Advantech user manual Introduction, Before You Begin, PCA-6359 Series User’s Manual

6.1Introduction

The PCA-6359F is equipped with a Symbios SYM53C875E single-chip PCI-to-SCSI host adapter which provides a powerful Ultra Wide multitasking interface between your computer’s PCI bus and SCSI devices (disk drives, CD-ROM drives, scanners, tape backups, removable media drives, etc.). Up to a total of 15 SCSI devices can be connected to the SCSI connector through the Symbios SYM53C875E.

The Symbios SYM53C875E is a 16-bit single-ended SCSI solution for your computer. It can support both legacy Fast SCSI and Ultra SCSI devices, as well as the newest Ultra Wide SCSI devices.

If you need to configure the SCSI, the onboard SCSI Select configura- tion utility allows you to change host adapter settings without opening the computer or handling the board. The SCSI Select utility also contains a utility to low-level format and verifies the disk media on your hard disk drives.

6.2Before You Begin

SDMS software requires an IBM PC/AT or compatible computer with an 80486 or higher microprocessor. An understanding of basic operating system commands is assumed. In addition, users should have a general knowledge of the SCSI standard.

Before using the SDMS software, you should configure the Symbios SCSI controller into your system, taking into account the configura- tion of other host adapters and system resources (see Section 6.3).

Symbios recommends that you back up all data before making any changes or installing any software, including the Symbios SCSI controllers and software. Failure to adhere to this accepted computer practice may lead to loss of data.

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