stephen%hpdml93.hp.com@cunyvm.cuny.edu (12/06/89)
FelineGrace@cup.portal.com (Dana B Bourgeois) writes: >I know it probably isn't a problem now but when will support for more >than 8 SCSI devices appear? And do the current products support the >attach/detach elements that are built into the standard? SCSI has >been around for at least 5 years now and it seems there is only support >for a subset of the standard. What's the reason? Cost. As one who writes embedded SCSI controllers for a living, I can say that when we create a SCSI device, we go through the SCSI spec and say, "yes, people use this feature" and "nobody uses this feature, so we won't put it in". The more SCSI commands that we have to support, the higher the price tag that we are going to have to put on the device. In fact, we support TONS of the SCSI commands that are OPTIONAL according to the SCSI specification. We can't afford to spend money to support commands that controllers don't use. It doesn't make sense. BTW, SCSI-2 is on the scene. Lots of new features. Check it out! >And why don't we have SCSI modems? Don't tell me a 9600 BPS modem >wouldn't benefit from SCSI. Better yet, why wouldn't it be a good idea? Probably because of cost. But I forsee more devices becoming SCSI. I was looking through the SCSI spec and there are commands like "PLAY AUDIO", "READ CD-ROM CAPACITY", "START PRINT", etc. In fact, there are commands to support communications devices (modems), printers, scanners, processor devices, tape drives, and even automatic medium-changing devices! I guess if there was a demand, then people would start supporting it. But currently, to support SCSI on an IBM PC requires purchasing a $400 emulex controller. Thus, SCSI doesn't have much saturation on PCs, and thus, most hardware manufactures don't make modems, printers, etc, for SCSI. When the PC world starts to support SCSI, then you will probably see more SCSI peripherals. If you were a modem-maker, why would you make a modem that costs more than the ones on the market and can't be used by the bulk of the computers on the market? Sad, but true. :-( - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stephen Holmstead ...!hplabs!hpdmlge!stephen // Hewlett Packard Disk Memory Division \X/ Amiga Forever! "I remind you that humans are only a tiny minority in this galaxy." -- Spock, "The Apple," stardate 3715.6.
stevem@sauron.Columbia.NCR.COM (Steve McClure) (06/21/90)
The following is intended for Scott Kennedy, sorry to post, lost email address Scott, I read your post to c.s.a about your tape backup problems. Have you had any success at all? Please let me know more. What you have should work. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve email: Steve.McClure@Columbia.NCR.COM 803-791-7054 The above are my opinions, which NCR doesn't really care about anyway! CAUSER's Amiga BBS! | 803-796-3127 | 8pm-8am 8n1 | 300/1200/2400
JK829055%PUCAL.BITNET@uicvm.uic.edu (10/15/90)
Why is it that all of the current Tape Backup's either Take over
your system (XETEC) or Require New Roms for your Controller (GVP)? The Company
I work for Has A product that will back up to tape using ANY SCSI Tape Drive
With ANY Make of Controller... Whats with the other companies? Are they
money hungry, or what? If you don't need ROMS Why Make them and Charge
Big Bucks for them??
Jim Karczewski
Programmer
TTR Development, Inc.nishan@uop.edu (Nishan Sandhar) (11/28/90)
I'm looking for a tape backup system for my 2000. I've got a Maxtor LXT200S drive with a GVP series II SCSI controller. I was looking in the range of about 40 Megs per tape or cartridge. Are there DAT backup systems available, and if so, what are the tradeoffs between DAT and tape (cost, performance, capacity). Please e-mail, and I'll post a summary if there is enough requests. -- -------------------------------------------------- | Nishan Sandhar | University of the Pacific | | nishan@uop.edu | Stockton, CA 95211 | --------------------------------------------------