[oclug] Need advice on server specs

[bbarnett at l8r.net]

On 01-Feb-2001 Andrew Hutton wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 01, 2001 at 04:30:52PM -0500, Matt Larose wrote:
>> Why SCSI ? becuse I dont like the large hit on the CPU when you're doing
>> alot of reading/writing.
> 
> This is not an issue.  3ware presents a SCSI interface to the kernel.

Just because 3ware provides a scsi interface to the kernel, doesn't mean it
performs like high quality scsi controllers do today, nor does it mean the IDE
drives respond with the speed and agility that scsi drives do as well.  


> 
> There are only 3 reasons to go SCSI today,
> 
> 1. You want devices external to your machine.
> 2. You want to be able to put devices hundreds of feet away (FC)
> 3. You need more than one machine accessing the same block device.
> 
> Otherwise for most small installations (under 600G) you're wasting
> money on hardware that performs worse and costs far more and is WAY
> more prone to cabling issues.
>  

SCSI hardware far outperforms IDE hardware, hands down.  Its not slower, and
cabling issues are only a problem if you don't know what you're doing. 
User ignorance =! low quality product.

Yes, its more expensive.  Is it worth it?  Yes, in high disk access scenarios. 
Naturally, the drives are only as good as the controller you use them with. 
Going SCSI with a 5 year old card, and comparing it to a current IDE chipset
isn't fair, or reasonable.



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