[NTLUG:Discuss] SCSI drives

[Steve Baker]

asenec at senechalle.net wrote:
> I love scsi's for one big reason:  heat tolerance.

I find that *really* hard to believe.  The actual drive
mechanism (which is the part that's going to care most
about heat) is IDENTICAL between SCSI and IDE drives -
typically the manufacturers make both versions - the
identical drive - but with different interface electronics
stuck on top.

I don't believe that you can generalize and say that
all SCSI interface chipsets are more heat tolerant than
all IDE interface chipsets.  There are too many different
chipsets out there to make that claim.

So, I think you are seeing a pure coincidence - you should
save the money that you lay out on SCSI drives (and broken
drives in general) and put it towards an air conditioner!

> PS--I do have these machines well equipped with drive bay fans--even
> scsi's aren't totally magic when it comes to heat.

Yes - if the ambient air temp is up in the 90's in mid summer,
no amount of fans will help.  The operating limit for most
disk drives is about 90 degrees IIRC - so even if you can
cool them to ambient, they'll still fail frequently.

The only thing SCSI *might* do to help would be if you are
using external drives.  You'll get better cooling if they
are not getting involved in the head chucked out by the
rest of the computer.

---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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