Proliant expandability?

Sorry everyone's picking your brain NutCracker but that's what you get
for knowing stuff I have a couple of 1850R's and I decided to get
a 2X1 cage running off an SA3200 in one of them and left the other
single cage with a dlt off one of the SCSI channels. Is there a way to
run each cage off it's own channel so I can span the array or do the
cages have to be daisy chained ? Can you please explain the cabling
needed in detail (ie lower or upper connector etc.) if you have the
answer ?

Regards

David


You dont have dual channel controlles. You may have 2 221's in a singel
server, with each card servicing a channel of the cage... is that where the
question about spanning controllers came in?

The 221 is a singel channel, ultra2 controller with 6M of onboard read-only,
non battery backed cache.
It was introduced to replace the Smart2 SL, the 40MB/s WideUltra controller.

I like the 5500's... you should really have SA3200's in those boxes, with a
duplexed drive cage. Depeneding on which model you have (WUS3, or U2/U3) you
will be able to get the most capacity out of your drive cage, and span an
array set across both channels for best performance.

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:WFBac.151804$po.895326@attbi_s52...
Thanks for the reply. I have a pair of PL5500s with 221 raid cards.


"NuT CrAcKeR" wrote in message
...
that depends on the array controller.

I am not aware of any compaq controllers that will allow you to "span"
array
containers (or volumes) across controllers. Some of the older Mylex and
AMI
controller allowed for this.

So, if you have a 2 channel controller, you can create a raid set with
disks
from both channels, and it will appear as 1 disk to the OS.

You have lots of options... what server and array controller do you
have?

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:lIqac.41280$K91.106956@attbi_s02...
NuT CrAcKeR:

I have not filled what I have yet, but on a two channel raid card,
does
the
server see each channel as a unique raid or just one raid for the
card?
Also would two, two channel cards be one big raid, two, or four?


"Mark S" wrote in message
...

"Sharmon" wrote in message
...
I just use a Belkin USB2 card with 2 160 GB drives plugged into it
on
my PL1850R and they work great


Now theres a thought!!!
Thanks,

Mark S

Hello David,

Dont worry about picking my brain. Why do you think I post here?

; )

To the best of my knowledge, the 2x cages for the 1850 have to be daisy
chained. There is a small ribbon cable that connects the two cages together,
and from what I can asertain, it is how the 2nd drive cage gets its SCSI ID
information. When the expansion cage was purchased as an option for the
1850, it came with that cable. I have not found any sellers that offer "
just " that cable on ebay, or via other channels. Then again, I have never
personally been in the market for just that piece, so my searches have not
been comprehensive, or exhaustive.

There was another thread in this group that dealt specifically with this
matter. I even believe there was a part number referenced for the cable
itself. Do a google and you should be able to find it.

By and large, {compaq} array controllers are not suitable for driving DLT
Tape drives. This should be handled by the onboard SCSI controller on the
server.

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.

LC

"Sharmon" wrote in message
...
Sorry everyone's picking your brain NutCracker but that's what you get
for knowing stuff I have a couple of 1850R's and I decided to get
a 2X1 cage running off an SA3200 in one of them and left the other
single cage with a dlt off one of the SCSI channels. Is there a way to
run each cage off it's own channel so I can span the array or do the
cages have to be daisy chained ? Can you please explain the cabling
needed in detail (ie lower or upper connector etc.) if you have the
answer ?

Regards

David


You dont have dual channel controlles. You may have 2 221's in a singel
server, with each card servicing a channel of the cage... is that where
the
question about spanning controllers came in?

The 221 is a singel channel, ultra2 controller with 6M of onboard
read-only,
non battery backed cache.
It was introduced to replace the Smart2 SL, the 40MB/s WideUltra
controller.

I like the 5500's... you should really have SA3200's in those boxes, with
a
duplexed drive cage. Depeneding on which model you have (WUS3, or U2/U3)
you
will be able to get the most capacity out of your drive cage, and span an
array set across both channels for best performance.

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:WFBac.151804$po.895326@attbi_s52...
Thanks for the reply. I have a pair of PL5500s with 221 raid cards.


"NuT CrAcKeR" wrote in message
...
that depends on the array controller.

I am not aware of any compaq controllers that will allow you to
"span"
array
containers (or volumes) across controllers. Some of the older Mylex
and
AMI
controller allowed for this.

So, if you have a 2 channel controller, you can create a raid set
with
disks
from both channels, and it will appear as 1 disk to the OS.

You have lots of options... what server and array controller do you
have?

