[Discuss] SAS drives

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Daniel Feenberg wrote:
> Oh, I see it about backplanes that don't use a cable. So they solve the
> problem for a small segment of the market - the segment that has the
> skills to do the right thing anyway.

As Dan suggests, the drive is an end-user replaceable component, while
the cabling is performed by the computer builder, or D-I-Yer who knows
what they are doing.


Dan Ritter wrote:
> The PC2012 specification says that all drives must be mounted in
> no-sled ejectable backplane slots

"No sled," eh? impressive that the spec says that. I haven't shopped
specifically for SAS components, but I know you have to hunt to find
trayless backplanes for SATA. Not sure why manufacturers rather throw
more steel and parts at the problem. Do they think there is more money
in selling trays? Are they not confident in their ability to design an
eject mechanism? (Heck, all you really need is some doubled over packing
tape stuck to the top and bottom of the drive, providing a pair of
protruding tabs you can pull on. APC has been doing this for years with
batteries in their UPSs.)


> This makes changing disks much easier for the home user, of
> course. They just need to turn off the computer, press the right
> eject button, pull out the old disk, take it to the store, have
> the contents copied into a new, larger/faster disk, and then
> they go home, push it in and turn it on.
> 
> The above two paragraphs are purest drivel, as the personal
> computer industry couldn't agree on doing something so smooth in
> a hundred years. I hope it was at least amusing to contemplate.

Ha! Sadly true.

Though the necessary standards are already in place. I'm not sure why
some manufacturer doesn't capitalize on it as a differentiator. (Well, a
scant few have.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/