Help with SCSI

[Unit01]

Hey i got some slight questions about SCSI
Mainly about how to connect and what is needed.
I recently acquired an fujitsu SCSI disk it uses an Ultra 320 80pin-SCA connector.
I also have an Adaptec 39160 SCSI card. I've read up a little on what is needed to use a SCSI harddrive, but i'm slightly unsure whether i got it all right.

First of all cable - What kind of cable should i buy? A cable that can connect 1 drive only (is there such a scsi cable?) Or a cable that can connect 2 drives with and connect the drive at the end of the cable?
Do i need a regular cable or LVD or HVD?
I know that i will need a adapter so i was thinking of buying a 80-60pin converter with an active terminator. Is there anything else i'm missing here? Does it matter what kind of adapter i buy? Are there different adapaters for SCA-1 and SCA-2?
BTW does it matter what kind of terminator i buy or active just more preferable?
If there's anything i forgot please fill me in on it, i'm fresh in the SCSI area so far.

Regards
Unit01

 

[mangrove]

Hey i got some slight questions about SCSI
Mainly about how to connect and what is needed.
I recently acquired an fujitsu SCSI disk it uses an Ultra 320 80pin-SCA connector.
I also have an Adaptec 39160 SCSI card. I've read up a little on what is needed to use a SCSI harddrive, but i'm slightly unsure whether i got it all right.

First of all cable - What kind of cable should i buy? A cable that can connect 1 drive only (is there such a scsi cable?) Or a cable that can connect 2 drives with and connect the drive at the end of the cable?
Do i need a regular cable or LVD or HVD?
I know that i will need a adapter so i was thinking of buying a 80-60pin converter with an active terminator. Is there anything else i'm missing here? Does it matter what kind of adapter i buy? Are there different adapaters for SCA-1 and SCA-2?
BTW does it matter what kind of terminator i buy or active just more preferable?
If there's anything i forgot please fill me in on it, i'm fresh in the SCSI area so far.

Regards
Unit01

You should buy a u320 speced cable with an active terminator at the end. That's really all you should care about. Where on the cable you place the drive doesn't matter (as long as the card is at the end... in typical setups), and the number of contacts doesn't matter (I have never seen a HD cable with less than three contacts -- one for the card, two for drives).

The converter between SCA and 68-pin should be passive in nature, i.e. not terminated. Termination should be at the cable end, and even if it can be made with the converter, it's a very strange way of doing it.

The other end of the cable is terminated by the card.

Is it a very good SCSI disk? If it's not 10k or 15k RPM, I wouldn't waste any money on peripherals for it. SCSI cables are so expensive, it's often cheaper to buy a new ATA drive. No, really!


(myself running Adaptec 29160N w/Quantum/Maxtor Atlas 10k III and IV)

 

[Unit01]

Does it have to be a u320 specced cable? Cause i was thinking of going with this
http://www.adaptecstore.com/index.c...=ubnl11tp&curr=USD&lang=US&bhcp=1
It says up to U160
The drive i have is a Fujitsu map3147 10K RPM drive
It says that the drive is U320 capable but can it use U160 cables?
And can you recommend any adapter?
How do i know if the adapter has a terminator or not?
So if i understand this correct i should have 2 terminators. 1 is on the scsi card and one is at the end of the cable and it should be an active one.
Are U320 cables LVD, or are all cables U160 and up LVD?

Thanks for the help so far

 

[mangrove]

Does it have to be a u320 specced cable? Cause i was thinking of going with this
http://www.adaptecstore.com/index.c...=ubnl11tp&curr=USD&lang=US&bhcp=1
It says up to U160
The drive i have is a Fujitsu map3147 10K RPM drive
It says that the drive is U320 capable but can it use U160 cables?
And can you recommend any adapter?
How do i know if the adapter has a terminator or not?
So if i understand this correct i should have 2 terminators. 1 is on the scsi card and one is at the end of the cable and it should be an active one.
Are U320 cables LVD, or are all cables U160 and up LVD?

Thanks for the help so far

Seeing that you have a u160 card, a u160 cable is fine (as you can't get higher than u160 speed, obviously). You can possibly not upgrade to u320 speeds later with the same cable, but that is of no concern, as u160 can easily sustain three 10k SCSI drives operating at full speed -- and the limit with three drives would be the PCI interface anyway (I know you had a 39160 card but I guess you only have normal PCI on your motherboard). Meaning, u160 cabling will work fine. I run one 160 and one 320 drive on a 160 adapter, I don't remember if I have 160 or 320 cabling.

The adapter you have is fine, it's a very highly rated (and expensive) server level adapter. It's 64-bit PCI but will work in a 32-bit PCI slot, provided the extra contacts do not touch the motherboard's components.

All adapters have automatic internal termination, it can be turned off in the SCSI card BIOS but don't do that. So you only need one terminator, the one integrated in the cable.

All cables since... um... ultra2? not sure about that? is LVD, so don't worry about it. The cable you linked to is LVD... at least it says so on the page

By the way, that cable is really expensive. In the US I'd expect to pay half that sum for a SCSI cable.

 

[Unit01]

Ok i've ordered the cables now it was those mentioned though i didn't buy from adaptec just used their website as a reference check
Now i'm in the plan of getting a adapter so i can connect the hd.
My drive is a Fujitsu 3147NC and on fujitu's website it says it's an SCA-2 drive, does the adapter also have to be an SCA-2?
Or can i use either an SCA or SCA-2 adapter?

 

[mangrove]

Ok i've ordered the cables now it was those mentioned though i didn't buy from adaptec just used their website as a reference check
Now i'm in the plan of getting a adapter so i can connect the hd.
My drive is a Fujitsu 3147NC and on fujitu's website it says it's an SCA-2 drive, does the adapter also have to be an SCA-2?
Or can i use either an SCA or SCA-2 adapter?

I don't know the difference between SCA versions, sorry... I have never really looked at the contacts of my hot-swap systems, I wasn't aware of there being two variants.

However, after a short bit of googling I came up with this:

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/scsi_adapters.html#sca-80

They sure look the same to me, but I guess there is a point in buying the proper adapter...