SMD-4 vs. 753/754

[David L. Markowitz]

dvorak at iam.unibe.ch (Jiri Dvorak) writes:
> Two questions:
> - is 'SMD-4' just Sun's name for the 7053 or is it really different?
> - has anybody successfully installed a SMD-4 in a 3.5 server? (and if
>   yes, how?)

Many of these answers were obtained from my salescritter sunkist!jah (Jim
Henderson) last week.  I'll include selected questions and his answers
below:

> 1. Can it also control eagles, eagle XP's and 280's (very likely)?

 1) Eagle XP = 575M  Supported.
    Eagle =380 not sure if supported.
    280M Runs OK but not QA'd, therefore no guarantees and no assistance on
    this product. Ie buy at your risk for this usage.

NOTE. 575 will work with SMD4 but you cant mix disk sizes on controllers,
therefore you must have separate controllers for each disk size.  You can
optimize for performance or capacity when mixing drives.
[ I'm not sure what he meant by that. ]

MUST have OS 4.0 for SMD4.

> 3. Is an upgrade from the 451 offered?  How much?

3) $3,500 tradein for 451 to SMD4. If you include a disk change the price
is approximately $3,000 for the controller upgrade(note this figure must
be checked for accuracy).

> 4. This is just another name for the Xylogics 7053, right?

4) You may have heard of a 753 controller. This is not the controller we
use, it is sold by third parties as a cheap medium performance product.
7053 is the BASE HARDWARE of the SMD4. Reports from users show that the
7053 as sold by Xylogics has less than expected performance. SUN has
written a new faster microcode for the 7053. Xylogics is not permitted to
sell the high performance SUN version of the 7053, ie the SMD4.

> 6. Do new systems with 892's include the SMD-4?

6) SMD4 is NOT automatically included with 892M systems. This is because
of the following reasons: A) MUST have OS 4.x. B) May need new boot prom,
note this may affect software licence control of third party software. C)
New CPU is required for all 3/160 and 4/260 delivered before 11/88. This
is a free CPU upgrade if required, you would pay about $20,000 for the CPU
upgrade from third party vendors who also require it for their new disk
systems.  IF YOU WANT 892 DISKS WITH SMD 4, YOU MUST ORDER IT AS SUCH!!!!

> 7. Upgrades from a 280-based system to a 688 are mentioned.  How much?
>    This would be for a 3/160 in a side-pedestal, and would require
>    a new power supply (apparently).

7) 280M to 688M upgrade is $15,000. NOTE CORRECT order number is
UPG-EXP-688-S4. For 280 to 1376 p/n is UPG-EXP-688B-S4. For 560 to 1376
p/n is UPG-EXP-688A-S4.
[ Unfortunately, he didn't give me prices for the last two upgrades. ]
NOTE: Cannot mix 280M in same pedestal with 688M because only one
controller can be used but two are needed. Also cabling is different for
the two drives.  You can swap out an old pedestal for a new 688M system,
single or double.

	David L. Markowitz		Rockwell International
	...!sun!sunkist!arcturus!dav	dav at arcturus.UUCP
	The above opinions are merely that, and only mine.