From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun May 28 09:23:14 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ECC6416CA5C for ; Sun, 28 May 2006 08:53:38 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from ijeff@sandbox.ca) Received: from sandbox.ca (zaphod.sandbox.ca [199.246.50.125]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 618C743D46 for ; Sun, 28 May 2006 08:53:38 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ijeff@sandbox.ca) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (sandbox.ca [199.246.50.125]) by sandbox.ca (8.12.6/8.12.6) with ESMTP id k4S8rXx1092008; Sun, 28 May 2006 04:53:34 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from ijeff@sandbox.ca) In-Reply-To: <0E6E4139-E567-4A85-BDA6-7D73FE0668F6@shire.net> References: <1147255200.4461b9a0a5e71@196.22.132.16> <44621529.7050804@netfence.it> <20060511104517.GA11619@storage.mine.nu> <1147344670.4463171eb5364@196.22.132.16> <0E6E4139-E567-4A85-BDA6-7D73FE0668F6@shire.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v750) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Ian Jefferson Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 17:53:31 +0900 To: "Chad Leigh -- Shire.Net LLC" X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.750) X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.1.0-igj_main_2005_08_07 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.0-igj_main_2005_08_07 (2005-09-13) on zaphod.sandbox.ca Cc: FreeBSD Questions Mailing List Subject: Re: OT: Torn between SCSI and SATA for RAID X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 09:23:28 -0000 > > > I'd rather run 5 SATA cables then one SCSI cable (say 68pin) with > multiple heads... The darn SCSI cables are so thick, > comparatively, that running them in your case is a lot harder :-) > > Well everyone's mileage may vary. Parallel cables only work nicely when you have a stack of drives all close & lined up together. I personally yearn for a simple 40gbps daisychainable serial bus. I hoped firewire would have been it but we seem to be stuck at 800mpbs. The other cabling option I forgot about is USB2 or Firewire. There are a number of very low cost external cases that pre-package USB/Firewire SATA converters. You basically fill a hard disk case with SATA or ATA drives and connect your computer to the case via a single firewire or USB cable. I have not seen one of these that's hot swap yet but I did see a few of these recently in Tokyo Akihabara district for ~$100 so I assume they are available all over. The box's I have seen are 4 drive systems. Just fill them with your favorite commodity hard disk I guess. At ~50MB/s the interface is plenty fast and greatly simplifies the cable issue inside the PC. IJ