Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!always.com!rick
From: rick@always.com (Rick Wagner)
Subject: Re: SCSI confusions, help please!
Organization: Always Technology Corp.
Date: Mon, 20 May 91 22:17:54 GMT
Message-ID: <1991May20.221754.1226@always.com>
References: <TIMS.91May16115641@infidel.infidel.lanl.gov>

In article <TIMS.91May16115641@infidel.infidel.lanl.gov> tims@infidel.lanl.gov (Tim Sullivan) writes:
> ... So, for less than double the price of an MFM
>hard drive of comparable size, we can switch to SCSI and have the
>occasional use of the big disk and tape drive.

This may not be as easy as it seems.  I beleave that the Sun formats
the SCSI drive to 1024 byte sectors, while DOS will want 512 byte
sectors.  The Exabyte shouldn't be a problem though.

>I've heard that you should buy the SCSI controller from the same
>people you buy the disk from, so I looked in the R-Squared catalog and

This can be helpfull if they verify that the whole system plays
together.  This means they have tried the drive and controller in the
package you are selling.  On the other hand, if you are running
standard applications, a good source is to ask the drive manufacturer
which adapter they recommend.  Then check with the adapter
manufacturer and make sure they support what you are doing.

>sure enough, they sell a SCSI controller to attach their drive to an
>AT for $1600! And a 91 Mbyte, internal hard drive for $1725! 
>
>So what is wrong here? What is it about SCSI controllers that can
>support price differences so large? What does a $1600 controller do
>that a $100 controller doesn't do? There must be something I don't
>understand. 

Seems a bit steep; our adapter lists for $249, others are higher (up to
$350 I think) down to about $50.  These are MFSRP; street prices are
generally lower.  The difference in price is: performance, included
drivers, functionality, and marketing.  Might be that these guys are
selling with a software package or some specialized system into a
niche market; other than that, I don't know what could justify that
kind of pricing.

>
>Thanks for any help you can offer.
>
>Tim Sullivan (tims@goshawk.lanl.gov)

Hope I helped.
	--rick
-- 
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Rick Wagner / Always Technology			email: rick@always.COM
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