StarTech.com Storage controller SCSI-PCI

To paraphrase Mark Twain, “…The rumors of the demise of SCSI are highly exaggerated.”. Those with high performance systems such as workstations or network servers will most likely be candidates for SCSI devices. In order to use a SCSI device, one must have a SCSI host adapter installed. The SCSI host adapter supports as many as 8 or 16 devices including hard drives, scanners, tape drives, CD-ROM’s and is a robust high speed interface. SCSI is usually identified with high-end systems that handle great quantities of data and need to do it fast. The Star Tech 80MB/ PCI Ultra2 Wide SCSI Card (part number PCISCSIU2W) is a superb example of a host controller.

As you probably know, SCSI has evolved over the years and there are many variations, the Ultra2 Wide being the latest. This device can easily handle bus transfers of up to 80 MB/s with burst rates of 132 MB/s. The card can connect up to 15 Wide SCSI devices ( many more than most users have, want or need) with its two on-board processors. For those who remember older SCSI systems, this controller includes inherent programmable automatic SCSI termination. Say goodbye to a major headache of old. It also features jumperless Plug & Play installation. Say goodbye to the old time configuration problems.
The package includes a 68-pin ribbon cable for two internal drives and software drivers for most modern OS’s. There is also a connector for external devices. I installed the controller on my Athlon 2700+ system running under Windows XP Pro and the installation was flawless. As a reminder, I have found that one should install the host controller without any connected devices and ensure that it is properly recognized prior to adding devices.
Since SCSI is an ideal means of providing large amounts of high-speed data transfer, I connected a Maxtor Atlas 10K IV, Ultra 320 hard drive to see just how the controller performed. The 10K refers to the spin rate of the drive 10,000 RPM and the Ultra 320 is the latest Ultra2 Wide SCSI interface. The drive characteristics are; 4.3 ms seek time, sustained data rate up to 72MB?sec and an 8MB cache.
Now comes the good stuff. I transferred files of differing sizes and types between an IDE hard drive and a USB2 hard drive and the SCSI drive. For smaller text files, there was not a significant time difference, however when I got to large graphics and HTML files, the speed of the SCSI showed itself. The IDE drive that I used was a Western Digital 5400 RPM drive; the USB2 drive was a Maxtor 7200 RPM drive. The SCSI gobbled up data much faster than the IDE drive, if it were a race on an oval, the IDE would be lapped very shortly. The USB2 drive was a respectable second, but the SCSI was a clear winner. I then decided to fill a CD with a video file. I used a Plextor 52X CDRW and sent the same file from each of the three hard drives. The SCSI is now my interface of choice for transferring video files.

The bottom line is: Star Tech controller will very well serve those with a need for high reliability, speed data transfer. The Lifetime warranty is a reassuring factor. For those who are not aware of Star Tech, they are a Canadian company specializing in providing hard to find computer parts.

The host controller retails for $296.99. Visit their website, www.startech.com for more information.

As you can see when you do the Epinions search, this title is generic for several versions. The search shows the different model numbers. As indicated above this review is for the top-of-the-line version, Model pciscsiu2w, which is one of the versions listed in the search.