From:	CSBVAX::CSBVAX::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX" 18-JAN-1989 14:10
To:	MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART"
Subj:	Re: Users of Emulex SMDI Disk storage arrays...


Received: From KL.SRI.COM by CRVAX.SRI.COM with TCP; Tue,  3 JAN 89 04:48:05 PDT
Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by KL.SRI.COM with TCP; Tue, 3 Jan 89 04:36:30 PST
Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.61/1.33)
	id AA25359; Tue, 3 Jan 89 02:16:00 PST
Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews
	for info-vax@kl.sri.com (info-vax@kl.sri.com)
	(contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions)
Date: 2 Jan 89 15:54:37 GMT
From: attcan!utgpu!watmath!julian!uwovax!brent@uunet.uu.net  (Brent Sterner)
Subject: Re: Users of Emulex SMDI Disk storage arrays...
Message-Id: <1169@uwovax.uwo.ca>
Sender: info-vax-request@kl.sri.com
To: info-vax@kl.sri.com


	Apologies for hitting the net with this.  My mail to the original
	poster seems to have bounced, or at least acted like the post office
	got its hands on it.  Brent.
>I have a need for a large HSC based disk farm and it appears that Emulex' SMDI
>offers the most capacity per footprint.  DEC SA600s offer a larger capacity per
>footprint, although the price is rather large too.
>
>In perticular, I would like to hear from anyone who currently has DEC
>maintaining their Emulex SMDI disk drives.  The sale representative I spoke to
>claimed there was no problem with DEC maintaining them.  My past experiences
>with service provided by other third party disk subsystem vendors has shown a
>severe lack diagnostic tools.  I'm afraid this may be true of DEC maintaining a
>third party disk subsystem.  BTW: Emulex itself does not have a service
>organization to handle their disk sub-systems.  They prefer to have agreements
>with other service groups.
>
>If you have other experiences you would like to share, I would really
>appreciate hearing from you.
>
>Regards,
>
>J. Kevin Adams
>
>Operations Manager
>IntelliCorp
>MountainView, Ca
>-------
         Capacity per footprint?  How about 16 Gig in an a DEC quad rack?
         The product is the EXSYS "Race" array technology.  I have 2 HSC
         BA channels connected to 1 Gig each.  The 2 gig fit in a 5.25"
         slot in a standard DEC disk cabinet.
         The EXSYS technology uses 5.25" disks of various capacity (I bought
         760MB unformatted size) coupled together through a SDI/ESDI protocol
         adapter that makes up to 4 spindles "look like" one to the HSC channel.
         Formatted, 4 spindles look like one massive 2.2 Gig disk.  The 4
         spindles with protocol converters take 1/2 the space of an RA81.  So
         in a quad cab you can fit 8 of the 2.2 Gig arrays.  Very nice, except
         I haven't found an 8mm unit to fit the HSC for backups yet (at a
         reasonable price).
         They seem to be reliable.  The protocol converters are as stable as
         any electronic boards available.  The 5.25" disk technology also
         seems to be *very* stable.  Maintenance *should* not be a problem
         since the insides consist of disks, protocol converters, and some
         wiring.  All modular.  All easily unpluggable, unboltable, and re-
         assembleable.  No field repair.  Just replace a component.
         I also found the price to be *very* competitive with everything else
         available through other 3rd parties.  Please look into the product!
         My address in California was Exsys Storage Systems, 1340 Tully Road
         #301, San Jose, California 95122, (408)292-0343.  I bought through
         a Toronto (Canada) based company called Trimension.
         Good luck in your quest.  I have no interest in Exsys, other than as a
         happy customer.  Be glad there are *lots* of 3rd party disks available
         out there for VAX.  I know about all the ones available as of last
         summer.  At that time, Exsys won hands down (at least in Canada).
         Brent.