig · Accepted solution]

Sorry,

I just confirmed that the server does support IDE drives but only these two:
D2678A - 2.5GB - Ultra ATA/33
D2677A - 4.3GB - Ultra ATA/33
Others may work but I can not say for certain. I imagine the BIOS is limited in the size of IDE drives it can accept.

Good luck,

Sean T. Craig Sr. C.E.T., M.C.P.

[Rene Zwart]

Sean, many thanks for that. Just to be clear, there's no way to add a PCI board with USB connection to the server?

[Sean T. Craig]

No, that's not true. A PCI USB card may work fine, it's just not supported by HP and I haven't tried it personally. Give it a shot and see what happens.

Sean T. Craig Sr. C.E.T., M.C.P.