13.5 Our Picks
Here
are the ATA and SCSI host adapters we recommend:
- ATA 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 an
recent Promise ATA adapter to test ATA-133 hard drives in one of our
testbed systems that supports only ATA-100 natively. Promise makes a
variety of add-on IDE host adapters, one of which should suit your
requirements (http://www.promise.com).
- ATA 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 in
for various UDMA levels, with two or four interfaces, and with
support for varying RAID levels.
- Serial ATA host adapter
-
SIIG. Serial ATA hard drives are now
readily available, and will eventually replace parallel ATA drives
entirely. If you upgrade older PATA systems and would prefer to use
SATA drives, you can add SATA support by installing an inexpensive
SATA adapter. Although SATA adapters are available from several
companies, the only ones we've used are those made
by SIIG. They're cheap, easy to find, and just work.
What more could anyone ask for?
- 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, such as those supplied with no-name motherboards or
sold for $2 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.granitedigital.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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