🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <372F11D7.DA9FD854@holly.ColoState.EDU>,
  Adam Carheden <carheden@holly.ColoState.EDU> wrote:
> - Motherboard/SCSI
>   Bus speed is the bottelneck, right?  Any new technologies better than
>   PCI that I should look at?

Depends what your budget is, performance per dollar problem. AGP graphics
can be a big win, driver choices may be limited under linux for a while.
32 bit PCI is still a good choice for most systems. 64 bit PCI and AGP
for very high end performers ($$$).

> I'll be going with SCSI hard drives, and one FAQ
>   recommended onboard SCSI.  How much faster will this be than an PCI
> SCSI adapter?  What about upgradeability, is this a concern with onboard?

In older techology motherboards, scsi is basically free on the after market.
On new high performance MB's, it's a premium price. The performance is about
the same, if the SCSI chip is on the MB or in a slot ... in both cases it's a
lot faster than the drive's performance. Unless you plan to build a 5 or 7
drive array into the box, this simply isn't much of an issue. In some cases
the onboard scsi my actually be ISA, and much slower. SCSI controllers have
different speeds ... some are much slower than ISA IDE. Newer ultra-dma
EIDE/ATA stuff is faster than many older SCSI controllers ... need to compare
the controllers burst/avg transfer rates with the drives burst/avg transfer
rates. For many disk drives this number needs to be calculated and verified
in system due to possible rotational losses at various geometry boundries.

> Any idea where I can get one with onboard SCSI?

I've used a number of the Pentium IWILL boards with onboard
adaptec SCSI. Be careful with NCR/Symbios 810/815/825 based
scsi ... most drivers for these chips are very CPU hungry
due to excessive interrupts. For single drive configurations,
disabling disconnect/reconnect can be a big win.
>
>   Any other good MB buying advice would be appreciated.

For servers, two slower processors often provide lower
average service latencies - for desktops one blazing fast
processor is often a win. Many power users kick compiles
into the background, dual processors stabilize editor and
Xwin response latencies, at the expense of slightly longer
compile times. I like dual TYAN boards ... dual 333's are
relatively cheap, dual 233's even cheaper, and perform well.

>
> - Hard Disks
>   WDE9100 (Western Digital) $820
>   9.1 GB
>   7200 RMP
>   7.9 ms Average Seek time
>   4.17 ms Average Latency
>   Ultra Fast/Ultra Fast Wide/SCA-2 interface
>
>   ST19171 (Seagate) $230
>   9.1 GB
>   7200 RMP
>   8.0/9.5 ms Average Seek Time
>   4.17 ms Average Latency
>   Ultra SCSI (8- and 16-bit, SCA) interface
>
>   Why does a .1 to 1.6 ms difference in seek time justify a $590 price
>   difference.  What did I forget to look at?  And what about the
>   differnce in interfaces; is this two ways of saying the same thing?

The interfaces are the same, in fact the stated spec's on the drives are
the same. There may be better sources for the drives. Be careful about
warranty issues, many manufacturers offer different warranties to different
distributors for the same drive ... some may be 90 days, others 5 years.
Quantum, in the past, caught many end users off guard here.

Check www.shopper.com:

SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY
    $352   9.10GB Scsi Ultra 3.5LP 8MS 7200RPM Barracuda
    $696   Cheetah 9.1GB FC HD 3.5HH 8MS 1000RPM 5YR
    $790   Barracuda 9.1 GB Ultra Scsi 3.5HH 8MS 720URP MSH
    $N/A   9.1 GB Scsi Cheetah U/S3

TOSHIBA
    $706   9.00GB Scsi 7200RPM for Magnia 3000
    $706   9.00GB Scsi 7200RPM for Magnia 5000/7000
    $848   9.00GB Scsi 10K RPM for Magnia 5000/7000

WESTERN DIGITAL
    $342   9.10GB Scsi Ultra-Wide 3.5LP 8MS 7200RPM
    $343   9.1GB Ultra Fwscsi 80PIN SE 512K 8MS 7200RPM 5YR
    $348   9.1GB AV Optimized 68PIN SE 1MB
    $348   9.1GB AV Optimized 80PIN SE 1MB
    $348   9.1GB Ultra Fwscsi 80PIN SE 1MB 8MS 7200RPM 5YR
    $348   Enterprise 9.1G Ultra2 Scsi HD LVD 512K 68-PIN
    $350   9.1GB Ultra Fnscsi 50PIN SE 512K 8MS 7200RPM 5YR
    $355   Enterprise 9.1G Ultra2 Scsi HD LVD 80-PIN 7200RP
    $395   9.10GB Scsi Ultra2-Wide LVD AV 3.5LP 4MB 6.9MS 7200RPM Enterprise
    $395   9.10GB Scsi Ultra2-Wide LVD AV SCA 3.5LP 4MB 7200RPM Enterprise
    $6853  20PK 9.1GB Ultra Fwscsi 68PIN SE 512K
    $8740  20PK Enterprise 9.1GB ULT RA Fwscsi 80PIN 512K 8MS

If the price you see is much lower than what you find here, then the drives
may be "new" pull's (really used by every other definition) where the
warranty period started months ago. This frequently happens with SCA drives
which are targeted for RAID arrays ... somebody will buy a discounted array,
pull the drives and replace with current production drives. The drives may
have several hundred hours on them of very heavy use due to burn-in and
eval testing.

For most power desk top users, I'd suggest checking out fast UDMA EIDE/ATA
drives and put the extra money into your graphics, monitor, and backup.

John


-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/       Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own