13.4 Our Picks
Here are the IDE and SCSI host adapters we recommend.
- IDE host adapter
-
Promise Technology.
An add-on IDE adapter is needed to
upgrade systems with older motherboards or in which an embedded ATA
adapter has failed. For example, we use a recent Promise ATA adapter
to test ATA-100 and ATA-133 hard drives in one of our test-bed
systems that supports only ATA-33 natively. Promise makes a variety
of add-on IDE host adapters, one of which should suit your
requirements. (http://www.promise.com)
- IDE RAID host adapter
-
Promise Technology FastTrak series.
RAID has historically been limited to SCSI servers or high-end
workstations, but the Promise FastTrak adapters make RAID affordable
by using inexpensive IDE drives. FastTrak adapters are available for
various UDMA levels, with two or four interfaces, and with support
for varying RAID levels.
- SCSI host adapter
-
Adaptec. For SCSI host adapters, we
recommend Adaptec exclusively. Adaptec makes many models, from
inexpensive models intended to support Zip drives and scanners to
mainstream models for high-performance desktop systems, to high-end
models for workstations and servers. We've used many
of those variants, and have always been satisfied with their
performance, reliability, and compatibility. Adaptec SCSI host
adapters are universally supported, and we never have problems with
them. Every time we've been tempted to pay a bit
less for another brand, we've later regretted that
false economy. If you install SCSI in a system, use an Adaptec host
adapter. Period. (http://www.adaptec.com)
Most people don't think much about
cables, but high-quality cables are as
important a part of your disk subsystem as the host adapter or the
disk itself. We recommend the following cables.
- ATA cables
-
The cables supplied with most high-quality motherboards, host
adapters, and disk drives are good enough, if not the best available.
We generally use those cables and have never had a problem with them.
But cheap cables, like those supplied with no-name motherboards or
sold for $2.00 in the bargain bin at the computer store, are junk.
The best ATA cable we know of is the Belkin F2N1107, but it costs
$20, which seems expensive for an ATA cable. Computer stores and
online vendors often carry two lines of ATA cables, a
"value" series and a
"premium" series. Our experience
has been that "value" cables are a
waste of money whereas the
"premium" cables are usually
perfectly acceptable.
- SCSI cables
-
Adaptec. We have used Adaptec SCSI
cables for years and have never had any problem with any of them.
Adaptec sells a complete line of high-quality SCSI cables at
reasonable prices, and we see no reason to spend more. Belkin
(http://www.belkin.com) and
Granite Digital (http://www.scsipro.com) sell top-quality SCSI
cables, which are priced accordingly. We've never
had occasion to use them, although we know many people who swear by
them.
For our current detailed recommendations by brand and model, visit:
- http://www.hardwareguys.com/picks/hdinterface.html
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