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SCSI connector
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SCSI connector
A SCSI connector (/ˈskʌzi/ SKUZ-ee) is used to connect computer parts that communicate with each other via the SCSI standard. Generally, two connectors, designated male and female, plug together to form a connection which allows two components, such as a computer and a disk drive, to communicate with each other. SCSI connectors can be electrical connectors or optical connectors. There have been a large variety of SCSI connectors in use at one time or another in the computer industry. Twenty-five years of evolution and three major revisions of the standards resulted in requirements for Parallel SCSI connectors that could handle an 8, 16 or 32 bit wide bus running at 5, 10 or 20 megatransfer/s, with conventional or differential signaling. Serial SCSI added another three transport types, each with one or more connector types. Manufacturers have frequently chosen connectors based on factors of size, cost, or convenience at the expense of compatibility.
SCSI makes use of cables to connect devices. In a typical example, a socket on a computer motherboard would have one end of a cable plugged into it, while the other end of the cable plugged into a disk drive or other device. Some cables have different types of connectors on them, and some cables can have as many as 16 connectors (allowing 16 devices to be wired together). Different types of connectors may be used for devices inside a computer cabinet, than for external devices such as scanners or external disk drives.
Many connector designations consist of an abbreviation for the connector family, followed by a number indicating the number of pins. For example, "CN36" (also written "CN-36" or "CN 36") would be a 36-pin Centronics-style connector. For some connectors (such as the D-subminiature family) use of the hyphen or space is more common, for others (like the "DD50") less so.
Parallel SCSI (SCSI Parallel Interface SPI) allows for attachment of up to 8 devices (8-bit Narrow SCSI) or 16 devices (16-bit Wide SCSI) to the SCSI bus. The SCSI Host controller takes up one slot on the SCSI bus, which limits the number of devices allowed on the bus to 7 or 15 devices respectively. SCSI Host Controllers may have multiple SCSI buses (e.g. Adaptec AHA-2940) to allow more SCSI devices to be attached.
Early generations of SCSI hard drive assemblies generally had two connectors (power and communication). Some very early 16-bit units used two data connectors, with three connectors in total. The power connector was typically the same 4-pin female Molex connector used in many other internal computer devices. The communication connectors on the drives were usually a 50 (for 8-bit SCSI) or 68 pin male (for 16-bit SCSI) "IDC header" which has two rows of pins, 0.1 inches (2.54 mm) apart. This connector has no retaining screws to secure the connectors together, and ribbon cables are both inconveniently wide and somewhat delicate, so this connector style was primarily used for connections inside of a computer or peripheral enclosure (as opposed to connecting two enclosures to each other). Thus it is often called an "internal SCSI connector." This type of header was used in a typical desktop PC until around 2010, including the 40-pin (two rows of 20) version used for ATA fixed and optical disk drives.
While the female connector is slotted such that a cable with a matching keyed male connector can not be inserted upside-down, some manufacturers (including Sun Microsystems) supplied internal cables with male connectors that did not have the key, allowing for incorrect (and possibly damaging) connections.
In most cases, the host adapter would have a similar header-style connection. In some cases, though, the host adapter end of the cable would use a different connector. For example, in the Sun 260 series chassis (used for the Sun 3/260 and Sun 4/260 computers), the connector was the same 3-row 96-pin connector used to attach peripheral cards to the VMEbus backplane.
Eventually, there was a desire to combine power and data signals into a single connector. This allows for quick drive replacement, more reliable connections, and is more compact. Most late parallel SCSI disk-drives utilize an 80-pin SCA (Single Connector Attachment) connector.[citation needed] This connector includes a power connection and also has long and short pins which enable hot swapping. Note that this connector is primarily found on disk drive HDAs (and of course the mating enclosure backplane connector).
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SCSI connector
A SCSI connector (/ˈskʌzi/ SKUZ-ee) is used to connect computer parts that communicate with each other via the SCSI standard. Generally, two connectors, designated male and female, plug together to form a connection which allows two components, such as a computer and a disk drive, to communicate with each other. SCSI connectors can be electrical connectors or optical connectors. There have been a large variety of SCSI connectors in use at one time or another in the computer industry. Twenty-five years of evolution and three major revisions of the standards resulted in requirements for Parallel SCSI connectors that could handle an 8, 16 or 32 bit wide bus running at 5, 10 or 20 megatransfer/s, with conventional or differential signaling. Serial SCSI added another three transport types, each with one or more connector types. Manufacturers have frequently chosen connectors based on factors of size, cost, or convenience at the expense of compatibility.
SCSI makes use of cables to connect devices. In a typical example, a socket on a computer motherboard would have one end of a cable plugged into it, while the other end of the cable plugged into a disk drive or other device. Some cables have different types of connectors on them, and some cables can have as many as 16 connectors (allowing 16 devices to be wired together). Different types of connectors may be used for devices inside a computer cabinet, than for external devices such as scanners or external disk drives.
Many connector designations consist of an abbreviation for the connector family, followed by a number indicating the number of pins. For example, "CN36" (also written "CN-36" or "CN 36") would be a 36-pin Centronics-style connector. For some connectors (such as the D-subminiature family) use of the hyphen or space is more common, for others (like the "DD50") less so.
Parallel SCSI (SCSI Parallel Interface SPI) allows for attachment of up to 8 devices (8-bit Narrow SCSI) or 16 devices (16-bit Wide SCSI) to the SCSI bus. The SCSI Host controller takes up one slot on the SCSI bus, which limits the number of devices allowed on the bus to 7 or 15 devices respectively. SCSI Host Controllers may have multiple SCSI buses (e.g. Adaptec AHA-2940) to allow more SCSI devices to be attached.
Early generations of SCSI hard drive assemblies generally had two connectors (power and communication). Some very early 16-bit units used two data connectors, with three connectors in total. The power connector was typically the same 4-pin female Molex connector used in many other internal computer devices. The communication connectors on the drives were usually a 50 (for 8-bit SCSI) or 68 pin male (for 16-bit SCSI) "IDC header" which has two rows of pins, 0.1 inches (2.54 mm) apart. This connector has no retaining screws to secure the connectors together, and ribbon cables are both inconveniently wide and somewhat delicate, so this connector style was primarily used for connections inside of a computer or peripheral enclosure (as opposed to connecting two enclosures to each other). Thus it is often called an "internal SCSI connector." This type of header was used in a typical desktop PC until around 2010, including the 40-pin (two rows of 20) version used for ATA fixed and optical disk drives.
While the female connector is slotted such that a cable with a matching keyed male connector can not be inserted upside-down, some manufacturers (including Sun Microsystems) supplied internal cables with male connectors that did not have the key, allowing for incorrect (and possibly damaging) connections.
In most cases, the host adapter would have a similar header-style connection. In some cases, though, the host adapter end of the cable would use a different connector. For example, in the Sun 260 series chassis (used for the Sun 3/260 and Sun 4/260 computers), the connector was the same 3-row 96-pin connector used to attach peripheral cards to the VMEbus backplane.
Eventually, there was a desire to combine power and data signals into a single connector. This allows for quick drive replacement, more reliable connections, and is more compact. Most late parallel SCSI disk-drives utilize an 80-pin SCA (Single Connector Attachment) connector.[citation needed] This connector includes a power connection and also has long and short pins which enable hot swapping. Note that this connector is primarily found on disk drive HDAs (and of course the mating enclosure backplane connector).