[Cialug] SATA v. SCSI

[Randy Rote]

The connectors on SAS drives are a lot smaller than the ATA and SCSI ports we're
used to seeing, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  VHDCI SCSI
connectors have always made me extra cautious when connecting external equipment.

What's nice about the small connector and cable is that it saves a lot of space
on the inside of the system and frees up space for better airflow.  This is
really important in 1U servers.

The main differences between the enterprise and desktop offerings are usually in
rotational speed and warranty period.

Enterprise drives are usually faster, running at 10K or 15K rpm vs. 7200 rpm on
a desktop drive. You'll probably only find 10K+ drives using SAS, which is
physically the same, but uses a different protocol. The WD Raptor is a 10K SATA
drive, but it also costs a lot more than 7200 rpm drives with similar capacity.

Warranties are usually 5-year for enterprise drives, and 1 or 3 for desktop
systems.  One exception to this would be Seagate, offering 5-year warranties on
all internal drives.

Nathan C. Smith wrote:
> Those new Sun SAS drives look scary.  Or maybe I mean dainty - if I am
> thinking of the right ones.
> 
> I've also noticed there are some "special" SATA drives designated for use in
> server or RAID applications.  They come at a premium price.  I'm not sure
> how they differ from standard consumer drives, if at all.
> 
> -Nate

-- 
Randy Rote
Simon Tire & Cellular -- Information Systems Specialist
Phone: 515.282.0205