Dell poweredge sc1425

dmar00

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Apr 24, 2012
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Hello,
i have a dell poweredge sc1425 with a scsi hd. I am trying to eliminate the scsi drive to open up the pci-x slot. I want to get a sata hard drive but not sure if the standard 3.5 inch sata drive will work.

I keep seeing 1 inch sata listed for that model but cant find a 1 inch sata drive anywhere. the scsi drive is the same size as a standard ide drive i have so not sure what the 1inch sata drive applies too.

I am a little lost and confused need to get my home server running but not sure which sata drive will work. Help me out please
 

psaus

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Jun 13, 2006
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The 1" declaration has to do with the height (because the server is a 1U). This is an odd declaration, and probably why you're beating your head against a wall searching for "1-inch drive". :)

My suspicion is that you could buy any 3.5" (wide) SATA drive and be done with it. But if you can get your hands on the spec of this new drive (e.g., going to the MFG website) and verifying it's height dimensions is 1" or less then you'll know for sure it'll fit.

However, beware in this conversion from SCSI to SATA in this box. First, here's the installation manual for HDDs
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/SC1425/en/it/j3350c70.htm#wp1070761
2 things:
1. See how the cables are routed? It might be a bit tricky to get the SCSI cables out SATA cables routed appropriately. Not impossible, just not as simple as a tower case. Study what you have in front of you along with the manual, and I'm sure you can figure it out. Just point it out so you don't have a *facepalm* moment. :)

2. Some of these boards support SATA via a PCI card only. Meaning some of these configurations do not have a SATA controller on the board. The simple thing to look for there is "does the main motherboard or non-PCI daughterboard(s) have SATA port(s)" If the answer is yes, then you're ok.
 

dmar00

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Apr 24, 2012
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psaus thanks so much for your reply! On the mobo has 2 sata connectors sata 0 and 1. Is the only thing i need to power it a 4 PIN IDE TO 15 PIN SATA HDD POWER CONVERTER CABLE and a serial data serial cable?

I dont really see an issue with the cable routing. The ide power cable that went into the scsi drive connected into the ide drive ( i was trying to see if i can get away with an ide drive by connecting it to the ide port that my cdrom was plugged too). cant i just plug the 4pin to 15pin sata converter cable to that same power ide cable?

 

psaus

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Jun 13, 2006
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No problem.

Sounds like power is your only problem, but that's simple - yes you can simply use one of those 4-pin molex -> sata 15-pin converters. $1-3. Simple. :)

If you have SATA, as you say you do, just use that, much better performance over IDE...