hurf@batcomputer.UUCP (03/11/87)
We have an Ultrix1.2/uVaxII ba123 with tk50, 3 RD53 discs, rqdx3 controller
We are about to really buy some extra disc storage and for reasons
of price and space we are looking hard at the Maxtor drive. At present
the two controllers we have found are Systems Industries QDA4EC and
an Emulex - I don't have the number. I have had two favorable reports on
the Emulex/Maxtor/uVax setup. DEC will maintain them and they cost
a bit less than the Systems Industries setup. However, SI will support
4 drives, Emulex will support 2. SI has 1mb of cache, Emulex 256k.
Some things I think are right that have aided my decision making:
The qbus can only go at 1.2mb so the faster thruput of the Eagle would
be wasted anyway.
The finished system will be 2 rd53/rqdx3 & one Maxtor- load averaging
will probably accomplish as much as having one 20ms seek drive(Eagle)
rather than the Maxtor in most cases.
Maintaining them myself is not a good idea.
Questions:
Has anybody had experiences good or bad with these drives? Companies?
Are there alternatives I may have missed?
(for cost or availability we have passed on an SI/Eagle (14k),
an RA81(16k, DEC won't install it on a ba123 anyway), RD54(more $/mb
than an RA81))
Would the Cache memory really help if we swapped to that drive?
(our user i/o loads are generally light so I don't see a big
advantage otherwise)
Is ther an advantage or disadvantage to having 4 drives on one controller
vs four drives on two controllers?(We are looking at future possibilities)
Am I wrong in any of the above?
What would you do?
Any & all comments appreciated - I will summarize mailed responses.
hurf
--
Hurf Sheldon Network: hurf@ionvax.tn.cornell.edu
Lab of Plasma Studies Bitnet: hurf@CRNLION
369 Upson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 ph:607 255 7267
I sold my Elan, got a job in science; Now, no one takes me seriously.
--
Hurf Sheldon Network: hurf@ionvax.tn.cornell.edu
Lab of Plasma Studies Bitnet: hurf@CRNLION
369 Upson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 ph:607 255 7267
I sold my Elan, got a job in science; Now, no one takes me seriously.