On Fri, 23 Jan 2004, Blaz Antonic wrote:

> Hello,
>
> The answers i got on the list or in direct correspondence have led me to
> believe the best idea would be to purchase a SCSI card instead of
> relying on internal IDE controller. Now i'm under the impression that
> ANY Symbios 53c875 based SCSI card will work just fine and be recognised
> by the firmware so computer can boot off of a SCSI drive; is this
> assumption correct ? More specifically, woudl a cheap SCSI controller
> like the one in this auction work:
> http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2781277210&category=12834
>
> It apparently has PeeCee BIOS, will that hamper its functionality in
> Ultra 5 in any way ? I can get a new 18 GB 10k rpm SCSI drive instead of
> (also new) 80 GB 7.2k rpm IDE one for roughly the same price it seems.

symbios 875 will work, it has support code in the rom,
so any normal version of the card should work.

> Size-wise this doesn't seem exactly like a bargain, especially since i'm
> not a speed freak with networked boxes (data will be coming in via 10 or
> maybe 100 mbps ethernet and possibly 1 mbps broadband conenction) but
> people say IDE is *REALLY* *THAT* *BAD* in Ulta 5. Then again 18 GB
> might be more than i need in that box anyway, unless i retire my current
> data storage (with 80 GB drive filled about 80%).
>
> Ultra 5 cn accomodate only 1 3.5" HD, right ? What if i remove the
> floppy, which is unsupported anyway (if box has one in the first place,
> haven't seen it yet) ? Is air flow inside the chasis good enough to
> allow me to hook up another disk ? Can i use a PeeCee plastic bezel to
> cover a hole after removing a floppy ?

The floppy bracket also doesn't fit when you add 256mb dimms :).
The cooling issue with disks is mostly a durability issue.
Cool disks last way longer then hot ones, 10 degrees can make
a disk live 2 years longer. Maybe an external scsi disk would
be a good idea.

-- 
Sten Spans

"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen - Anthem