SCSI drives can be acquired utilizing a third party USB to
SCSI adapter.
The Ultra640 is new and one of the new adapter products in development is Tekram's DC-390U4 series
SCSI adapter. It can achieve a maximum data transfer rate of 640 MBps using a 64-bit adapter even though it is advertised as using an Ultra320 adapter.
"Adaptec has always ensured the interoperability of its controllers with a broad range of components and disk drives and will do so with its Serial Attached
SCSI adapter, an 8-port solution that delivers industry-leading data transfer rates and storage configuration flexibility.
The PCI-X dual channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID 5 adapter costs $2,615 or $2,834, depending on the pSeries model, while the plain PCI-X Ultra320
SCSI adapter costs $608 or $658, again depending on the server it plugs into.
Barcode reader and
SCSI adapter card are standard, as is one year of on-site service.
With a properly installed
SCSI adapter card in a PC expansion slot (an internal plug designed to accommodate added peripherals), a user can connect up to seven peripherals.
There is one small problem: you cannot plug just any SCSI peripheral into any
SCSI adapter because vendors have not settled on one driver protocol.
Offered in three kits--8-bit AT, 8-bit MCA and 16bit-the bundles include the applicable
SCSI adapter card and cable plus software that supports virtually every SCSI device and platform.
An important consideration in picking a
SCSI adapter and devices is how long the cable has to be to connect all your SCSI internal and external devices.
Previously a bridge between fibre and the
SCSI adapter was required, adding overhead.