11.2. HP SCSI Drives

HP drives differ from the original drives supplied by the manufacturer. The hardware is generally identical, but HP has modified the firmware to support extra features, including the following:

• Reorganization of the drive geometry

• Self-monitoring of performance characteristics

• Support for HP Prefailure Warranty

• Added functions

• Enhanced diagnostics

• Enhanced error detection and correction

This chapter explains how HP has added value to the traditional SCSI drives.

11.2.1 HP Wide-Ultra2 and Wide-Ultra3 drives

HP Wide-Ultra2 and Wide-Ultra3 drives use a drive carrier that features a strong mechanical design and improved drive cooling. Greater packaging density allows more than a 25% increase in packaging drives in servers and storage enclosures.

HP Wide-Ultra2 and Wide-Ultra3 drives are not backward compatible with drive cages and storage expansion units designed for Fast and Wide-Ultra SCSI. A drive height converter is required if a 1-inch disk drive is installed in a 1.6-inch drive bay to comply with cooling requirements.

Universal disk drives can be used in Intel- and Alpha-based systems. The firmware is the only difference between a standard drive and a universal drive. They may be 7,200, 10K or 15K rpm. Universal drives have a blue stripe on the swing arm label.

11.2.2 10K and 15K RPM Drives

A 10K rpm drive offers high performance. In file and print server environments, the performance increase can be as high as 40% compared to 7,200 rpm drives.

First-generation 10K drives should be installed only in systems with hot-plug support because of their higher power consumption. First-generation 10K drives must not be used when the ambient temperature is higher than 30 degrees C.

A 15K rpm drive offers extremely high performance. In file and print server environments, the performance increase can be as high as 30% compared to 10K drives and 60% compared to 7,200 rpm drives.

Note

When using third-party drives, you might have problems such as time-outs and general data corruption. The firmware of drives supplied by HP has been optimized for RAID environments and supports prefailure warning mechanisms and advanced diagnostics.