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:lIqac.41280$K91.106956@attbi_s02...
NuT CrAcKeR:

I have not filled what I have yet, but on a two channel raid card,
does
the
server see each channel as a unique raid or just one raid for the
card?
Also would two, two channel cards be one big raid, two, or four?


"Mark S" wrote in message
...

"Sharmon" wrote in message
...
I just use a Belkin USB2 card with 2 160 GB drives plugged into
it
on
my PL1850R and they work great


Now theres a thought!!!
Thanks,

Mark S

Thanks NutCracker. The cable that you are talking about is the Data
Sync cable , it should be 10 inches in length and 12 pins straight
though (I used a cut down IDE cable to make it look nice) . The
classic symptom of the cable missing is drives in the 2X1 cage will
light up as soon as power is applied (morons at HP "support" will tell
you your backplane is gone and needs replacing, try it I had 3 tell me
this and never even ask if the datasync was there). The way I set them
up is cable (must be LVD "twisted-flat") from controller port 1 to
bottom of 2X1 . then another point to point LVD from top of 2X1 to
connector of second U2 cage (must be LVD U2 cage not the UW3) . I was
hoping you knew a little trick to split the cages up. PS there is 1
misc kit left in NA which contains this stupidly rare cable and it
costs 134.95 which was why I made my own

Thanks a bunch Nut

David

Hello David,

Dont worry about picking my brain. Why do you think I post here?

; )

To the best of my knowledge, the 2x cages for the 1850 have to be daisy
chained. There is a small ribbon cable that connects the two cages together,
and from what I can asertain, it is how the 2nd drive cage gets its SCSI ID
information. When the expansion cage was purchased as an option for the
1850, it came with that cable. I have not found any sellers that offer "
just " that cable on ebay, or via other channels. Then again, I have never
personally been in the market for just that piece, so my searches have not
been comprehensive, or exhaustive.

There was another thread in this group that dealt specifically with this
matter. I even believe there was a part number referenced for the cable
itself. Do a google and you should be able to find it.

By and large, {compaq} array controllers are not suitable for driving DLT
Tape drives. This should be handled by the onboard SCSI controller on the
server.

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.

LC

"Sharmon" wrote in message
.. .
Sorry everyone's picking your brain NutCracker but that's what you get
for knowing stuff I have a couple of 1850R's and I decided to get
a 2X1 cage running off an SA3200 in one of them and left the other
single cage with a dlt off one of the SCSI channels. Is there a way to
run each cage off it's own channel so I can span the array or do the
cages have to be daisy chained ? Can you please explain the cabling
needed in detail (ie lower or upper connector etc.) if you have the
answer ?

Regards

David


You dont have dual channel controlles. You may have 2 221's in a singel
server, with each card servicing a channel of the cage... is that where
the
question about spanning controllers came in?

The 221 is a singel channel, ultra2 controller with 6M of onboard
read-only,
non battery backed cache.
It was introduced to replace the Smart2 SL, the 40MB/s WideUltra
controller.

I like the 5500's... you should really have SA3200's in those boxes, with
a
duplexed drive cage. Depeneding on which model you have (WUS3, or U2/U3)
you
will be able to get the most capacity out of your drive cage, and span an
array set across both channels for best performance.

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:WFBac.151804$po.895326@attbi_s52...
Thanks for the reply. I have a pair of PL5500s with 221 raid cards.


"NuT CrAcKeR" wrote in message
...
that depends on the array controller.

I am not aware of any compaq controllers that will allow you to
"span"
array
containers (or volumes) across controllers. Some of the older Mylex
and
AMI
controller allowed for this.

So, if you have a 2 channel controller, you can create a raid set
with
disks
from both channels, and it will appear as 1 disk to the OS.

You have lots of options... what server and array controller do you
have?

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:lIqac.41280$K91.106956@attbi_s02...
NuT CrAcKeR:

I have not filled what I have yet, but on a two channel raid card,
does
the
server see each channel as a unique raid or just one raid for the
card?
Also would two, two channel cards be one big raid, two, or four?


"Mark S" wrote in message
...

