schuh@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Michael Schuh RAA) (05/07/91)
We are trying to determine which SCSI disk drives we should buy enhance our SGI 340 file server. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with Falcon Systems, Cita Technologies, or Andataco Computer Peripherals? Has anyone gotten the new 16.5 GByte Seagate Ren 8 or the 1.6Bbyte Seagate Elite disk drives to work on a SGI system? Are there any compilations of information related to 3ed party disk drives for the SGI machines? Are there any other vendors that I should be talking to? Please send your response to schuh@ames.arc.nasa.gov Thanks in advance, Michael Schuh ================================================================ Michael J. Schuh, MS 227-6 | schuh@ames.arc.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center | Phone: (415) 604-1460 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 | FAX: (415) 604-4357 ================================================================ Requirements To provide for future flexibility we are requiring that the new hardware must be suitable for use on any computer with a standard SCSI port. This will allow us to move this new hardware to any future computer systems as opposed to having to replace it. Replacement would be required if the disks were designed to only work on a Silicon Graphics Computer. Vendors Silicon Graphics Incorporated; Mark Havens, (415) 960-1940 They do not support the configuration that we want. They do sell 1.2GByte drives that stack on the twin towers for $4,875 each with about $500 each/year maintenance cost for a two year cost of (4875*2*1.08 + 4*500 = ) $12,530. Falcon Systems, Inc.; Wayne (800) 326-1002 Sacramento, CA Falcon Systems advertises that they supply peripherals for SGI machines and that they specifically sell drives for the SGI 340's. They are an established company and have been in business for 6 1/2 years and have about $8 Million a year in sales. ________________________________________________________________________ |$3295 | 1.2GByte SCSI drive in a 4 drive Box with Power Supply & Cable | | | Seagate Saber Drive | | 2930 | 1.2GByte SCSI drive; Seagate Saber Drive | | ~50 | SCSI kit to provide a SCSI port on SCSI drive 0 | |______|________________________________________________________________| |$6275 | Total ($2615/GByte) | |______|________________________________________________________________| Warranty: 2 years 48 hour replacement with 5 year guarantee on the drive Andataco Computer Peripherals; Darrel Beeson; (800) 334-9191 San Diego, Ca Andataco Computer Peripherals advertises that they supply peripherals for SGI machines and that they claim that they have sold many drives for the SGI 340's. They are an established company and have been in business for 5 years and have about $20 Million a year in sales. The salesman is a former SGI representative and was very knowledgeable. _______________________________________________________________________ |$3227 | ST41650 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | 3865 | ST41600 | 1.6 GByte Seagate Elite 11msec access time | | 2533 | ST41200 | 1.2 Gbyte Seagate Ren 7 | | 650 | 4PLEX | 4 drive box with 4 60 watt power supplys | | 25 | ADT-CBLE-SGITT | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0 | |______|________________|______________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________________ | | | Recommended Configuration | |______|________________|______________________________________________| |$3227 | ST41650 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | 3227 | ST41650 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | 650 | 4PLEX | 4 drive box with 4 60 watt power supplys | | 25 | ADT-CBLE-SGITT | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0 | |______|________________|______________________________________________| |$7129 | | Total ($2160/Gbyte) | |______|________________|______________________________________________| Warranty: 5 years 24 hour replacement Cita Technologies (Software Associates); Dick Smith; (916) 344-5558 Sacramento, CA The salesman was knowledgeable about disk drives but not very knowledgeable about the SGI product line. He did say he would call one of his support people when I asked him about the cable required to get from SCSI 0 to the SCSI disk drive. _______________________________________________________________ |______|________|______________________________________________| |$2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | 2166 | ST4120 | 1.2 Gbyte Seagate Ren 7 | | | 4PLEX | 4 drive box | | | | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0 | | | | | | | | | |______|________|______________________________________________| | | | Recommended Configuration | |$2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | 2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time | | ~650 | | 4 drive box | | ~25 | | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0 | |______|________|______________________________________________| |$5743 | | Total ($1740/Gbyte) | |______|________|______________________________________________| Warranty: 5 years factory replacement averaging 15 to 30 days. For $25/month ($300/year) you can get 24hr replacement. For two drives for 5 years this would end up costing $3000. A spare drive and the factory warranty is is cheaper as long as two drives do not go bad at the same time.