chapter 5

Storage Device Requirements

This section summarizes the requirements for storage devices used with servers.

Tips for selecting high-performance storage components. For manufacturers who want to select high-performance components for server systems, the following are the design features to look for in storage components:

• System relies on the SCSI or Fibre Channel controller for primary storage.
  
  
• Controller supports bus mastering, which is a requirement in these guidelines.
  
  
• Disks support reduced latency and fast rotational speeds.
  
  
• Drivers are tuned for 32-bit performance; 32-bit alignments on the adapter interface have no 16-bit alignments on odd addresses.
  
  
• Components do not use ISA.
  
  
• SCSI differential devices must support DIFFSENS as described in SCSI-3.
  
  
• PCI burst mode reduces disk controller time spent on the PCI bus.