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XServe RAID upgrade to 750GB drives
This is more of an Apple Discussions or hddguru.com question but I’ve received no answer from either on my posts, so….
I’ve looked in the archives but nothing specifically addresses the model I own or the IDE sled compatibility concerns.
Looking to replace the 14 IDE Hitachi Deskstar 180 GB OEM drives on my Apple XServe RAID (2003 model A1009, firmware 1.5.1) with Seagate ST375064A 750 GB IDE drives using the same IDE sleds. In speaking with both Seagate tech and Apple tech, the only difference I can discern between the natively installed Seagate firmware, and the firmware Apple flashes into their “blessed” Seagate 750 GB drives is the diagnostic capabilities you can get in RAID Admin with Apple’s drives versus Seagate’s, such as usage hours, etc.
Is this true? Are there more things Apple does with their firmware that would affect its functionality or longterm integrity in an Apple XServe RAID?
Apple charges a much higher price for essentially nothing that I can see of any value, unless you guys can tell me otherwise.
Anything else I should know about the Seagate ST375064A 750 IDE drives before I go buy 16 of them [14 + 2 spares]?
Thanks – Steve
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30 Replies
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I’m by no means an expert on the subject but two years ago we replaced all our 180 and 250 drives with off the shelf 400s. Haven’t had a problem since. I’m thinking of doing the same with 750s when I merge three buildings worth of storage into one. I currently have 5 Xserve raids with 750s and 3 raids with 400s. I’m looking forward to having 8 raids all loaded up with 750 drives.
Cheers
John Christie
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Thanks for the reply.
Can you tell me if any of your XServe RAIDs are the IDE version rather than the SATA version? I’m making the leap to think that the SATA upgrade process would be less of a big since the SATA technology is already more advanced.
Given that you mention 180 gb’s, I am guessing you have the IDE drives.
How long did it take to format?
thx – steve
Steve Covello
double wide post -
There is no SATA version of the Xserve RAID (yet). the Xserves are SATA, but the RAIDs are not.
4 G5s, OSx 10.4.10, Final Cut 6.0.1, Kona LH
Xsan: Xserve 2.0 G5, 3GB RAM, 2 7TB Xserve RAIDs, Sanbox 5200
Quantum SDLT600A
decks: Sony HDW-M2000/10 HDCAM, HVR-M10U HDV with HD-Connect, DSR-1500 DVCAM, UVW-1800 BetacamSP
MacBook Pro: 2.33, 2GB RAM, OSx 10.4.10, Final Cut 6.0.1
cameras: Sony FX1 and A1U, Arri S/B 16mm
skis: Volkl Gotama 183s with 914s and Lange Fluid 120 boots -
Hi Steve
Eric is correct about the ATA vs SATA. The formatting takes several days. You can use the RAID in the meantime, but you won’t get a lot of performance out of it.
Cheers
John Christie
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What I meant was the sleds where each drive is inserted — they can be either. I am referring only to the drive/sled module — in this case, IDE/PATA, not the means of connecting to the desktop.
Steve
Steve Covello
double wide post -
The sleds on the Xserve raids are ATA as are the drives. The sleds on the Xserves are now SATA but are not interchangeable with the Xserve Raid sleds. You remove the 180s from the sleds and replace them with 750s
Cheers
John Christie
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contact me if you need a source for drives great pricing and excellent customer service.
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Just an fyi all IDE/pata drives are being discontinued,if you need a source for drives with great pricing and excellent customer service contact me.
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where did you hear that IDE drives are being discontinued? with the massive installed based of computers that still use IDE drives (including 75% of my office computers), i have a hard time believing that. yes they are on their way out, but i bet drives and deals on those drives will be available for a long time.
e
4 G5s, OSx 10.4.10, Final Cut 6.0.1, Kona LH
Xsan: Xserve 2.0 G5, 3GB RAM, 2 7TB Xserve RAIDs, Sanbox 5200
Quantum SDLT600A
decks: Sony HDW-M2000/10 HDCAM, HVR-M10U HDV with HD-Connect, DSR-1500 DVCAM, UVW-1800 BetacamSP
MacBook Pro: 2.33, 2GB RAM, OSx 10.4.10, Final Cut 6.0.1
cameras: Sony FX1 and A1U, Arri S/B 16mm
skis: Volkl Gotama 183s with 914s and Lange Fluid 120 boots -
Hello
So happy to have found your post.
I have Xraid 1st gen., with 14 – 180gb IDE drives
Need more space and can’t afford to upgrade to a new Xraid.
I planned to get the Seagate 750gb 7200.10 IDE drives.
Have either of you done this swap yet with Gen 1 IDE (ATA 100) drives, Not Gen 2 (ATA 133) Drives?
Would love to know what I will be sacraficing other than SMART from apple firmware… does any other info come up in the Xraid Admin? Also is there anything to know about firmware, etc. before the upgrade?
I have found the Apple Board relatively useless, so I am scouring the web as I run my own business and manage all the machines, so I need some help!!!
One idea was to swap out one bank first and run it for a while, then swap out the other 7 drives… any downside to this?
Thanks for any info before I drop cash on the drives, to find out the hard way!
Thanks again.
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