[Info-vax] RZ1DB etc

[Hans Bachner]

Phillip Helbig---undress to reply <helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de> 
wrote:

> The RZ23 was about 120 MB, the RZ26 about 1 GB (I don't remember
> seeing RZ 24 or RZ25, presumably 250 and 500 MB?),

209 und 425

> the RZ28 2 GB (why the jump
> and no RZ27?) and the RZ29 4 GB.  The RZ1C% is also 4 GB and the
> RZ1D%, e.g. the RZ1DB, is 9 GB.  (Presumably the A as the fourth
> character is 1 GB and B is 2 GB, though I have never seen RZ1A% or
> RZ1B% disks.) 

There was a RZ1BB

> The RZ1E% is 18 GB. 
> 
> These are all labels I've seen on SBB disks, the thick ones.
> 
> What does the fifth character stand for, e.g. the B in RZ1DB?

Dirk already answered that one. DEC built some of the drives themselves 
(though I'm not sure about 3.5" SCSI drives), and purchased others from 
various suppliers. The fifth letter helped to distinguish between the 
different models, which was important for spare parts. Early versions of 
OpenVMS volume shadowing only worked for drives with identical geometry.

> I have an RZ1FB at 36 GB.  Were there larger-capacity disks in this
> size (thick SBB for a BA356)?

Well - I don't think DEC/CPQ offered any. But they work... I run a 
shadow set with 72 GB disks in the dark blue SBBs. $ SHOW DEVICE /FULL 
reveals that the disks were made by IBM... yes, I personally put them 
into the SBB containers :-)

> Are all the RZ1* disks ultra wide (e.g. 40 MB/s)?

There are ultra-2 and ultra-3 models as well...

There are a couple of resources available on the net, e.g.

<ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/alphaserver/archive/triadd/scsi-cnfg.ps>
tells you more than you ever wanted to know about RZ25 and older as well 
as RZ58 and older.

Another list of newer Compaq/HP SCSI disks is available at 
<http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?
objectID=c02171562>
which tells you at least the interface speed (wide ultra/2/3) and type 
(68-pin, SCA).

Try the various web search engines - they give you lots of information 
even on older disk models.

Hans.