[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] SCSI Board Info Request -- Adaptec gets a vote

evil@arcturus.uucp (Wade Guthrie) (10/11/90)

Mike Horne asks:
> I've got a couple of SCSI hard drives [...] looking for SCSI 
> controller recommendations, in particular:
> [fast, 16-bit, driver software, tape driver s/w]
> An Adaptec card has been recommended to me (I don't know the model number),
> but I'm also interested in others.

I hear the Wester Digital FAST 7000 is a good card, but I chose the
Adaptec (AHA-1542B) since they seemed to have a larger user base and
seem to have a wider variety of support (e.g., SCO UNIX has an
Adaptec driver, but not a WD7000).

The AHA-1542B is a very fast board which provides an AT-bus-to-SCSI
conversion.  This particular board also has a floppy controller for
2 floppies (the AHA-1540B only has the AT-to-SCSI).  For a DOS
machine and only 2 hard disks, no driver is needed -- the board 
replaces the BIOS interrupt vector with its own.  If you have non-
SCSI disks, its okay, the AHA handles that too.  If you want to add
additional devices, you need a driver (which they sell for an additional
$75) and if you want to add tape, you need yet another driver
(for another $75).

Hope this helps.
-- 
Wade Guthrie (evil@arcturus.UUCP)    | "He gasped in terror at what sounded
Rockwell International; Anaheim, CA  | like a man trying to gargle while
My opinions, not my employer's.      | fighting off a pack of wolves"
                                     |                Hitchhiker's Guide