SCSI Technology

Black Box Corp.

Dave Mueller
International Tech Support
December 2000
BB Brasil Training December 2000 2
History of SCSI
IBM-360 Selector Channel
SASI
1979 Shugart Assoc. Systems Interface
Scaled down version of the IBM Interface
1981Submitted to ANSI X3T9.2 committee
SCSI
X3.131-1986
Approved in 1986
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SCSI Generations
SCSI 1 and SCSI 2
Each version was a complete specification
Narrow bus, slow speeds
SCSI (formerly SCSI 3)
SPI SCSI Parallel Interface
A collection of standards
Wide bus on single connector, higher speeds
Makes older standards (SCSI 1, 2) and features (HVD) obsolete
SBP Serial Bus Protocol (IEEE1394)
FCP Fibre Channel Protocol (Fibre Channel)
SSA Serial Storage Architecture (IBM)
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SPI
SPI (SCSI-3)
10MBps (narrow) or 20MBps (wide)
Ultra (Fast-20) is a half standard
Includes SPI but up to 20/40MBps (narrow/wide)
SPI-2 (Ultra2)
LVD, SCA-80, VHDCI
20/40MBps
SPI-3 (Ultra3)
Makes HVD and dual-cable wide bus (SCSI2) obsolete
WIDE only
160MBytes/sec
Many technical refinements (timing, command structure)


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Single Ended vs. Differential
Single Ended
Low cost
Short cable length
1.5m @ 20 MBps, 3m @ 10 MBps, 6m @ 5 MBps
Most Common
Internal cables are flat ribbon
Differential
Expensive
Long cable lengths
HVD 25m at all speeds, LVD 12m at all speeds
Usually only on high end products (RAID array)
Internal cables must be flat twisted pair ribbon
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LVD vs. HVD
HVD
Originally in SCSI 1 (differential)
Defined in SCSI 2 as HVD
Made obsolete in SPI-3
25 Meters
LVD
Defined in SPI-2
12 meters
Backwards compatible with old SINGLE ENDED devices
Bus can only function in one mode, LVD (12m) or Single Ended (1.5/3/6m)
LVD Host adapter to legacy SCSI devices
If any device is legacy SCSI SE, then all LVD devices function as SE only
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Ultra3 SCSI
Wide Ultra2 SCSI
Ultra2 SCSI
Wide Ultra SCSI
Wide Ultra SCSI
Wide Ultra SCSI
Ultra SCSI
Ultra SCSI
Fast Wide SCSI
Fast SCSI
SCSI-1
STA Terms
6
2
2
2
2
2
N
O
T
E
16 (5) 12 (4) 16 160
16 25 12 (4) 16 80
8 25 12 (4) 8 40
4 - - 3 16 40
8 - - 1.5 16 40
16 25 (3) - 16 40
8 - - 3 8 20
8 25 (3) 1.5 8 20
16 25 (3) 3 16 20
8 25 (3) 3 8 10
8 25 (3) 6 8 5
HVD LVD Single Ended
Maximum
Devices
Max Bus Length
Meters (1)
Bus Width
Bits
Bus Speed
Mbytes/Sec
STA Terms
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Notes
(1) The listed maximum bus lengths may be exceeded in Point-to-Point and engineered
applications.

(2) Use of the word "Narrow", preceding SCSI, Ultra SCSI, or Ultra2 SCSI is optional.

(3) LVD was not defined in the original SCSI standards for this speed. If all devices on the bus
support LVD, then 12-meters operation is possible at this speed. However, if any device on
the bus is singled-ended only, then the entire bus switches to single-ended mode and the
distances in the single-ended column apply.

(4) Single-ended is not defined for speeds beyond Ultra.

(5) HVD (Differential) is not defined for speeds beyond Ultra2.

(6) After Ultra2 all new speeds are wide only.

Chart and notes copied from SCSI Trade Association
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SCSI 1
5 MBytes/Second, 8 Bits wide
Electrical
Single Ended
Logic 1 = 0.0 to 0.5 VDC
Logic 0 = 2.5 to 5.25 VDC
Differential (HVD - High Voltage Differential)
Logic 1 = +Signal > -Signal
Logic 0 = -Signal < +Signal
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SCSI 1 Connectors
A Cable
Alternative 1
Unshielded 50 Pin, latches optional
Internal Ribbon, AMP-LATCH
Shielded 50 Pin (AMPMODU)
Alternative 2
Shielded 50 Pin (External Telco, 50 pin Centronics,
CHAMP)
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SCSI 2
X3.131-1994
Defines 8, 16 and 32 bit bus
Defines Fast SCSI for 10, 20 and 40
Mbytes/second
Adds the high density (.050 inch) 50 and 68
pin connectors

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SCSI 2 Connectors
A Cable
Alternate 1
Unshielded HD 50 pin, no hardware
Shielded HD 50 pin with latches
Alternate 2
Unshielded LD, no hardware (50 pin ribbon)
Shielded LD with latches (50 Pin Centronics)

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SCSI 2 Connectors
B Cable
Carries only high bytes
A cable required for low bytes & termpwr
Unshielded HD 68 pin, no hardware
Shielded HD 68 pin, latches

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SCSI 3
X3T10 Committee
A collection of substandards
SCSI Parallel Interface (SPI)
Extension of SCSI 2
Serial
Fibre Channel
Serial Bus Protocol 2 (IEEE1394-1995)
IBM SSA (Serial Storage Architecture)
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SCSI 3
Ultra2 and Wide Ultra2
40M and 80MByte/sec
Ultra3
160MByte/sec

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SCSI 3 Connectors
P Cable
Unshielded HD 68 pin, no hardware
Shielded HD 68 pin, 2-56 screws
Carries control and 16 bits of data
Q Cable
Same connectors as the P Cable
Used for high bytes in 32 bit systems
P cable required for low bytes & termpwr
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Interconnections
Narrow to Wide
Terminate high bytes
Do NOT mix single ended and differential
Do NOT mix HVD and LVD
Customer must know their application
See warning in AMP SCSI Guide
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SCSI Connectors
SCSI 1
Internal: 50 Pin IDC Ribbon
External: Centronics
SCSI 2
Includes SCSI 1
Adds MD50 for external (MD for Micro D)
SCSI 3
Includes SCSI 1 and 2
Adds MD68 for external (screw locks) and internal (no
locks)
SPI-2
Adds VHDCI (Very High Density 68 pin) for external
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Black Box Products
Cables and Terminators
Dead-end and pass through
High Line
Active, passive, forced perfect
Differential ALWAYS passive, LVD is intelligent terminator
Adapters
Does customer need adapter or High Line Terminator?
Converters
SE to HVD, SE or HVD to Fiber Optic
Repeaters
Switches
Host Adapters
IC510C is ISA, all others are PCI
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Host Adapters
MD68 MD68 16 LVD Ultra2 80 IC515C
IDC50
MD68
MD68 16 SE Wide Ultra 40 IC514C
2xIDC50
2xMD68
1xMD68 16 SE Wide Ultra 40 IC513C
IDC50 MD50 8 SE Ultra 20 IC512C
IDC50 MD50 8 SE Fast 10 IC511C
IDC50
DB25
(Mac)
8 SE Fast 10 IC510C
Int Conn Ext Conn Bus Width SE/Diff SCSI
Max Speed
Mbytes/S
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Web Sites
T10 Committee Website www.t10.org
SCSI Trade Association www.scsita.org
www.adaptec.com
www.amp.com
www.ancot.com
www.apcon.com
www.fibrechannel.com
www.paralan.com
www.timberconn.com
www.scsimasters.com