sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash New Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 Options SunFLASH Vol 61 #30 January 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61.30 New Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 Options Sun's new high capacity, high performance, high quality disk products and new intelligent SCSI controller set a new standard for high performance and low cost per megabyte server storage - New 2.9-GB 5.25-inch Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 disk drive - The new Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 interface is capable of 20 MB/sec. burst rate (16-bit), - New Host Adapter dramatically reduces CPU overhead - SPARCcenter 2000 now supports 678.6-GB disk capacity - SPARCserver 1000 now supports 139.2-GB disk capacity ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW 2.9-GB DIFFERENTIAL FAST/WIDE SCSI-2 DISK OPTIONS NEW SBUS DIFFERENTIAL FAST/WIDE INTELLIGENT SCSI-2 HOST ADAPTER - New 2.9-GB 5.25-inch Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 disk drive offers 38% more capacity than Sun's 2.1-GB DSCSI drive, and higher performance as well - The new Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 interface is capable of 20 MB/sec. burst rate (16-bit), which doubles the throughput of Sun's Differential SCSI interface - No other vendor offers better mass storage values. Sun's 2.9-GB drive is higher quality than third party drives, yet competitively priced. Moreover, Sun's pricing compared to other system vendors is extremely aggressive - New Differential Wide SCSI Tray for Data Center systems. The new wide tray supports up to six 2.9-GB 5.25-inch Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 disks or 17.4 GB - The new high performance SBus Differential Fast/Wide Intelligent SCSI-2 (DWIS/S) Host Adapter dramatically reduces CPU overhead and is capable of 20 MB/sec. burst rate in 16-bit wide mode - The new SBus Differential Fast/Wide Intelligent SCSI-2 Host Adapter supports up to two Differential Wide SCSI Trays or up to 34.8 GB of capacity on a single SBus slot, resulting in support for 678.6-GB disk capacity on the SPARCcenter 2000 server Sun(R) server customers now have more growth capacity than ever before. And that capacity is available at surprisingly low cost. Sun expands its disk storage and controller product lines to include the latest generation high performance, high quality SCSI disk and controller technologies. o New Differential Wide SCSI Tray for Data Center systems can accommodate from 2 to 6 of the new 2.9-GB (formatted capacity) drives o The new SBus Intelligent SCSI Host Adapter can attach up to two new Differential Wide SCSI Trays or nearly 2.8 times more storage capacity than Sun's current DSCSI tray at 15% lower cost per megabyte, all from a single SBus slot o The new high performance SBus Differential Fast/Wide Intelligent SCSI-2 Host Adapter improves I/O throughput by up to 50% and is capble of 20 MB/sec. burst rate in 16-bit wide mode The new 2.9-GB Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 drive provides 38% more capacity than previous generation 5.25-inch drives. Performance benchmarks indicate up to 25% I/O performance improvement as well, depending on the application. Interface to host systems is via the new DWIS/S SBus card. As usual, these new disk products are priced dramatically lower than comparable products from other system vendors. o No major system competitor can match Sun's aggressive disk storage price/performance. And most don't even come close o Just one more reason to choose Sun servers and workstations Sun also offers better value than third party vendors. o All these new products are backed by a level of engineering commitment no third party can match. Sun's 2.9-GB disk products offer superior quality, reliability, and performance, yet are priced competitively with third parties o Just one more reason to choose Sun mass storage peripherals FEATURES BENEFITS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.9-GB drive ------------ 38% more capacity than previous Enables larger server configurations high-end disk drives 15% Better price/MB than 2.1-GB Makes large databases and file DSCSI disk systems more cost-effective Fast and Wide (20 MB/sec.) SCSI-2 More I/O throughput per SBus slot interface (16-bit device) and more disk capacity per SBus slot 3.7 - 5.4 MB/sec. internal data rate Better sequential I/O throughput than 2.1-GB DSCSI drives 10.5 msec average seek Faster random data access than many 5.5 msec average