120 gb is the Largest hard drive I can put in my 4550?
 

Suz:

Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the artificial barriers of IDE hard disk
controllers. Plus you a very reliable and very fast disk sub-system.

Dave



"Suzeann Loomis" wrote in message
...
|
| Help, please.
|
| I have been told that I can only add another 120 gigabyte hard drive
| to my Dell 4550. But people at a local computer shop say I can add a
| 250 gigabyte hard drive.
|
| Which is true? I need more space for my photography.
|
| Thank you.
|
| Suze Loomis

4550 supports 48-bit LBA so the 250GB works fine. I have one in the 4550
that I am typing this on

Tom
"Suzeann Loomis" wrote in message
...

Help, please.

I have been told that I can only add another 120 gigabyte hard drive
to my Dell 4550. But people at a local computer shop say I can add a
250 gigabyte hard drive.

Which is true? I need more space for my photography.

Thank you.

Suze Loomis

Dave,

That's ridiculous. A $900 computer and $1500 worth of disk.

250GB works fine in a 4550.

Tom
"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
Suz:

Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the artificial barriers of IDE
hard disk
controllers. Plus you a very reliable and very fast disk sub-system.

Dave



"Suzeann Loomis" wrote in message
...
|
| Help, please.
|
| I have been told that I can only add another 120 gigabyte hard drive
| to my Dell 4550. But people at a local computer shop say I can add a
| 250 gigabyte hard drive.
|
| Which is true? I need more space for my photography.
|
| Thank you.
|
| Suze Loomis

Except...

You are not taking into account; the importance of the data, the reliability factor and
the sheer speed that RAID 5 provides.

As for the cost of the system vs the cost of the disk sub-system -- it's a moot point. It
has no bearing what so ever. What matters is the functionality, application and the need
for reliability.

What happens if that 250GB drive dies ? Then what ?
Think about the backup alternatives for 250GB. AIT2, DLT etc. Think about the time it
takes to back up 250GBs of data.
Using RAID, if one hard disk dies, the user still has access to the data and the failed
drive can easily be replaced.

Think outside the box. Think about the - what ifs....

Dave


"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
| Dave,
|
| That's ridiculous. A $900 computer and $1500 worth of disk.
|
| 250GB works fine in a 4550.
|
| Tom
| "David H. Lipman" wrote in message
| ...
| Suz:
|
| Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the artificial barriers of IDE
| hard disk
| controllers. Plus you a very reliable and very fast disk sub-system.
|
| Dave
|
|
|
| "Suzeann Loomis" wrote in message
| ...
| |
| | Help, please.
| |
| | I have been told that I can only add another 120 gigabyte hard drive
| | to my Dell 4550. But people at a local computer shop say I can add a
| | 250 gigabyte hard drive.
| |
| | Which is true? I need more space for my photography.
| |
| | Thank you.
| |
| | Suze Loomis
|
|
|
|

"Suzeann Loomis" wrote:

I have been told that I can only add another 120 gigabyte hard drive
to my Dell 4550. But people at a local computer shop say I can add a
250 gigabyte hard drive.

Which is true? I need more space for my photography.


You probably have Windows XP Home installed on your PC.
It probably came without Service Pack 1 installed. The largest hard
drive addresseable in WinXP without the Service Pack 1 is 137GB.
The normal HD size break is from 120GB to 160GB. Since your
PC's manufacturer doesn't want to support what he hasn't sold
(and therefore hasn't tested), its tech reps say the largest HD that
your PC will take is 120GB. To see if your PC has SP1, right click
on My Computer, left click Properties, and look at the General
panel. Under "System" it should say if Service Pack 1 is installed.
If it's not there, all you have to do is to download Service Pack 1
(SP1) for Windows XP from the Microsoft Windows Update website,
and you're set to go with HDs larger than 137GB. It might also not hurt
to be sure you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard, available
from Dell's website. Check your owner's manual to see how to find
out what version of the BIOS your PC currently has or call Dell's
Tech Support for instructions.

