Replacing scsi drives in a Dell???

[LawyerRon]

A friend of mine is replacing the scsi hard drives in a Dell P166 that they use for a server at their business. The Dell currently has 2) 2 gig scsi drives and they want to replace ‘em with larger drives. So, they called Dell tech support, gave Dell the service tag number and Dell said, “we’ve got a good deal this month, 10 gig drives for $99”. When he told me this I said, “sounds kinda cheap for scsi drives, you sure they didn’t sell you IDE drives”? Sure enough, the Dell tech sold him IDE drives. So he called back and the tech said he made a mistake and the 10 gig scsi drives are $400 each AND he needs a Controller Card for $300. I told him he must have a scsi Controller Card now because he’s got scsi drives already.

I don’t know much about scsi drives, so:
My question is: Do they need a NEW controller card as their Dell has a #2940UW controller card according to the original invoice for the Dell computer. Will this work on the new drives?

What scsi drives should they run in this Dell?

[HAL9000]

I don't think they should need a controller if they already have a 2940 in there, that's a good controller by itself.

[LawyerRon]

Thanks HAL,
The reason I asked about the scsi controller card was I recall there are different standards for scsi, ie., scsi-2, Wide scsi, etc., and I don't know what controllers are compatible with what scsi drives.

[HAL9000]

That particular card is an ultra wide (there is also the U2W variant). Even if it is a "faster" drive, it will still work with the older card.

[LawyerRon]

Hal,
One more question:
Do you know how many drives they can plug into that controller card?

[cobra]

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/sup...t%2fAHA-2940UW

I have that controller.
It can handle 15 devices.

[LawyerRon]

Thanks cobra, just wanted to make sure. The Dell tech said he needed to buy an new card and I had my doubts but I wanted to make sure.

[Jenni]

If he doesn't absolutely have to have new drives, Computer Geeks has some pretty good deals on used drives (that have a 180 day warantee):

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=205-9111

[Smoke24]

Hey Ron,
That price from Dell sounds very high even for SCSI drives. Look at the ones at http://www.ubid.com under the Computers tab at the top and Drives tab on the left side. They have some 18 gig IBM's that go for under $300 brand new and some that go even cheaper.

[HAL9000]

Actually... I never really thought about that, but I just upgraded two servers with 9.1 Quantums at a selling price of $340.00CDN each (My cost was even less).

[LawyerRon]

OK,
Who makes good scsi drives? Who to avoid?

[JCH]

Check out Egghead.com . Current prices: IBM 10,000rpm ,68pin, 18.3GB- $265.00 Quantum 10,000rpm, ultra160, 18.4gb- $258.00 Fujitsu 10,000rpm, 80 pin, 18.2gb- $308.00 Fujitsu 10,000rpm, ultra160 18.2gb $260.00

[HAL9000]

I don't know about the others, but I know the Fujitsu 9.1Gb SCSI drive I own and the 9.1Gb SCSI Quantums that I have been using lately come with a 5 year warranty.

[LawyerRon]

OK,
I checked with http://www.mwave.com and they sell IBM, Seagate, and Quantum scsi drives. From those 3 which would be the best choice?


(They also carry Hitachi but they're very expensive)

[glc]

Any of those 3 would be fine - I personally prefer the Seagates for SCSI. It's getting hard to find anything other than Ultra 160 drives now, but they should go onto the 2940UW just fine, onto the 68 pin high density connector. You may have to get a new cable along with the drives, but no need to get a new controller. When you order the drives, make sure you tell them what you have for a card, and ask them for a new cable with enough connectors.