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The Question is:
Will a Quantum DLT4000 drive work with my Alpha 1200 running VMS 7.2, or do I
need to specifically get the Digital/Compaq branded TZ88?
(I always buy the Digital branded items....but I have a chance to get a new
Quantun DLT4000 from another department in the college.)
Thanks,
Joseph
The Answer is :
Yes, you can certainly purchase third-party "generic" SCSI disks for
your OpenVMS system.
If you purchase third-party "generic" SCSI devices, you and your SCSI
device vendor will be responsible for the testing and the support of the
devices. Compaq will address problems in the host interface (any changes
necessary that will also not prevent operations with supported devices,
of course), but you and the device vendor are responsible for problems
in the device and device interface.
Realize that SCSI is not a standard interface, it is a collection of
optionally-implemented and standardized interface features. You should
not and can not simply assume that all SCSI devices are interchangeable.
Each SCSI host contains non-trivial SCSI driver software, and each SCSI
device contains equally non-trivial firmware -- taken together with the
mechanical and electronic components, this software and firmware will
communicate storage-related requests using the standard SCSI protocol.
Hosts and devices have various optionally-implemented features, and both
also implement vendor-specific protocol extensions for operations outside
those explicitly specified in the SCSI protocol. In some cases, certain
devices perform functions that will require them to use SCSI commands
that are (hopefully) architecturally-compatible SCSI command extensions.
Integration and testing work is mandatory with each new SCSI device, and
there can be no certainty that any particular SCSI device will operate as
expected in any particular configuration without first performing this
(non-trivial) work.
Please review the previous discussions of third-party SCSI device support
issues here in Ask The Wizard.
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