Barry, Christopher on 4 Aug 2006 14:36:43 -0000 |
> -----Original Message----- > From: plug-bounces@lists.phillylinux.org > [mailto:plug-bounces@lists.phillylinux.org] On Behalf Of Steve Morgan > Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 10:26 AM > To: Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List > Subject: Re: [PLUG] SCSI RAID Drive array (Internal vs External) > > I do not believe you need to worry about the speed of the > data transfer between internal versus external devices. In > my opinion, the transfer of data between the host card and > the harddrives should be the same whether they are internally > or externally connected. The host card is rated for a > certain speed and it delivers it to all connections. > > It would depend on the type of external box you buy for the > disks. Do also take into consideration whether your host > card's external interface is Differential or Single-ended > SCSI. I have two types of external enclosures in my > apartment. One type of box just holds a bunch of disks and > conencts them all and dumps them onto the SCSI chain. These > harddrives are seen to the host controller as Just a Bunch of > Disks (JBOD). The operating system will see each individual > harddrive and will work with it as it pleases. This external > box connects to the host via Single-ended. The other type of > box I have connects to the host via Differential SCSI and > does all of the RAID interally, meaning you configure all the > drives in whatever configuration(s) you wish on the device > itself and the host computer will see those as such. A > simple configuration I have setup is all 12 drvies are set up > using RAID 0 striping. This presents to the host computer as > a single large drive. All of the RAID logic is being done on > the external box itself with dedicated hardware, whereas with > a JBOD setup all the RAID logic would be software based with > the operating system. > > Depending on how you operate your RAID, whether it is > software based with the operating system or hardware based > with a dedicated external box or a SCSI controller with RAID > capabilities, it will dictate what kind of setup you will end > up with. I amdit I am not the best SCSI expert on this list, > but if I need to clarify anything for you please feel free to > respond on or off list. I invite others to offer their > opinions and to correct me on my information should it be wrong. > > > Steve Morgan > > > > > On 8/4/06, George Gallen <ggallen@slackinc.com> wrote: > > Since we are planning for a new system, I'm considering > making our > data drives (which are currently internal SCSI RAID > card - 0+1) an external > drive bay, so if we had to switch to a another system > down the road, moving > the data would be as simple as disconnect and reconnect. > > Is there any drawback to hooking up the drives to the > external port of a > SCSI controller, vs the internal port? Speed differences? > > We currently have a 10 drive RAID 0+1, 5 (18gb) drives > striped and mirrored. > This is for a database server, it was suggested by IBM > that we stripe out the > drives to make for faster reads. > > If we go external, does the server still handle the > RAIDing, or does the drive > bay enclosure handle the RAIDing, and it just appears > as one SCSI device to > the server? > > George > > George Gallen > Senior Programmer/Analyst > Accounting/Data Division > ggallen@slackinc.com > ph:856.848.1000 Ext 220 > > SLACK Incorporated - Delivering the best in health care > information and education worldwide. > http://www.slackinc.com > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > _____________ > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- > http://www.phillylinux.org <http://www.phillylinux.org> > Announcements - > http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > General Discussion -- > http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > > > > Cable quality and length will affect performance. -C "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; give him a freshly-charged Electric Eel and chances are he won't bother you for anything ever again." -- Tanuki ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
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