*TimDaniels*

In article ,
"David H. Lipman" wrote:
"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
| "David H. Lipman" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the artificial barriers
| of IDE hard disk controllers. Plus you a very reliable and very
| fast disk sub-system.
|
| That's ridiculous. A $900 computer and $1500 worth of disk.
| 250GB works fine in a 4550.

Except...

You are not taking into account; the importance of the data, the reliability
factor and the sheer speed that RAID 5 provides.

I can understand your enthusiasm for a RAID system that provides data
redundancy, but do you need to run a SCSI system to do this?

I have the impression from comments elsewhere in recent times that
modern IDE drives are perfectly adequate and SCSI is quite simply
over-priced, perhaps even over-rated, in comparison these days?

[...]


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Phred wrote in message
...
David H. Lipman wrote
Tom Scales wrote
David H. Lipman wrote

Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the
artificial barriers of IDE hard disk controllers. Plus
you a very reliable and very fast disk sub-system.

That's ridiculous. A $900 computer and $1500 worth of disk.

Yep, mad.

250GB works fine in a 4550.

Except...

You are not taking into account; the importance of the data,
the reliability factor and the sheer speed that RAID 5 provides.

I can understand your enthusiasm for a RAID system that provides
data redundancy, but do you need to run a SCSI system to do this?

Nope. Tho RAID5 IDE aint that common.

I have the impression from comments elsewhere in recent
times that modern IDE drives are perfectly adequate and

Correct, and the I in RAID is for INEXPENSIVE.

SCSI is quite simply over-priced,

Correct.

perhaps even over-rated,

Correct.

in comparison these days?

Been that way for years now.

There are still a few advantages with SCSI if you really need
full hotswap RAID5, particularly rather more choice, but you
pay one hell of a price for that and very few actually need full
hotswap RAID5 with personal desktop systems anyway.

"Phred" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David H. Lipman" wrote:
"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
| "David H. Lipman" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Go RAID 5 and SCSI and you will not have the artificial barriers
| of IDE hard disk controllers. Plus you a very reliable and very
| fast disk sub-system.
|
| That's ridiculous. A $900 computer and $1500 worth of disk.
| 250GB works fine in a 4550.

Except...

You are not taking into account; the importance of the data, the
reliability
factor and the sheer speed that RAID 5 provides.

I can understand your enthusiasm for a RAID system that provides data
redundancy, but do you need to run a SCSI system to do this?

I have the impression from comments elsewhere in recent times that
modern IDE drives are perfectly adequate and SCSI is quite simply
over-priced, perhaps even over-rated, in comparison these days?

[...]

Lots of photographers run 100's of gigs and there is nothing they can do to
keep it smaller. Digital Pro photography has been one application for RAID
systems.

Only a very elite number of IDE models have "enterprise" tags - which means
they are as close to bullet-proof as an IDE drive can be in 2003.

Enterprise drives are nearly the same cost as decent SCSI drives anyhow. It
is simply that IDE works on more standard and less expensive motherboards.

SATA is another thing to look at. SATA Raid is now making a strong
appearance.

As for the HD being more expensive than PC ...... it used to be the other
way around and back then the machines were nowhere as impressive as they are
now.

How many RAID 5 systems have you setup and how often have you used SCSI ?

Dave

Phred wrote:

....snip....

You are not taking into account; the importance of the data, the reliability
factor and the sheer speed that RAID 5 provides.

I can understand your enthusiasm for a RAID system that provides data
redundancy, but do you need to run a SCSI system to do this?

I have the impression from comments elsewhere in recent times that
modern IDE drives are perfectly adequate and SCSI is quite simply
over-priced, perhaps even over-rated, in comparison these days?

For home and SOHO and SME, IDE is probably quite okay.

But IDE isn't SCSI and without SCSI, you can not do RAID.

It really is a "business risk"
How much do you loose per hour when the computer system goes down?


--
Terry Collins {:-)}}} email: terryc at woa.com.au www:
http://www.woa.com.au
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