🚀 go-pugleaf

I'll be looking to buy a SCSI controller for my Linux box in a week or
two, and want some recommendations for a good card to buy.

My system is a 486-SX-33 with 3 VLB slots, 8MB RAM.  I've currently got
a 340MB ESDI disk and a 60MB Wangtek 5099-EN24.

I'll be swapping the disk for a 380MB SCSI (Maxtor XT4380), 18ms seek.
I'll also be swapping the tape drive for an Archive 150MB SCSI tape.

This swapover will free up an IRQ and a bus slot, and also provide some
degree of "future proofing": if i move to a PowerPC machine in a year or
two I will be able to continue using the hard disk and tape drive...


I want to get a good, fast SCSI controller...as cheap as possible.  SCSI
controllers seem to be very expensive here in Australia.

My main questions are:

  - I've heard good things about the VL-300 SCSI+IDE+par+ser+games card.
    I can get one of these for around $200.  Is this supported by Linux
    now? or will it be supported in the future?

    Apparently, the VL-300 is based on a clone of the Adaptec 1522.

    Somebody in one of the c.o.l.* groups posted a signature for the
    VL-300 to patch into the Adaptec SCSI drivers.  Somebody else
    responded and said that they had problems with this.  Does anyone
    know the status of this?


  - Is a VLB controller faster/better than an ISA controller?  Is it
    likely to be a significant performance gain, worth the extra cost?

  - Prices on cheap (below $A250) SCSI controllers.

  - I have heard that Future Domain controllers can be had for under
    $100 - I guess this is for ISA bus FD-850 or -950 controllers.  Are
    these any good?  Or would I be better off spending the extra $100 or
    so to get the VL300, or some other VLB controller?


It doesn't really matter if the card I buy is faster than needed for
the Maxtor disk and Archive tape above - eventually I will be getting
another (faster) disk and a CD-ROM and other stuff.

Any and all suggestions gratefully received.  I'm new to SCSI on PCs and
don't really know where to start...


-- 
Craig Sanders                                     cas@muffin.apana.org.au

Be compassionate: Don't say "straight", say "psychedelically challenged"!