Use of Compaq 146Gb U320 drives on a Proliant 6400 w/ SA3200..

Well.. I picked up my two 36.4Gb spares today for my Proliant and got back
to the office to find a note from the guy I got them from saying that he
had some other drives available if I was interested and he thought he
had quite a few of the 146Gb drives (I'm assuming the U320 models) and
that he would sell them for $50/each (I'm assuming w/ trays)... These
things seem to sell on Ebay for ~$200/each when they sell (they're not
hot sellers). Anyway, IF I wanted to move from my little old 36.4Gb
drives up to something a bit larger, can these much newer drives be used
on my SA3200 with just reduced efficiency but otherwise working fine?

They appear to be the 1" form factor trays from what I can tell by snooping
around on Ebay.. Comments?

Thanks!

-- Rick

"Rick F." wrote in message
...
Well.. I picked up my two 36.4Gb spares today for my Proliant and got back
to the office to find a note from the guy I got them from saying that he
had some other drives available if I was interested and he thought he
had quite a few of the 146Gb drives (I'm assuming the U320 models) and
that he would sell them for $50/each (I'm assuming w/ trays)... These
things seem to sell on Ebay for ~$200/each when they sell (they're not
hot sellers). Anyway, IF I wanted to move from my little old 36.4Gb
drives up to something a bit larger, can these much newer drives be used
on my SA3200 with just reduced efficiency but otherwise working fine?

They appear to be the 1" form factor trays from what I can tell by
snooping
around on Ebay.. Comments?

Thanks!

-- Rick


Yes, by all means. Load up on the 146's. I would suggest running an SA5300
in that machine to take full advantage of the 64/66 bus in that system.

- LC

In article , Nut Cracker wrote:

Yes, by all means. Load up on the 146's. I would suggest running an SA5300
in that machine to take full advantage of the 64/66 bus in that system.

Thanks LC! I'll see what other goodies this guy has.. I might have to pull
my DLT tape drive I bought a few months ago out so I can move to some higher
density drives.. (8-

-- Rick

"Rick F." wrote
Well.. I picked up my two 36.4Gb spares today for my Proliant and got back
to the office to find a note from the guy I got them from saying that he
had some other drives available if I was interested and he thought he
had quite a few of the 146Gb drives (I'm assuming the U320 models) and
that he would sell them for $50/each (I'm assuming w/ trays)...

Don't assume. Ask for a part number. Googling the part number will usually
find you an exact description. If that doesn't work, call HP and confirm a
description for the part number, or the drive model number.

Anyway, IF I wanted to move from my little old 36.4Gb
drives up to something a bit larger, can these much newer drives be used
on my SA3200 with just reduced efficiency but otherwise working fine?

Check the max. drive size for your SA3200. Normally, there will be a FW
update that specifies "updated to work with 146Gb drives" or something like
that. It will be in the revision history section of the firmware download
(should have been quicker to check than to type, but the HP website is
playing up righ now). You will need the right FW to recognise 146Gb drives.

They appear to be the 1" form factor trays from what I can tell by
snooping
around on Ebay.. Comments?

Some hot-plug drives are marginally different and do not fit into certain
drive cages. Sorry - I really can't remember what servers and drive models
are affected, but I think it only affects U320 drive cages.

There are fake drives out there. You'll be safe with the 36Gb drives, but
the 146Gb /could/ be fake. Ask about the source of these drives. If they
come from the same source, chances are they're OK.

In article , Jez T wrote:

Don't assume. Ask for a part number. Googling the part number will usually
find you an exact description. If that doesn't work, call HP and confirm a
description for the part number, or the drive model number.

Done.. He says they're compaq part#286712-006.. He says he's got 6 of them
available for $50/each..

Check the max. drive size for your SA3200. Normally, there will be a FW
update that specifies "updated to work with 146Gb drives" or something like
that. It will be in the revision history section of the firmware download
(should have been quicker to check than to type, but the HP website is
playing up righ now). You will need the right FW to recognise 146Gb drives.

I looked on HP's site and read all of the available revision history for the
rompaq they had, but they're rather vague on what was modified.. Some of them
have lines like "...updated SA3200 FW from version 1.48 to 1.79" and nothing
more.. I guess I could try one and see if it works or not. Or I could just
save them for the time when I get a 4214/4314 enclosure that I can shove
them into as I would think the'yd be very happy there (assuming they're plugged
into something like an SA53xx controller).
(by the way-- if you know of a source for such an enclosure that is on the
west-coast and wouldn't charge $50 for shipping one, let me know!)

Some hot-plug drives are marginally different and do not fit into certain
drive cages. Sorry - I really can't remember what servers and drive models
are affected, but I think it only affects U320 drive cages.

I think I'd be tempted to take one of my existing drives with me just to
verify that the form factor was proper before I fork over any $$ to him.

There are fake drives out there. You'll be safe with the 36Gb drives, but
the 146Gb /could/ be fake. Ask about the source of these drives. If they
come from the same source, chances are they're OK.

Are you suggesting that someone might be taking regular SCSI drives and putting
them into hot-swap trays and selling them that way? Just curious..

-- Rick

"Rick F." wrote
Some hot-plug drives are marginally different and do not fit into certain
drive cages. Sorry - I really can't remember what servers and drive
models
are affected, but I think it only affects U320 drive cages.

I think I'd be tempted to take one of my existing drives with me just to
verify that the form factor was proper before I fork over any $$ to him.

Humm - difficult to tell visually - you need to try the drive in your drive
cage. IIRC, older servers are never affected, but certain newer ones can be.

There are fake drives out there. You'll be safe with the 36Gb drives, but
the 146Gb /could/ be fake. Ask about the source of these drives. If they
come from the same source, chances are they're OK.

Are you suggesting that someone might be taking regular SCSI drives and
putting
them into hot-swap trays and selling them that way? Just curious..

Nope (though I have seen that, and it's not a good idea) - These are proper
fakes that got into the HP dealer / distribution channel. Someone out there
makes fake HP HDDs and fake HP DIMMs. It would be very unusual for you to
come accross a fake though. If you trust the seller enough that you'll get
your money back if it won't work, you can buy with confidence.