[Info-vax] Hobbyist DS10/DS15 fastest storage option

[Rod Regier]

I've been running an SA6402 BBWC RAID PCX-X controller on a DS15 with dual external enclosure SCSI disks attached for several years of production.  The BBWC RAID gives a significant speedup for any write operations, which is very noticeable when BACKUP restore operations or directory update operations are concerned.

This is a direct bootable configuration.

The SA6402 card is the same BBWC RAID controller card supported on the IA64 RX2600.  I use spare SA6402 cards interchangeably for the two classes of machines (with highest avail REV firmware).  New RAID cache batteries (NiMH proprietary mechanical/connectors) can be found thru some Amazon sellers and maybe HPE spares channels.  The SA6402 uses two of the 3.6V battery assemblies.

I used Stephen Hoffman's SA6402 notes to setup the magic for the DS15 handshake/boot support which is somewhat magical.

The RAID array setup is similar to RAID array setup for later controllers on the RX2660.  Offline thru controller, offline thru HPE software and online thru MSA$UTIL.