DEC Storageworks BA356 questions

From: Tom Peters <tpeters_at_mixcom.com>
Date: Wed Sep 8 16:49:03 2004

Hello all, new guy here, first post, help?

I saw some info about some DEC SCSI enclosures, probably RAID boxes,
holding 7 drives each, with power supply and "personality module." There
wasn't enough info in the post I saw to get me going.

I wonder if anyone might consider attempting
answering a question or two for me, as I have a pair of these myself. They
are marked MODEL SHDA2-ZZ on the back, and have 7 empty drive containers
each. The fan modules say BA35X-MD 2x which makes me suspect that I have a
pair of DEC Storageworks BA356 enclosures. They are gray in color.

They each have a personality module, apparently both BA35X-MH.

What do the switches do? The personality module with the sticker on it
that says SHELF 2 does NOT have the switches set according to the decal
on the module-- they are all off, whereas on the decal, one is advised
to turn switches 1-3 on and leave 4-7 off.

The module from the other unit is marked SHELF 1 and is in fact set the
way the decal advises.

Are these personality modules in fact RAID controllers?

Are they meant to provide logical unit control, so that the enclosure
looks like one SCSI ID to the outside world, with logical units on it?
Or do the SCSI ID numbers assigned by the enclosure get passed through
to the SCSI connector?

Is there any software out there to configure these units as to what
flavor of RAID to use? E.g. for Windows XP or Red Hat Linux?

Many thanks in advance if you can help or point me in the right
direction.

-Tom
Received on Wed Sep 08 2004 - 16:49:03 BST