| Author |
VS4000/90 Storageworks Options |
urbancamo
Member
Posts: 47
Location: Windermere, UK
Joined: 16.05.07 |
| Posted on May 22 2008 02:30 |
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Hi, quick question -
I have a VS4000/90 and a DEC3000/600. I would like an external storageworks box that holds say eight disks that would ideally work with either machine
Can you tell me if a BA356 with 8-bit personality module would work with the VAX? I believe it has a single narrow SCSI bus. How are SCSI ids handled on the external box. Does this mean I can only have 8 devices on the bus at any time?
I'm pretty sure the DEC3000/600 is 8-bit fast with an internal and external bus. Is there anything more suitable for the Alpha box?
Many thanks for the help, Mark. |
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| Author |
RE: VS4000/90 Storageworks Options |
HobbyistOne
Super Administrator
Posts: 126
Location: Plano, TX
Joined: 20.02.08 |
| Posted on May 22 2008 10:38 |
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Yes, a BA356 would work, although you can only have 7 disks (the VAX or Alpha would be the 8th node on the bus). I think they both have narrow SCSI. If you remove the terminator, and set the firmware SCSI-ID, you can have both the VAX and the Alpha sharing the same BA356, and even set up a shared-SCSI cluster.
SCSI ID's are set by the physical slot number. First slot is 0, second 1, etc. Hosts are typically set as ID 7, and conveniently, the power supply typically sits in slot 7!
I had a cluster with a shared SCSI, and put dual power supplies in 6 & 7, set the SCSI-ID's for the Alphas as 6 & 7, too, and everything shared great. |
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| Author |
RE: VS4000/90 Storageworks Options |
urbancamo
Member
Posts: 47
Location: Windermere, UK
Joined: 16.05.07 |
| Posted on May 22 2008 21:47 |
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Thanks for the help. I'm presuming with the VAX I would need to be careful about internal drives. It is currently installed with 2 x internal hard drives and a CDROM, so I would need to get all the SCSI ids so that they didn't clash (given a quick finger count that would leave 4 free SCSI ids).
I don't believe I have the same problem with the DEC3000/600 given that it has a separate internal and external SCSI bus.
Regards, Mark |
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| Author |
RE: VS4000/90 Storageworks Options |
HobbyistOne
Super Administrator
Posts: 126
Location: Plano, TX
Joined: 20.02.08 |
| Posted on May 23 2008 03:30 |
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Just do a "SHOW DEV" at the >>> prompt, and it will tell you what it sees. The CDROM is likely DKA500 (SCSI ID 5), and the two disks are likely DKA200/DKA300. With the system as 7, that would leave you 0, 1, 4, and 6. |
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| Author |
RE: BA356s |
saq
Member
Posts: 60
Joined: 24.05.08 |
| Posted on May 25 2008 04:48 |
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Sadly, you're on the wrong side of the Atlantic, as I have several extra BA356 shelves here.
Don't write off all of the "putty" shelves automatically - while the grey/blue shelves are all wide (and ultra-capable), there do exist wide putty shelves - all of mine are. Look for the removable personality module at the bottom (BA350s (the narrow shelves) all use HD50 connectors soldered to the backplane).
Can you cluster VAX with Alpha over SCSI? None of my VAX hardware is as new as the 4000/90, but on the 3100 series it doesn't seem to quite work right. I think it requires SCSI-II command set or else a very careful hand with the systems (AT&T 3B2 systems could run with a shared-SCSI disk over SCSI-I, but it is a bit touchy per the manual). |
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