rauletta@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (R. J. Auletta) (02/24/91)
We are in possession of a Fujitsu Eagle Disk Drive (from a defunct Pyramid 90x.) and are wondering if we should pursue moving it to a VAX3600/Q-Bus system. Is this disk equivalent to an RA81? Can it be controlled by a MSCP/DSA disk controller (currently with one RA82) on a VAX3600? Do Eagle's come with different interfaces? A quick look reveals that an adaptor cable will be required as a minimum to adapt the ribbon cable to DEC's type of cables. Where might one acquire such a beast? Fujitsu? Dec? How does the Eagle compare to an RA81/RA82 performance wise? Your comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated. --R J Auletta rauletta@sitevax.gmu.edu
terry@spcvxb.spc.edu (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr.) (02/24/91)
In article <3595@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, rauletta@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (R. J. Auletta) writes: > Is this disk equivalent to an RA81? Can it be controlled > by a MSCP/DSA disk controller (currently with one RA82) > on a VAX3600? Do Eagle's come with different interfaces? A lot depends on your terminology. The "native" interface on a M2351A (Eagle) is SMD. This is an older (but still popular) interface using a 60 pin and a 26 pin cable set. Various controllers speak MSCP to the host and SMD to the drive. An ex- ample is the EMULEX QD32. DEC controllers speak MSCP to the host and SDI (Standard Disk Interface) to the drive. If you have such a controller, you will need to acquire an SDI adapter for the drive. Several vendors have such things, but I don't know of any that sell them without drives. Systems Industries comes to mind. Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, US terry@spcvxa.spc.edu (201) 915-9381
pavlov@canisius.UUCP (Greg Pavlov) (02/25/91)
In article <3595@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, rauletta@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (R. J. Auletta) writes: > > We are in possession of a Fujitsu Eagle Disk Drive > (from a defunct Pyramid 90x.) and are wondering > if we should pursue moving it to a VAX3600/Q-Bus system. > > Is this disk equivalent to an RA81? > The Fujitsu Eagle speaks the SMD protocol. So you need to purchase a con- troller that sits on the QBUS, accepts MSCP "commands" and "translates" them to SMD before forwarding them to the disk drive. Such controllers are avail- able from various third party vendors such as Dilog. > A quick look reveals that an adaptor cable will be required > as a minimum to adapt the ribbon cable to DEC's type of > cables. > You are probably best off getting the cable from the same place that supplies the controller. > How does the Eagle compare to an RA81/RA82 performance wise? > Supposedly very well, tho I can't verify this from personal experience. A lot of Eagles were connected to SUN and DEC machines and (probably) still are. greg pavlov, fstrf, amherst, ny pavlov@stewart.fstrf.org