I have a few question about connecting my hp3000 to a SAN, MCDATA Fiber
Switch. I've been tossing the idea around for a few months, but now I've
decided that I need to do this, and ASAP, before  school starts in mid
August. I just need the right bridge between my Hp3000 SCSI's and the
MCDATA Fiber switch.

Currently I have a HPe3000/979-400 (MPE 6.0), with two 12H disc array's
connected using the 16 bit differential SCSI (28696-60001), using
10Krmp, 9.1Gb drives (A3713AM). Today I came to the conclusion that
"Now" I need more disc space, and while I am in the process of getting
more disc space I thought I should look at more performance also.

The Switch we are currently using on our SAN is a MCDATA 4500-24
auto-sensing 1Gb/s or 2Gb/s ports , (A.K.A  EMC DS-32 M2). I think I can
connect my HP 28696 SCSI's cards into a HP Surestore Bridge A4688A, then
this should connect to our MCDATA 4500-24 Fiber Switch, configure LUN's,
Reload file system, done, Right?

My questions are;
Will this really work to connect my 3000 directly into our Fiber SAN?
Anyone out there every do this with an HP3000?
If so, what products did you use, and what type performance did you get
out of it?

The A4688A will bridge 1 Fiber port to  4 HVDS SCSI ports, is it 2Gb/s
or 1Gb/s, is it compatible with my MCDATA 4500?
If it is compatible, and it does have 4 HVDS SCSI Ports, can I connect
more than one HP3000 to the A4688A bridge?
Or will I need to buy one A4688A bridge for each HP3000?

If all works correctly you think I'll get more through-put out of my
SCSI cards?

Any and all advice will be much appreciated,

Thanks,


--
Michael Anderson
Spring Independent School District
16717 Ella Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77090-4299
office: 281.586.1105
fax: 281.586.1187
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