Determining SCSI

[PCESTech]

I have a pretty old Seagate Barracuda ST39173W and I am searching for another drive to accompany it. Right now i'm looking at the BARRACUDA 36ES2 and was wondering how I could tell the difference between an Ultra 3 and an Ultra 160 and if the drive that I have is either of the two. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[iisbob]

That old of a SCSI seagaste will probaly only support SCSI 2 standards, maybe some of the earlier 3 sets, i seriously doubt it'd support Ultra. I'd go to seagate's site and get the manual for it.

As for the difference between SCSI3 & UltraSCSI 160-it's the data transfer rates, SCSI 3 ranges between 20~80 MB's { at around 25~40 mhz if i recall right } per sec ( about the average speed of ATA 100 ide drives today ) and when they implemented a new lower voltage differential they widened the signal bus to somewhere between 70~80mhz ( i think that's right ) they increased the data transfer rate to 160 MB's/sec. Thus giving the rise to Ultra160 SCSI 3 standard.

Considering the cost and maintanence of SCSI vs IDE, i'd suggest you switch over to a newer 7200 rpm IDE ATA 100/133 drive-you'll get more performance for your dollar this way.