Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!ucla-cs!zen!ucbvax!UTORPHYS.BITNET!SYSRUTH From: SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS.BITNET Newsgroups: comp.os.vms Subject: System Industries disks Message-ID: <8708130017.AA00764@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Wed, 12-Aug-87 11:23:00 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8708130017.AA00764 Posted: Wed Aug 12 11:23:00 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 15-Aug-87 03:20:49 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 59 Below is an excerpt from a message that I sent to Bob Wheeler after his recent posting about his problems with SI disks. He suggested that I post it to the list as he has observed that not many pro responses make it. (He also said in his reply that he had written the original message the same night as yet another failure had occurred, which certainly explains why he was so emphatic!). So here it is. I hope that it is of some use to people. I have added a few details about the ages of the disks, and the controllers. Ruth Milner ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ... The only disks we have here which are non-SI are 4 RD53's. Every other disk we own (1 SI83A (also known as a Swallow or 9744), 16 Eagles, 1 ancient CDC 9775, 2 dual Eagles (9798's), 2 9784's, 1 9722, and 1 old CDC 9766 (removable pack)) has come through SI. On average we have less than 1 problem per month in total, counting all disks (and 9 controllers - 6 9900's and 3 QDA-50's). Once in a while a block goes bad; once in a *long* while a board goes bad; and only once, with just the 9775, did we have anything close to a head crash (it did require an HDA replacement, and we had one other 9775, which we have since sold, which had had 2 HDA replacements 18 months apart - they are *old* disks). The Eagles range in age from 3 months to about 5 years. The others (except of course the SI83A) are towards the high end of that, or older. Our service person is brilliant. The response time is generally very good, and he rarely has any trouble figuring out the problem. You did not mention what type of disks you got from SI. The SuperEagle made a lot of people mad (not surprisingly, although the problem there was more with Fujitsu than with SI; SI does not design all their own drives). But the fact remains that SI sells a lot of good technology and stands by it. If your service person is no good, complain loudly; presumably, if he/she is no good at all, there will be other customers in your area with the same feelings. If your disks have an unacceptable failure rate from day one, insist on replace- ments (as I seem to remember Kevin Carosso saying he did with his SuperEagles). But please, please, don't run down the entire company and every person in it as being beneath consideration for any product they carry. ... Ruth Milner Systems Manager University of Toronto Physics SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. I did hear from Bob in more detail about what kinds of problems he is experiencing, and some of them are very strange (e.g. the same block assigned to more than 1 file, a disk coming up with the wrong device protection which can't be changed, and several others). They are using SIMACS to co-ordinate disk sharing, and some of the errors sound almost more like software problems. He has apparently had these escalated all the way up to the point where SI brings in the "gurus" from California, with no success in curing them. I am not familiar with what is required to make SI disks run on HSC's, but if it involves a modified DEC driver (as most MASSBUS and UNIBUS/QBUS SI disks do) then people should be aware that the local SI Field Service branch should be providing upgrade patches at each new version of VMS. Obviously these won't come when VMS does, since SI doesn't get it until we do, but if, a few months after your VMS arrives, you still haven't seen your SI patches, ask (although you shouldn't have to, at least not if you have any maintenance contracts).