SCSI Disk drives for SGI 4D/340

[Michael Schuh RAA]

We are trying to determine which SCSI disk drives we should buy enhance
our SGI 340 file server.  Has anyone had any good or bad experiences
with Falcon Systems, Cita Technologies, or Andataco Computer Peripherals?

Has anyone gotten the new 16.5 GByte Seagate Ren 8 or the 1.6Bbyte
Seagate Elite disk drives to work on a SGI system?

Are there any compilations of information related to 3ed party disk
drives for the SGI machines?

Are there any other vendors that I should be talking to?

Please send your response to schuh at ames.arc.nasa.gov

Thanks in advance,
  Michael Schuh

================================================================
Michael J. Schuh, MS 227-6      |       schuh at ames.arc.nasa.gov
NASA Ames Research Center       |       Phone: (415) 604-1460
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000    |       FAX:   (415) 604-4357
================================================================

Requirements

To provide for future flexibility we are requiring that the new
hardware must be suitable for use on any computer with a standard
SCSI port. This will allow us to move this new hardware to any future
computer systems as opposed to having to replace it.  Replacement
would be required if the disks were designed to only work on a
Silicon Graphics Computer.


Vendors

Silicon	Graphics Incorporated; Mark Havens, (415) 960-1940

They do not support the configuration that we want.  They do sell
1.2GByte drives that stack on the twin towers for $4,875 each with
about $500 each/year maintenance cost for a two year cost of
(4875*2*1.08 + 4*500 = ) $12,530.



Falcon Systems,	Inc.; Wayne (800) 326-1002
	Sacramento, CA

Falcon Systems advertises that they supply peripherals for SGI
machines and that they specifically sell drives for the SGI 340's.
They are an established company and have been in business for 6 1/2
years and have about $8 Million a year in sales.

________________________________________________________________________
|$3295 | 1.2GByte SCSI drive in	a 4 drive Box with Power Supply	& Cable	|
|      |          Seagate Saber Drive					|
| 2930 | 1.2GByte SCSI drive; Seagate Saber Drive			|
|  ~50 | SCSI kit to provide a SCSI port on SCSI drive 0		|
|______|________________________________________________________________|
|$6275 | Total ($2615/GByte)                                            |
|______|________________________________________________________________|


Warranty: 2 years 48 hour replacement with 5 year  guarantee
on the drive



Andataco Computer Peripherals; Darrel Beeson; (800) 334-9191
	San Diego, Ca

Andataco Computer Peripherals advertises that they supply
peripherals for SGI machines and that they claim that they
have sold many drives for the  SGI 340's.   They are an
established company and have been in business for 5 years
and have about $20 Million a year in sales.  The salesman is
a former SGI representative and was very knowledgeable.

_______________________________________________________________________
|$3227 | ST41650	| 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
| 3865 | ST41600	| 1.6 GByte Seagate Elite 11msec access	time   |
| 2533 | ST41200	| 1.2 Gbyte Seagate Ren	7		       |
|  650 | 4PLEX		| 4 drive box with 4 60	watt power supplys     |
|   25 | ADT-CBLE-SGITT	| SCSI cable for access	to SCSI	drive 0	       |
|______|________________|______________________________________________|

_______________________________________________________________________
|      |		| Recommended Configuration		       |
|______|________________|______________________________________________|
|$3227 | ST41650	| 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
| 3227 | ST41650	| 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
|  650 | 4PLEX		| 4 drive box with 4 60	watt power supplys     |
|   25 | ADT-CBLE-SGITT	| SCSI cable for access	to SCSI	drive 0	       |
|______|________________|______________________________________________|
|$7129 |		| Total	($2160/Gbyte)			       |
|______|________________|______________________________________________|


Warranty: 5 years 24 hour replacement



Cita Technologies (Software Associates); Dick  Smith;  (916) 344-5558
	Sacramento, CA

The  salesman was knowledgeable about disk drives but
not very knowledgeable about the SGI product  line.   He  did
say he would call one of his support people when I asked him
about the cable required to get from SCSI 0 to the SCSI disk
drive.

_______________________________________________________________
|______|________|______________________________________________|
|$2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
| 2166 | ST4120 | 1.2 Gbyte Seagate Ren 7                      |
|      | 4PLEX  | 4 drive box                                  |
|      |        | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0        |
|      |        |                                              |
|      |        |                                              |
|______|________|______________________________________________|
|      |        | Recommended Configuration                    |
|$2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
| 2534 | ST4165 | 1.65 GByte Seagate Ren 8 16 msec access time |
| ~650 |        | 4 drive box                                  |
|  ~25 |        | SCSI cable for access to SCSI drive 0        |
|______|________|______________________________________________|
|$5743 |        | Total ($1740/Gbyte)                          |
|______|________|______________________________________________|


Warranty: 5 years factory replacement  averaging  15  to  30
days.    For   $25/month   ($300/year)   you  can  get  24hr
replacement.  For two drives for 5 years this would  end  up
costing $3000.  A spare drive and the factory warranty is is
cheaper as long as two drives do not  go  bad  at  the  same
time.