Is a faster Array Controller & disks worth it?

Hi, I have just got a couple of 2nd hand 1850R servers.
The 1999 documentation indicates that the backplane is Ultra2.

In one of the servers is a 221 controller, and in the other a 3200. These
are both Ultra2 cards. Both machines have 2x9 Ultra2 disks, which I'm happy
to keep.

My question is, is it worthwhile buying a faster controller for these
1850Rs, or is the backplane the bottleneck in these servers?

The reason I ask, is because the extra disks I will be buying are all the
lastest types, and I am prepared to spend money on these servers if it means
getting a faster disk system.

Not in those servers.

U2 is the fastest you will be able to realize the potential of, but probably
not for the reasons that you are thinking. In order to reap any benefits
from the U160 or U320 drives, you need 64Bit PCI-X (100, 133Mhz) slots. That
server does not have them.

If you are really serious about drive performance, but want to be smart
about how you achieve it... look at eBay for Fibre Channel StorageWorks
systems that use the latest drives. You can go up to 2Gbit HBA's (200MB/s,
full duplex) and have the performance available to any system you have that
is outfitted with an HBA. You can leverage the expense across several
servers.. .not just one server with drives and a controller.

Its more involved than a 2 paragraph email in a usenet group... but its
definitely something to think about.

LC.

"Chocolate" wrote in message
. ..
Hi, I have just got a couple of 2nd hand 1850R servers.
The 1999 documentation indicates that the backplane is Ultra2.

In one of the servers is a 221 controller, and in the other a 3200. These
are both Ultra2 cards. Both machines have 2x9 Ultra2 disks, which I'm
happy
to keep.

My question is, is it worthwhile buying a faster controller for these
1850Rs, or is the backplane the bottleneck in these servers?

The reason I ask, is because the extra disks I will be buying are all the
lastest types, and I am prepared to spend money on these servers if it
means
getting a faster disk system.