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weinerk

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two nt servers sharing one physical scsi drive

is it possible to get
N number of nt servers sharing one physical scsi drive
want to achieve scsi speeds between mupltiple pcs
not just a fileserver and network sharing
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thresher_shark

That's a very interesting question... of course, I am not sure if it is possible.  However, I do not believe it will be necessary in the near future either.  Apparently, a new 1 gbps networking standard is being developed.  That would mean transfer rates of approximately 125 megabytes/second, which exceeds current SCSI speeds (40 or 80mb/s I think).
This is done with the cluster server.
It is possible.  I would strongly STRONGLY recommend against it.
There is no reasonable way to make sure files don't get corrupted.
If you're intrested in networking at that speed use linux, and then
you'll be able to do it.  If you could further explain your intent I can
provide more info.  The scsi spec does spefically allow that.
Avatar of weinerk

ASKER

both comment's from  thresher_shark and TimCaturaHouser
are better than proposed answer by learath


Avatar of weinerk

ASKER

TimCaturaHouser,

does cluster server support N nt servers (where N ismore than 2)?
Direct Answer, no.

To elaborate.

MS cluster server V.1.0 does zero load balancing, and is only a fail over server. It is included in NT enterprise edtion. The next version will include load balancing, and is suppose to take server greater than N = 2.

Other products exist that do what cluster server does, and does not require NT Enterprise. Octopus, for example.

If you are going to go with a cluster, I would look at Compaq. They are ahead of everybody else in the SCSI cluster, by using Fiber Optics to talk to the SCSI cluster. This is important, as SCSI is measured from terminator to terminator. This means an External cable is limited to about 1 meter.

Having only 2 servers is not an issue for most folks, when you look at SMP processing. The latest Cow Big Box (Gateway) has 8 Pentinum Pro's in it. That is horsepower that can stand up to an AS-400. Quick nakpin math says that is it cheaper to go with the cow people.  
YES!

You must use multiple channel SCSI adaptor, eg. Adaptec 2940U or 2940UW.  The individual NT servers can have one internal channel driving its own devices and have that SCSI channel properly terminated.  This also applies to the 2nd NT server.  For the 2nd channel of both SCSI adaptors, ensure termination is ON on both of the adaptors.  Use an external SCSI cable to connect to the external SCSI box (and ensure NO devices are terminated).  At the end of the SCSI chain, use another external SCSI cable to connect to the external interface of the SCSI adaptor of the 2nd NT server.

Unfortunately, this is the best we can do at the moment.  Hopefully there is something in the near future allows you to have N connections!
Avatar of weinerk

ASKER

need N nt servers (where N is more than 2) :(

i guess TimCaturaHouser is the warmest of all.
Sorry to say, nobody has release product for N>2 ! :-(  

There are only three folks in the game besides Cluster Server.
I think Cluster Server will be out with a N>2 right after NT5.
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TimCaturaHouser

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