LHii SCSI Information

[C. D. Tobola]

I'm currently looking for a dual-channle Adaptec for my LHii -- the built in dual-channel adapter is shot.

Any help with the following newbie questions will be appreciated:

1. What is a differential scsi adapter? Do I need this for the LHii?
2. I see some SCSI connections listed as VHD. Is this the type of direct the LHii uses in it's hotswap sockets?

Thanx! -Cloy

[Dave Unverhau_1]

Cloy,

The choice of SCSI controller will depend on what type of drives you're trying to connect. Usually, you will have either Single-Ended (SE)SCSI or Low-Voltage Differential (LVD) SCSI drives on a NetServer of this vintage. The drives can be Narrow or WIDE SCSI (8 or 16 bit data path) and can be FAST or ULTRA (this is an indication of the speed of the SCSI bus).

The internal hot-swap drives use a connection standard known as SCA-23, which specifies an 80-pin connector. When you mentioned VHD, I expect this refers to the very-high-density connector used on the back of the NetRaid controller. This is a very tiny 68-pin connector.

Reply with your drive types and we can probably figure out a good choice for a replacement SCSI controller. Keep in mind that if your drives were connected to a RAID controller, the data will probably need to be restored from a backup.

Regards,

Dave

[C. D. Tobola]

Dave,

Thanks so much for the response.

I'm running six 9.1gig hot-swap Ultra/Wide SCSI drives (HP Part#D4289A), plus an internal CD drive and an HP Surestore 24gig tape drive.

This is a new [re]install, so data isn't a problem... and I'm running Linux so I don't use a RAID card.

Thanks! -Cloy

[Dave Unverhau_1 · Accepted solution]

Hi Cloy,

The SCSI card that I have seen used successfully in these servers for Ultra drives is the AHA-3940. This is a dual-channel wide Ultra-SCSI adapter that appears to be no longer produced by Adaptec. I looked on their website and was directed to select a newer controller (the SCSI card 39160). This card appears to have the same features and conforms to the newer Ultra-160 specification (faster). According to the product info on Adaptec's website, it is fully backward-compatible with "legacy devices" (this means your drives...)

Here's a link to the product info at adaptec.com:

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I've never used this interface, but I suspect it would be a good choice for your needs. Maybe somebody else on the forum could add comments about this card in an LH-II, if they have direct experience.

Good Luck!

Dave

[C. D. Tobola]

Dave,
I'll poke around on ebay and see if I can find someone selling a 3940. Thanks for all your help!
-Cloy

[Terri Harris]

I will add the relevant information on the technical specifications of the LH II. Make sure the SCSI card you want to try will work with PCI version 2.1, 32-bit PCI 5 volt I/O slots.