🚀 go-pugleaf

'Sir' Henry Drew (negative@u.washington.edu) wrote:
: In article <3q2a82$bck@gandalf.pic.net>,  <mglaris@pic.net> wrote:
: >
: >Also loose the IDE controller and get a real SCSI controller.  
: >Adaptec makes a real good SCSI controller.

: SCSI are great and all but I don't see anything wrong with EIDEs.  
: Enhanced IDE seems to have closed much of the gap between SCSI and IDE, 

Much of, but far from all of, especially for a multitasking OS.  SCSI 
allows multiple concurrent accesses to different drives (REALLY 
concurrent; both drives can be seeking data at the same time), and, 
especially with bus mastering controllers, allows the computer to go on 
about its business when a disk access is underway.  None of this makes a 
whole heck of a lot of difference for single-tasking OSes, but it makes 
for a noticeable improvement in system responsiveness, if not disk 
throughput, on a multitasking OS like OS/2.

SCSI also allows for up to seven devices on a single SCSI bus with no 
slowdown if you want to install a slow device (say, a CD-ROM) along with 
faster devices.  With EIDE, the limit is four devices on two channels per 
controller, and I gather that installing a slow device on one channel 
will slow whatever other devices are on the same channel.  At present, 
SCSI tape backup units are also quite common, but EIDE tape backups are 
rare or nonexistant, and I know of no OS/2 backup software for such 
drives.  That means that an EIDE system would either have to buy a cheap 
SCSI controller for tape backup or use a floppy-based unit, and 
floppy-based tape backups tend to be slower, more finicky, and less 
reliable than SCSI units.

: but I guess it depends on how much money you want to spend.

The implication here is that SCSI is more expensive than EIDE, and this is
frequently the case, but not necessarily, especially for PCI systems.  An
NCR 53c810-based PCI SCSI controller can be had for US$55-$100, depending
upon the vendor and quality of the board.  These controllers are also
built into many PCI motherboards.  This isn't much, if any, more than an
equivalent EIDE controller.  SCSI hard drives cost perhaps US$0-$50 more
than EIDE drives (US$20 is typical), so there's little extra cost there. 
Since the original poster was looking for a new PCI system, I see
absolutely no reason to favor EIDE over an NCR-based SCSI controller and 
devices.

: Unless 
: you're (the original poster) is going to do some heavy data management, 
: EIDE should work fine.  Just make sure whatever controller you do get 
: supports os/2 (but that was your question, wasn't it? ;)

EIDE will work fine, agreed; but SCSI will work better, for little or no 
additional expense (on a new PCI system).  Driver support is simpler for 
EIDE than for SCSI, though, since most EIDE controllers will work fine 
with OS/2's IBM1S506.ADD driver, whereas SCSI controllers need drivers 
designed for the specific controller or chipset (unless you use the 
IBMINT13.I13 driver, which is the driver of last resort for ALL hard 
drives, and doesn't support CD-ROMs, tape units, or other SCSI devices).

: Definitely check out magazine ratings of various systems if you're 
: looking to get a package deal.

Unfortunately, this comment brings out cynical thoughts about the 
lameness of magazine reviews.  This is perhaps heightened today because 
yesterday I read the article on OS/2 vs. Win95 in the June issue of 
_Computer Shopper_, which demonstrated _CS_'s lack of objectivity in a 
big way.  I've seen so many bogus magazine reviews of both hardware and 
software (and been taken in by a few) that I no longer trust them to do 
more than give me basic specs -- and I'm beginning to doubt their 
capacity there, too.  By all means, read the reviews -- but read them in 
a salt mine, and DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, trust their final 
rankings.

--
					--Rod Smith
					  RSMITH@PSYCH.COLORADO.EDU