Support for Additional Disks
Now that you can dynamically add disks to your array, ensure that your RAID array supports additional disks. Wide SCSI-2 lets you connect up to 16 devices to one SCSI channel. Depending on your workload, you might consider configuring up to 10 disks in one large array and still not saturate the SCSI channel. You need to ensure that your RAID array enclosure will support the disks that you need in the future. Also, higher-density SCSI adapters now support one to four channels per adapter. This support lets you conserve those precious PCI expansion slots in your NT system. For even more flexibility when adding and configuring your RAID arrays, you might consider a RAID array system that leverages fibre channel technology. Both fibre channel- and SCSI-based RAID arrays must still wait on the physical limitations of the disks when obtaining data. However, fibre channel allows for more arrays per channel and greater distances between the server and its arrays.