Thread
Source for SCSI Hard Drives
I volunteer my time at a computer recycling facility when I'm in the States, and the guy who runs the place is the best. In exchange for stripping computers and fixing the occasional G3 or G4 that comes in, he lets me have whatever I want, including any old hardware made before about 2000. Wish I could go there now...
Seagate drives are the best, along with Conner, Quantum, and IBM. I have a few 9Gb full height Barracudas, and even more 4GB full height models, which are extremely loud indeed. Some of my older 68ks run the ST32550N Barracuda, and they run them well. The later generations are best, though (the ones with the silvery tops instead of the black stuff). Exceptionally quieter. My C610 form-factor machines all run ST51080N or ST52050N drives, which are 1/3 height drives designed for cramped and hot environments. Plus, they're super quiet and I have yet to have one fail on me that wasn't physically abused. A couple of bizarre IBM UltraStar drives found their way into my collection. They perform well, despite their peculiarities. All of these are 50-pin. I usually only use the 68-pin drives on their respective cards or on adapters in an external case (like my gigantic Seagate Elite 23 drives). I don't have any Macs that take SCA drives, so my AlphaServer gets those.
As for a source? Computer recycling facilities, eBay, or weirdo packrats like me. They're not terribly hard to find if you know where to look (at least you're not trying to find MFM drives). I'd suggest avoiding Fujitsu (their older drives had some reliability issues, though they're my favourite notebook drive brand nowadays). Micropolis drives are hotter, louder, and fail faster than any other drive I've ever used, so I couldn't suggest putting anything important on those. Seriously, I have some of those that got so hot they warped the plastic drive sleds. Maxtor has been crappy forever, though I've seen very few SCSI models from them. The ones I did see were terrible. WD's Enterprise series hard drives don't seem to like Macs. Not quite sure why. Unless you use the way-back machine to venture into the mid-late 80s, the above are probably the only brands you'll find. Sony made a 20/40MB hard drive once, MiniScribe made a few (before they were acquired by Maxtor), Tandem made some crappy ones (before WD picked them up), DIGITAL had a few strange models (later ones made by Quantum), and HP might have made a drive or two, as well.
Seagate drives are the best, along with Conner, Quantum, and IBM. I have a few 9Gb full height Barracudas, and even more 4GB full height models, which are extremely loud indeed. Some of my older 68ks run the ST32550N Barracuda, and they run them well. The later generations are best, though (the ones with the silvery tops instead of the black stuff). Exceptionally quieter. My C610 form-factor machines all run ST51080N or ST52050N drives, which are 1/3 height drives designed for cramped and hot environments. Plus, they're super quiet and I have yet to have one fail on me that wasn't physically abused. A couple of bizarre IBM UltraStar drives found their way into my collection. They perform well, despite their peculiarities. All of these are 50-pin. I usually only use the 68-pin drives on their respective cards or on adapters in an external case (like my gigantic Seagate Elite 23 drives). I don't have any Macs that take SCA drives, so my AlphaServer gets those.
As for a source? Computer recycling facilities, eBay, or weirdo packrats like me. They're not terribly hard to find if you know where to look (at least you're not trying to find MFM drives). I'd suggest avoiding Fujitsu (their older drives had some reliability issues, though they're my favourite notebook drive brand nowadays). Micropolis drives are hotter, louder, and fail faster than any other drive I've ever used, so I couldn't suggest putting anything important on those. Seriously, I have some of those that got so hot they warped the plastic drive sleds. Maxtor has been crappy forever, though I've seen very few SCSI models from them. The ones I did see were terrible. WD's Enterprise series hard drives don't seem to like Macs. Not quite sure why. Unless you use the way-back machine to venture into the mid-late 80s, the above are probably the only brands you'll find. Sony made a 20/40MB hard drive once, MiniScribe made a few (before they were acquired by Maxtor), Tandem made some crappy ones (before WD picked them up), DIGITAL had a few strange models (later ones made by Quantum), and HP might have made a drive or two, as well.
I find the majority of early 90's drives that still work and have no new bad sectors are fine no matter what brand they are. All the marginal drives are long dead by now.
The issue is finding a seller who knows if the drive worked before he parted the machine out instead of just grabbing one and giving it to you.
The issue is finding a seller who knows if the drive worked before he parted the machine out instead of just grabbing one and giving it to you.