SCSI Server

[creedon]

OK gang, I recently aquired a dual-Pentium (266 PII X2)box with an on-board Adaptec AIC-7880 SCSI controller.  Since I don't know the first thing about setting up a LAN, I guess I've got some learning to do.  
Right now, I have 2 IDE hard drives running (an 8.4 Gb and a 2.5 Gb, both Maxtors)  I've installed Debian 3.0 with no problem, but my goal is to use this thing as a music server.  I own roughly 350 CD's that I want to store on a series of SCSI HD's running on this box; my biggest problem is finding the limtations of the contoller.  I've been to Adaptecs website, and they (as a company) offer support for Linux.  I'm also given to understand that the controller I have has kernel support in the 2.4.xx kernel series.  The only information I can find that covers limitations is for DOS/Windows installations though.  I've seen a page (that I managed to loose) that said the hard drives attached to this controller were limited to 9.1 Gb.  I'm a firm believer in having as much harddrive space as possible, so 9.1 Gb isn't a lot.  Does anyone know if this limitation applies to any OS that's used, or just DOS/Windows?  
BTW: This is just the first in a long line of stupid networking questions I'll be posting.  

[choasforages]

well, if its a problem with the controller, you won;t be able to see more then 9.1 gig's, but unlike ata, you can have 7 or more device's on the scsi chain, one of them being the controller. so 7 9.1 gig drives adds up to 63.7. also, the scsi bus is multi-tasked. unlike the ata bus. that about ends my generic scsi knowledge

[creedon]

quote:Originally posted by chaosforages:
well, if its a problem with the controller, you won;t be able to see more then 9.1 gig's, but unlike ata, you can have 7 or more device's on the scsi chain, one of them being the controller. so 7 9.1 gig drives adds up to 63.7. also, the scsi bus is multi-tasked. unlike the ata bus. that about ends my generic scsi knowledge

Actually, this controller will support up to 15 discrete drives; it handles wide (50-pin) and ultra-wide (SCSI-2; 68 pin), but that's not my real problem; as a self-confessed documentation junkie, I need some hard information on this controller; I figured out how to use Linux the hardest way possible- trial and error, I DON'T want to repeat that, I'm too damned old; I might not live that long!  Does anyone have any ideas where to find specific information about this device?  I've spent a lot of hours on Google searching for documentation, and I can't find anything that isn't a generalization.

[voidmain]

I have those controllers in Dell servers and there is no 9.1 GB limitation that I have ever heard of. Although that controller is usually used for CD/tape devices and I usually use the PERC RAID contoller for the actual drives. But I am pretty sure I have used 18 and 36GB drives on the 7880 before...

[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: void main ]

[creedon]

quote:Originally posted by void main:
I have those controllers in Dell servers and there is no 9.1 GB limitation that I have ever heard of. Although that controller is usually used for CD/tape devices and I usually use the PERC RAID contoller for the actual drives. But I am pretty sure I have used 18 and 36GB drives on the 7880 before...

[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: void main ]

Ooooooooh! I LIKE that answer!!  I've got to leave for work , but I'll be posting more inane questions soon; I'm looking at an external drive cabinet that will hold 8 full-size SCSI drives- that would make a hell of a music server, and I wouldn't need a box next to my audio system!  SWEET!!

[voidmain]

You also need to make sure you match the SCSI drive type up with the card capabilities (narrow,wide,ultra, etc).