"Sharmon" wrote in message
...
I just use a Belkin USB2 card with 2 160 GB drives plugged into
it
on
my PL1850R and they work great


Now theres a thought!!!
Thanks,

Mark S

if you want to send me the 2nd cage i would be happy to experement with it and
work out the wiring details. i am sure with a terminator and a "kludge" cable
the 2nd cage could be taught to work stand alone.

bill

Sharmon wrote:

Thanks NutCracker. The cable that you are talking about is the Data
Sync cable , it should be 10 inches in length and 12 pins straight
though (I used a cut down IDE cable to make it look nice) . The
classic symptom of the cable missing is drives in the 2X1 cage will
light up as soon as power is applied (morons at HP "support" will tell
you your backplane is gone and needs replacing, try it I had 3 tell me
this and never even ask if the datasync was there). The way I set them
up is cable (must be LVD "twisted-flat") from controller port 1 to
bottom of 2X1 . then another point to point LVD from top of 2X1 to
connector of second U2 cage (must be LVD U2 cage not the UW3) . I was
hoping you knew a little trick to split the cages up. PS there is 1
misc kit left in NA which contains this stupidly rare cable and it
costs 134.95 which was why I made my own

Thanks a bunch Nut

David

Hello David,

Dont worry about picking my brain. Why do you think I post here?

; )

To the best of my knowledge, the 2x cages for the 1850 have to be daisy
chained. There is a small ribbon cable that connects the two cages together,
and from what I can asertain, it is how the 2nd drive cage gets its SCSI ID
information. When the expansion cage was purchased as an option for the
1850, it came with that cable. I have not found any sellers that offer "
just " that cable on ebay, or via other channels. Then again, I have never
personally been in the market for just that piece, so my searches have not
been comprehensive, or exhaustive.

There was another thread in this group that dealt specifically with this
matter. I even believe there was a part number referenced for the cable
itself. Do a google and you should be able to find it.

By and large, {compaq} array controllers are not suitable for driving DLT
Tape drives. This should be handled by the onboard SCSI controller on the
server.

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.

LC

"Sharmon" wrote in message
.. .
Sorry everyone's picking your brain NutCracker but that's what you get
for knowing stuff I have a couple of 1850R's and I decided to get
a 2X1 cage running off an SA3200 in one of them and left the other
single cage with a dlt off one of the SCSI channels. Is there a way to
run each cage off it's own channel so I can span the array or do the
cages have to be daisy chained ? Can you please explain the cabling
needed in detail (ie lower or upper connector etc.) if you have the
answer ?

Regards

David


You dont have dual channel controlles. You may have 2 221's in a singel
server, with each card servicing a channel of the cage... is that where
the
question about spanning controllers came in?

The 221 is a singel channel, ultra2 controller with 6M of onboard
read-only,
non battery backed cache.
It was introduced to replace the Smart2 SL, the 40MB/s WideUltra
controller.

I like the 5500's... you should really have SA3200's in those boxes, with
a
duplexed drive cage. Depeneding on which model you have (WUS3, or U2/U3)
you
will be able to get the most capacity out of your drive cage, and span an
array set across both channels for best performance.

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:WFBac.151804$po.895326@attbi_s52...
Thanks for the reply. I have a pair of PL5500s with 221 raid cards.


"NuT CrAcKeR" wrote in message
...
that depends on the array controller.

I am not aware of any compaq controllers that will allow you to
"span"
array
containers (or volumes) across controllers. Some of the older Mylex
and
AMI
controller allowed for this.

So, if you have a 2 channel controller, you can create a raid set
with
disks
from both channels, and it will appear as 1 disk to the OS.

You have lots of options... what server and array controller do you
have?

LC

"Robert Bates" wrote in message
news:lIqac.41280$K91.106956@attbi_s02...
NuT CrAcKeR:

I have not filled what I have yet, but on a two channel raid card,
does
the
server see each channel as a unique raid or just one raid for the
card?
Also would two, two channel cards be one big raid, two, or four?


"Mark S" wrote in message
...

"Sharmon" wrote in message
...
I just use a Belkin USB2 card with 2 160 GB drives plugged into
it
on
my PL1850R and they work great


Now theres a thought!!!
Thanks,

Mark S

I just went through the same cabling adventure...

The cable from the raid controller attaches to the lower port on the
backplane of the 2x1 cage. The upper port is connected with another
scsi cable that attaches to the 4x1 cage.

There is a third cable, using 11 pins, that connects the two drive
cages. This cable is difficult to find, but easily made since its
a straight through cable. You can cut down an old IDE cable and
use it. Just make sure you have the connectors facing the same
way.

Both cages are daisy chained to the same port on the raid controller.
You can create arrays using any combination of drives in the two
cages.

VinceV

Sharmon wrote in message . ..
Sorry everyone's picking your brain NutCracker but that's what you get
for knowing stuff I have a couple of 1850R's and I decided to get
a 2X1 cage running off an SA3200 in one of them and left the other
single cage with a dlt off one of the SCSI channels. Is there a way to
run each cage off it's own channel so I can span the array or do the
cages have to be daisy chained ? Can you please explain the cabling
needed in detail (ie lower or upper connector etc.) if you have the
answer ?

Regards

David