rotational latency 2+ GB drives Differential SCSI-2 (DSCSI) Enables large server configurations supports 25-meter SCSI buses and more configuration flexibility Advanced drive controller and Better I/O performance than third Sun-optimized firmware party drives Differential Wide SCSI Drive Tray for Data Center Cabinets ---------------------------------------------------------- First Wide SCSI disk packaging for Brings the price/performance Sun data center systems benefits of the latest SCSI-2 technology to the data center Up to 17.4-GB per tray and Very high storage density in a Up to 34.8-GB per SBus slot compact package and more connectivity per SBus slot Two to 6 drives per tray, with easy Flexible growth mounting of additional drives Tray may be attached to 1 or 2 SCSI Configuration flexibility for tuning busses performance and connectivity according to application needs Front-accessible SCSI ID switches Easier installation and maintenance and status indicators High quality construction featuring High reliability for less down rugged mounting, auto-ranging heavy time duty power supply, and efficient cooling fans SBus Differential Fast/Wide Intelligent SCSI-2 (DWIS/S) Host Adapter -------------------------------------------------------------------- Differential Fast/Wide SCSI-2 Connectivity to highest performance Host Adapter SCSI disk drives Built-in intelliget RISC controller Improves system CPU utilization per I/O operation by up to 30%, which improves over all system performance Fast and Wide (20 MB/sec.) SCSI-2 More I/O throughput per SBus slot interface (16-bit address) and twice as many disks per SBus slot Lower price than most system vendor's More cost-effective connectivity SCSI-2 cards HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ---------------------------------- The DWIS/S card and the 2.9GB DSCSI drives require Solaris(R) 2.3 operating environment or higher. The 2.9-GB Differential Wide SCSI Data Center Trays are supported on SPARCcenter(TM) 2000 servers in both the system and expansion cabinets. They are also supported on SPARCserver 1000 servers in the expansion cabinet. AVAILABILITY ------------ All options in this announcement are orderable and shipping immediately. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS --------------------- Q: Why should customers buy these drives from Sun when they can get the same thing from third parties? A: They cannot get the same thing from third parties. Even though a third party drive may even have the same drive manufacturer's model number as the Sun drive, there are meaningful differences. Sun drives are produced only on Sun-qualified manufacturing lines, using Sun-approved parts and processes. Sun drives also receive more stringent testing in the drive manufacturer's plant, as well as at Sun, than drives third parties sell. Finally, the firmware on Sun drives is optimized to maximixe performance on Sun systems. The firmware on third party drives is usually optimized for PCs. These are just a few of the differences between Sun's drives and those offered by third parties. There are also significant differences in the quality and reliability of packaging, power supplies, cooling, etc. Q: How can customers enable the 20 MB/sec. wide SCSI capabilities? A: Solaris 2.3 default SCSI mode is narrow (10 MB/sec.). See Solaris documentation and product manuals for enabling the wide SCSI mode. Both DWIS/S and 2.9-GB drives are required to transfer data in wide mode. Q: Can customers add the new 2.9-GB drives to existing 2.1-GB DSCSI Tray? A: No. Because of the differences between narrow and wide SCSI cabling (internal), the 2.9-GB drives and the 2.1-GB DSCSI drives cannot be mixed in a single tray. Q: How can customers connect two Data Center trays together? A: With DWIS/S card and the 0.25-meter DSCSI cable, customers can connect two 2.9-GB DSCSI trays and run the disks in wide mode under Solaris 2.3. Customers can connect two 2.9-GB DSCSI trays or one 2.9-GB DSCSI tray and one 2.1-GB DSCSI tray and run the disks in narrow mode under Solaris 2.3. Q: Are the 2.9-GB drives compatible with the existing SBus Fast Differential SCSI-2/Buffered Ethernet (DSBE/S) Card? A: Under Solaris 2.3, the 2.9-GB drive is compatible with DSBE/S. However, Sun recommends using 2.9-GB drive with DWIS/S card for optimal performance. Q: Is the DWIS/S card compatible with the existing 2.1-GB DSCSI disk? A: Under Solaris 2.3, the DWIS/S card is compatible with the 2.1-GB DSCSI disk that has the latest firmware in narrow mode only. However, Sun recommends using