Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks?
CASTalk.com Forum Index CASTalk.com
Discussion of DSP, FPGA, storage and embedded system.
 
 FAQFAQ   MemberlistMemberlist     RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
 
Google
 
Web castalk.com
Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    CASTalk.com Forum Index -> Storage System
Author Message
Guest






Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks? Reply with quote

I've been told, but find it hard to believe,
that fibre channel disks are quite a bit more
reliable than SCSI disks.

My own limited experience with fibre channel disks
is that they fail at a similar rate to SCSI disks.
In the past I've used arrays that contain SCSI disks.
At my new job we use mostly fibre channel. They
seem to me to fail at a similar rate, but the sys
admin I work with is convinced that SCSI disks fail
more frequently given like circumstances ("all other
things being equal").

And aren't all current fibre channel disks really
SCSI disks "internally"? Can it be that the switching
between these two advanced interface types changes
the MTBF to a large extent?

Are there any storage gurus out there that would care
to share their overall experiences with respect to
fibre channel vs. SCSI disk failures / MTBF / etc.?

Thank you,
Pete
Back to top
David A.Lethe
Guest





Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Re: Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks? Reply with quote

On 26 Sep 2005 21:16:02 -0700, pete_usenet@yahoo.com wrote:

Quote:

I've been told, but find it hard to believe,
that fibre channel disks are quite a bit more
reliable than SCSI disks.

My own limited experience with fibre channel disks
is that they fail at a similar rate to SCSI disks.
In the past I've used arrays that contain SCSI disks.
At my new job we use mostly fibre channel. They
seem to me to fail at a similar rate, but the sys
admin I work with is convinced that SCSI disks fail
more frequently given like circumstances ("all other
things being equal").

And aren't all current fibre channel disks really
SCSI disks "internally"? Can it be that the switching
between these two advanced interface types changes
the MTBF to a large extent?

Are there any storage gurus out there that would care
to share their overall experiences with respect to
fibre channel vs. SCSI disk failures / MTBF / etc.?

Thank you,
Pete

There are high-end and low-end models of SCSI, FC, SATA, and other
disks. MTBFs, materials, warranty, thermal characteristics, and yes
interface types vary.

Therefore, SOME FC disks are more reliable than SOME SCSI disks and
vise-versa. However, since there aren't throw-away cheap FC disks
that you can pick up at your computer store for$49.95, then the
perception is that FC disks are more reliable ... if only because
there aren't any cheap FC disks flooding the marketplace.
Back to top
Andy
Guest





Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks? Reply with quote

In article <1127794562.437115.169650@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
pete_usenet@yahoo.com says...
Quote:


I've been told, but find it hard to believe,
that fibre channel disks are quite a bit more
reliable than SCSI disks.

My own limited experience with fibre channel disks
is that they fail at a similar rate to SCSI disks.
In the past I've used arrays that contain SCSI disks.
At my new job we use mostly fibre channel. They
seem to me to fail at a similar rate, but the sys
admin I work with is convinced that SCSI disks fail
more frequently given like circumstances ("all other
things being equal").

And aren't all current fibre channel disks really
SCSI disks "internally"? Can it be that the switching
between these two advanced interface types changes
the MTBF to a large extent?

Are there any storage gurus out there that would care
to share their overall experiences with respect to
fibre channel vs. SCSI disk failures / MTBF / etc.?


SCSI disks are similar to FC disks except for the interface,
which as nothing to do with the reliability
the easiest to understand proof of this is;
a. the fact that the warrantees are the same, as opposed to the
lesser warrantees that come with PATA or SATA drives
b the fact that most good storage configuration engineers will
use SCSI & FC drives in higher end requirements like database
& OLTP apps & use PATA & SATA drives for either lower end or
streaming requirements

_____ . .
' \\ . . |>>
O// . . |
\_\ . . |
| | . . . |
/ | . www.EvenEnterprises.com . . . |
/ .| info@EvenEnterprises.com . . . |
/ . | 310-544-9439 / 310-544-9309 fax . . . o
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorized - DIRECT VAR/VAD/Distributor for new mid-high end storage
iSCSI/NAS/SAN/RAID from EMC, HP, Equallogic, Quantum, OverLand Storage
Back to top
Joseph Fagan
Guest





Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks? Reply with quote

<pete_usenet@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127794562.437115.169650@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Quote:

I've been told, but find it hard to believe,
that fibre channel disks are quite a bit more
reliable than SCSI disks.

My own limited experience with fibre channel disks
is that they fail at a similar rate to SCSI disks.
In the past I've used arrays that contain SCSI disks.
At my new job we use mostly fibre channel. They
seem to me to fail at a similar rate, but the sys
admin I work with is convinced that SCSI disks fail
more frequently given like circumstances ("all other
things being equal").

And aren't all current fibre channel disks really
SCSI disks "internally"? Can it be that the switching
between these two advanced interface types changes
the MTBF to a large extent?

Are there any storage gurus out there that would care
to share their overall experiences with respect to
fibre channel vs. SCSI disk failures / MTBF / etc.?

Thank you,
Pete

Both FC and SCSI drives from all the vendors have the same
mechanical design set (for each vendor) and deliver the same reliability.
Both have a design lifetime of 5 years, after which failure
rate begins to increase (coming up the bathtub curve).
Warranty is a commercial response to commercial and
competitive pressures and is no indication of failure rate.
Vendors quote between 1.2M and 1.4M hours for both classes.

Joe
Back to top
David A.Lethe
Guest





Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:15 am    Post subject: Re: Reliability of fibre channel disks vs. SCSI disks? Reply with quote

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:51:22 +0000 (UTC), "Joseph Fagan"
<noemailplease@nowhere.ru> wrote:

Quote:
pete_usenet@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127794562.437115.169650@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I've been told, but find it hard to believe,
that fibre channel disks are quite a bit more
reliable than SCSI disks.

My own limited experience with fibre channel disks
is that they fail at a similar rate to SCSI disks.
In the past I've used arrays that contain SCSI disks.
At my new job we use mostly fibre channel. They
seem to me to fail at a similar rate, but the sys
admin I work with is convinced that SCSI disks fail
more frequently given like circumstances ("all other
things being equal").

And aren't all current fibre channel disks really
SCSI disks "internally"? Can it be that the switching
between these two advanced interface types changes
the MTBF to a large extent?

Are there any storage gurus out there that would care
to share their overall experiences with respect to
fibre channel vs. SCSI disk failures / MTBF / etc.?

Thank you,
Pete

Both FC and SCSI drives from all the vendors have the same
mechanical design set (for each vendor) and deliver the same reliability.
Both have a design lifetime of 5 years, after which failure
rate begins to increase (coming up the bathtub curve).
Warranty is a commercial response to commercial and
competitive pressures and is no indication of failure rate.
Vendors quote between 1.2M and 1.4M hours for both classes.

Joe

That is an incorrect generalization. Just look at seagate's web site,

or another drive vendor site, and compare the differences in MTBF,
duty cycles, error rates, tolerance for shock/vibration/temperature
for a few disk drives.
Back to top
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    CASTalk.com Forum Index -> Storage System All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




VoIP Electronics Powered by phpBB