scsi connectors on dell poweredge 2600

I was wondering if someone could help me understand and figure out
which SCSI connector to use on the back of my Dell PowerEdge 2600.

It has 1 larger one, that's part of the back panel (same general area
as the keyboard and mouse connectors). It's about 4.5mm wide.

Then it has 2 smaller ones that are, from the outside, on what looks
like an expansion card; I'm guessing that it's not an expansion card
but just a connector gizmo that's inserted there. They're about 3.2mm
wide.

The 2600 has a Perc 3 DC controller with 1 internal and 1 external
channel and the onboard "LSI logic 53c1030 dual integrated PCI Ultra
320 LVD SCSI" controller. I didn't add on any other SCSI controllers,
just the PERC when it was ordered.

I'm guessing that the 2 smaller SCSI connectors in the expansion slot
are connected to either the PERC or the onboard, and the other one is
connected to the other one.

My questions are which one is which, and is one preferable to use over
the other (or what are the tradeoffs of using one over the other)?
I'm connecting an external raid box; it has the tiny connector and
says "SCSI LVD/SE". And down the road I'll also be connecting an LTO
tape loader. Does either connector provide more throughput over the
other? If I use the SCSI connector that's connected to the PERC will
that effect the speed or throughput of the internal RAID array?

Thanks

 

On 20 Feb 2004 09:21:45 -0800, Rusty Wright

I have several PE2600 but in slidly different configuration. I'll give
it a try to help you.

68 pins? Probl. the LSI controller.

Is it possible that the LSI is the PERC 4Di controller (maybe without
the Raid option).

Some info Perc 4/Di=> Perc4 =Scsi320
The D = Dual channel
The i = internal controller

Some info Perc 3/Dc=> Perc3 =Scsi160
The D = Dual channel
The c = card (expension card)

The two smaller connectors are the Perc3/Dc Controller. The other
(above the 1GLan connector) will go the onboard.

That are a lot of questions:
First of all, what is now connected on your Perc3/Dc card. Open the
top of the case (3 thumscrews at the front) .
Follow the scsi cables of the front harddrive(s) and where they are
connected (to the motherboard or the Perc3/Dc). btw. Is this a raid
configuration or a single drive configuration?

If you can use both channels of the Perc 3/Dc depends on the driver of
your OS. Netware drivers seems to have problems with the second
channel.

Is is always preferable to use a tape drive on a dedicated SCSI card
(not the internal scsi connector). In that case you will be more
flexible in case of an emergency. If your PE goes on strike, you can
take the scsi-card out and install it in a different machine and
restore data.

Your welcome.

 

Kareltje, thanks for the help.

I also suspected that the two smaller connectors went to the PERC
3/DC. When I bring up the bios scsi configuration screen (ctl-m
during boot, I think), it shows all of the drives on one channel of
the PERC.

The PERC 3/DC has 6 drives connected to it; 5 are a raid 5 logical
volume, with the 6th being the hot spare.

The other question I forgot to ask is does the smaller connector imply
a faster scsi controller?

I'm still not sure which SCSI connector I should connect the external
RAID box to. It has its own internal RAID controller; it's one of
those boxes that makes a bunch of IDE drives look like one big SCSI
drive.

 

Generally speaking: Yes. In this case: I don't think so. The PERC3/Di
is an Ultra160 controller (for sure) and the internal controller is
maybe an Ultra320.

I only can give you an advice what i would do: Buy a seperated SCSI
controller for it.
I know it's a little more money but you have the advantage of an
working set (Raidbox and controller) independant of your server
hardware. You will love that option if the server dies.

Success Kareltje