DWIS/S card with 2.9-GB drive for optimal performance. Q: Does this announcement mean the 2.1-GB DSCSI drive will be removed from the price list? A: There is no immediate plan to end-of-life the 2.1-GB DSCSI disk options. But the new 2.9-GB drive offers more capacity, better performance, and better price performance. Q: How much DSCSI capacity is supported on the SPARCcenter 2000 server? A: Under Solaris 2.3, 678.6-GB. As many as 20 DWIS/S cards and 39 Differential Wide Data Center Trays are supported. The trays may be mounted in either the System or Expansion Cabinets. The SPARcenter 2000 System Cabinet can accommodate up to 3 DSCSI Trays. Q: How much DSCSI capacity is supported on the SPARCserver 1000? system A: Under Solaris 2.3, 139.2-GB. As many as 12 DWIS/S cards and 8 Differential Wide Data Center Trays are supported in the Expansion Cabinet. Q: Can customers add 2.9-GB drives to SCSI Expansion Pedestal? A: No. Because of the differences between narrow and wide SCSI cabling (internal), and the 2.9-GB drive is designed for Data Center systems. Q: Are the DWIS/S and 2.9-GB DSCSI Data Center Trays supported on the SPARCserver 690MP system? A: No. They have not been fully tested and qualified on the SPARCserver 690MP system. Q: Are the DWIS/S and 2.9GB DSCSI Data Center Trays supported by the SBus Expansion Subsystem (SES/C)? A: No. They have not been fully tested and qualified on the SES/C. Q: What is "Wide SCSI"? A: The term "WIDE" in SCSI-2 defines 16-bit wide data transfers on the SCSI bus, as oppose to the 8-bit data transfer on the "NARROW" SCSI bus. It also defines an additional bit for addressing SCSI target IDs (0 thru 15.) The benefits of wide SCSI are that the SCSI bus throughput is increased and more devices can be connected to the SCSI bus. Q: What is "Differential SCSI"? A: The ANSI/ISO SCSI standard defines two types of electrical interfaces: single ended and differential. Single ended is the type of SCSI Sun has offered for quite some time. It uses a 50-pin high density connector. Differential SCSI is a superior electrical interface which uses different external cables and connectors. Sun's differential SCSI-2 (or DSCSI for short) uses a slightly larger, industry standard, 68-pin external connector. The benefit of differential SCSI is that it allows total cable length of a SCSI bus to be up to 25 meters (82 feet), whereas single ended SCSI is limited to 6 meters (19.7 feet). For large servers such as the SPARCcenter 2000, the bus length advantage of differential SCSI is a significant benefit. In fact, one of the reasons why SCSI disks have never before been offered on Sun data center systems is that differential SCSI has not been widely available. U.S. PRICING AND ORDERING INFORMATION ------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING APPEAR ON THE END USER AND RESELLER PRICE LISTS Options for the SPARCserver 1000 and SPARCcenter 2000 System and Expansion Cabinets Order List Disc. SunSpectrum Description Number Price Cat. Silver ================================================================================ 2 x 2.9GB Differential Wide SCSI 583A *# $9,800 A N/C Disks with Tray 4 x 2.9GB Differential Wide SCSI 584A *# $16,200 A N/C Disks with Tray 6 x 2.9GB Differential Wide SCSI 586A *# $22,600 A N/C Disks with Tray 2.9GB Differential Wide SCSI Expansion X585A $3,400 A N/C Disk SBus Differential Fast/Wide 1062A *! $1,295 A N/C Intelligent SCSI-2 Host Adapter (DWIS/S) 0.25-meter Differential SCSI Expansion 977A *! $125 N/D N/C Cable * Add "X" before the order number to order as a standalone option for existing systems. # Append "R4" to the order number for factory installation in the system cabinet. Append "R5" to the order number for factory installation in the expansion cabinet. When ordering a tray for factory installation in either a system or expansion cabinet, append "V3" to the order number for 230V operation and "V4" for 240V operation. X-option trays for field installation should not be ordered with the "V3" or "V4" options. ! To connect two SCSI trays, the 0.25-meter DSCSI cable (977A) must be ordered with the DWIS/S (1062A) SBus card (c) 1993 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant Logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. SPARCcenter and SPARCserver are licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. ********************************************************************** For information about SunFlash send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. 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