> I'm thinking about building a new machine soon and might delve into the
> realm of scsi. The only problem is I don't know a Pinto from a Ferrari
> when it comes to adapters. What's the best? What's the best balance of
> performance/price? And most importantly, what won't give me an ulser when
> I try to set it up in Linux? Danke.
Adaptec cards are always good, there aer several other common/popular
brands that are well-supported by linux as well, but I can't remember the
name :) Initio adapters are essentially (meant to be) adaptec clones (but
have their own native drivers for linux). Other than that, do a make
menuconfig on the latest kernel and browse the scsi support. Might also
want to look at 2.4 and see if its' list is different - the next
generation is around the corner ;p
One thing to (maybe) take into consideration, is that (according to
adaptec's website) if you have two scsi controllers, from different
manufacturers (chipset, not card), you won't be able to read drives
formatted using one with the other. This may be important if you're like
me and swap drives between systems regularly (or use system #1 to repair
system #2's drive). I don't know if this is still an issue, all of the
other manuf's may use the same translation algorithms as adaptec, I've
never had a non-adaptec card and an adaptec card at the same time, or used
them with the same drive - I saw it on their FAQ page the other day, so it
seems worth mentioning.
If you want to get started w/ SCSI quick there's a place up in leander
(way up 183, slightly N of cedar park, ~45m from UT) called warehouse
2000, they have a website at www.used-pcs.com. They have tons of older
pentium, pentium pro, and pentium 2 systems, some with SCSI and some
without. I picked up a pair of ppro 200's for just over $400, both with
adaptec 2940UW cards and respectable drives (2GB and 4GB). I ripped the
card+controller from one and swapped it with the ide drive from a faster
machine - instant scsi ;p Buying a scsi card + drive will run you almost
as much as this, but you get a bonus machine for a firewall, nameserver,
fileserver, test box, whatever. Most of what they have is end-of-lease
stuff, w/ a 30-day warranty.. pretty schweet (I had some hw failures, but
took em back and had em fixed, no probs now). It's kind of a hassle to
get up there, but imho worth it..
later
-Justin
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Justin Ryan - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux Education, TeamLinux Corp.
http://www.team-linux.com
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