[Info-vax] Compaq Smartarray 5300 - test results

[Rich Jordan]

On Feb 27, 2:10 pm, MG <marcog... at SPAMxs4all.nl> wrote:
> On 27-feb-2013 9:24, Hans Vlems wrote:
>
> > This is a follow up on a question I posted earlier, whether the Compaq
> > Smartarray 5300 would work on an AlphaServer 800 that runs VMS V8.4.
> > The Compaq Smartarray 5300 is not a supported device; a later model,
> > the 5300A is supported on some Alphaservers.
> ..........
>
> At the time I also remember reading that there was someone who was not
> very impressed by the card.  I was surprised, as it performed rather
> nicely for me.  (So, I wonder what kind of RAID level that person used
> and in what kind of system.)
>
>   - MG

I had major problems but not with the card itself; the ACUXE software
used to manage and configure the RAID when you needed to go beyond the
very basic items supported by the ROM based configurator was a
nightmare.  we actually ended up with a microsoft windows-level of
fail with a system that worked fine but not even HP support could get
ACUXE working again until we did a complete from scratch VMS
reinstallation.  Since we needed to make a config change in the RAID
we ended up with no choice.  It added a week to what should have been
a 2 day (applications included) setup.

That said I believe our own testing showed somewhat better raw
performance than using a KZPEA U160 controller with standalone drives.