From: rwebb@panix.com (Russell Webb) Subject: Which SCSI controller for Tandberg/IDE system? Date: 13 Jun 1993 03:18:04 -0400
I've recently ordered a refurb Tandberg 3600 SCSI tape drive
(DC6525/DC6250 format). I need to get some sort of SCSI controller
for this unit.
My question is, what SCSI controller would work with this drive?
I currently have a 2-drive IDE ISA system with a non-SCSI CD-ROM.
My Linux version is 0.99pl10.
From roaming through the newsgroup and the FAQs, it seems that
the following are my basic options; which of these SCSI controllers
would be acceptable?
controller cost notes
ST-01/02 $30-$60 (8-bit, "brain dead")
FD 8xx $50-$70 (8-bit)
FD 16xx $150-$170 (16-bit)
Adaptec 1542x $200-$300 (16-bit)
Ultrastor 14F $225-$250 (16-bit)
Ultrastor 34F $275-$350 (VLB)
Since I probably will not be using this controller for a hard
drive, would a Seagate ST-01, ST-02, or Future Domain 8xx suffice?
Just how bad are these? I don't relish laying out $200-300 for a
high-performance controller if all I'll be doing is making cron tape
backups at night. My next system (in the far future) will definitely
have SCSI-2 components but I'm convinced that an ISA bus again would
be a dead loss. I don't think it makes sense to pour money into a
high-performance ISA SCSI controller now. My weekly backup needs lie
in the area of 400M or so.
Also, are there any gotchas to watch out for like IRQ conflicts or
shared memory problems? I have a Zeos 486, 0k external cache with
Award/Phoenix BIOS; there does not seem to be any option for disabling
internal caching for particular memory regions--the user-settable
BIOS parameters seem quite basic. Would this cause problems with any
of the above adaptors, or just a dramatic descrease in the already-
lagging performance of the lower-end 8-bit adaptors because of the
possible need to disable caching?
Any information or advice would be very appreciated.
-Russell Webb
rwebb@panix.com