Proliant 1600 HDDs

[Jef Haney]

What is the largest HDD that can be put into a Compaq Proliant 1600 (Dual 600 MHz)? HP's support site lists:
18.2GB Wide Ultra3 SCSI hard drive - 10,000 RPM, 3.5-inch form factor, 1.0-inch high.
I would like to use a bigger HDD if possible to prevent future headaches. The parts probably won't be bought from HP / Compaq, so don't limit me to their site.

The machine will be used strictly as a file / print server, with some minor Access databases probable.

[Chris Bennett_9 · Accepted solution]

You won't be able to find anything larger than 36gb drives in the old "clamshell" drive carriers - and since the 1600 was discontinued before 36gb drives came out, you won't see them on the Quickspecs.

This server is out of warranty by now, so anything you do - you are on your own. If you have the hot plug drive cage, you can use your existing WU carrier and a 146 SCA hard disk. You would simply remove the existing disk from the carrier and install the 146. I have seen this done successfully. If you are using a SMART array controller, make sure the firmware is upgraded to the latest version you can find for it.

Hope this helps...

[Jef Haney]

**This server is out of warranty by now, so anything you do - you are on your own.**
No big deal..
**If you have the hot plug drive cage, you can use your existing WU carrier and a 146 SCA hard disk. You would simply remove the existing disk from the carrier and install the 146. I have seen this done successfully. If you are using a SMART array controller, make sure the firmware is upgraded to the latest version you can find for it.**
Does the 146 SCA mean a 146 G SCSI drive? Not real clear on the SCA term... I have a picture of what we have... I am not really familiar with the inside, (we don't open those up too often) but I will tell you what I remember... There is a card that the drives are plugged into. I don't know the kind of card off the top of my head, and these systems will be live until this weekend, and it isn't worth futzing with until after then. After our upgrade, they will be fully available and I can rip into them more. My plan would be to put one of the 4.3 Gb SCSI drives inside and build Win2K on that. Then, I would like to take 5 drives (18 Gb or 36 Gb preferred) and set them up for RAID 5. I figure that even with 70 Gb of storage, it is more than the 25 Gb that we have now, plus we will be keeping 20 Gb of that (that is mainly just for us technicians). So the users would go from 5 Gb to 70 Gb. I'd still like to put 5 x 36 Gb in there!

As you can see, we are missing one "clamshell". Where might I find one of those?

Sorry about the poor picture, the other one wouldn't come off the floppy, and I didn't want to walk all the way back over there at this time...