Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 12:47:23 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gary D. Margiotta" <gary@tbe.net> To: Stephen McKay <syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: IDE or Ultra SCSI Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.95q.970530121316.18861B-100000@lightning.tbe.net> In-Reply-To: <199705301207.WAA15894@ogre.dtir.qld.gov.au>
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> >> I have been agonizing for a few days trying to decide whether to get > >> IDE or Ultra SCSI. > > >> The difference in price betwen IDE and Ultra is about $700. Is it worth > >> it? > > > >Why is it so much? > > I ask this often, hoping to have someone tell me it is not so. It is all to > do with volume and margins for middle men. Fewer SCSI disks sold == higher > prices. > > For example, I could go to a nearby computer shop and buy a 6Gb IDE disk > for AU$600, or a 4Gb SCSI3 disk for AU$1100. That's nearly 3 times the > cost per byte. I have no reason to believe that either is better quality > than the other. What a downer. > > Or I could buy an 8x SCSI CD-ROM for twice the price of the same model > drive with IDE interface. Sigh. > > So I have to keep telling myself what an investment in brain cells I have > with SCSI, how it always works (well it does for me), and how every IDE > system that I've tried to put 2 disks in, or take one drive out of, has > been such a pain that I've given up. Then I calculate my hourly rate into > the equation... SCSI is definately the way to go, even though there is a considerable price difference. IDE is nice and cheap, but if you look around enough, you can find SCSI peripherals that aren't too bad pricewise. When you consider the advantages of SCSI over IDE, you begin to see that in this case, the end does justify the means. For example, I have three Hard drives, one CD-ROM, and one CD-R in my system. Try putting that many things on an IDE bus and see how easy it is to get all to work well with each other without pulling your hair out. As far as I know, SCSI HDD are multitasking, IDE HDD aren't, which means that the IDE will have to finish the current task before moving onto another, while the SCSI drive can have several task running at the same time. To visualize this better, think of the way Winblows multitasks, (IDE), and FreeBSD (or other more advanced OS's) multitasks (SCSI). Take data transfer also into consideration. SCSI devices have a better sustained transfer rate, and a much higher burst rate. A standard IDE with a PIO mode of 4 can transfer at 16.6 Mb/s I believe. Ultra SCSI can do 20 Mb/s, Wide SCSI (SCSI-3) can do 40 Mb/s, burstable to 133 Mb/s (though that is card (and slot) dependant, I am using my Adaptec 2940UW-PCI stats). Plus, if you are using FreeBSD, there is no support for Enhanced IDE yet, so you are not getting the benefits of that. I have SCSI drives that I have beat the hell out of, and they have never given me any problems, and some are quite a few years old. Try that with an IDE, and you are lucky to get 3 years out of them before they start getting iffy and failing. IDE drives are cheap because that is how they are made. They are meant to be 'throw-aways'. They are cheap enough that they usually give 1 or two years good service then they die, and you go buy another one. SCSI drives are usually higher quality (and I know I will probably get a few arguments from that), and they are meant to take a good amount of use/abuse. As was said before, IDE still has a long way to go before they even come close to the reliability and speed of SCSI. They are good because of their low price, but you get what you pay for. Go with SCSI. You will have less headaches, and it is quite easier and more cost-efficient in the long run. > side. The lure of cheap equipment! :-/ Cheap equipment has a strong pull to everyone, because most of us are on somewhat of a budget. Don't be fooled by it though...if you do something, do it right the first time, or it will come back to haunt you at one time or another, and it will end up costing you more in the end anyway. Just my $.02 -Gary Margiotta TBE Internet Services http://www.tbe.net
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