Cheetah 9FC Installation Guide, Rev. A

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Installing the Cheetah 9FC drive

To install a Cheetah 9FC drive, simply plug the drive directly into your system’s Fibre Channel backpanel 40-pin single connector attachment (FC-SCA). There are no jumpers or terminators on the drive, and power is supplied through the connector. Table 1 on page 24 lists the pin descriptions of the 40-pin FC-SCA.

Read the following general information topics to ensure your drive is installed properly:

Providing adequate cooling

Mounting the drive

Formatting the drive

Providing adequate cooling

The enclosure design must ensure adequate cooling for the drive. The maximum ambient temperature is 50oC (30oC for the rated MTBF). Refer to Figure 2 on page 17 for an illustration showing suggested air flow patterns.

The drive’s product manual (83329210) describes how to evalu- ate the air-flow design. The evaluation consists of ensuring that the case temperatures of certain critical components remain within acceptable limits during drive operation.

We recommend orienting the drive or directing the air flow in a way that creates the least amount of air-flow resistance while providing air flow above the circuit boards and around the head and disc assembly (HDA). Also, choose the shortest possible path between the air inlet and exit. This minimizes the distance traveled by air that is heated by the drive and by other nearby heat sources.

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Seagate ST19101FC manual Installing the Cheetah 9FC drive, Providing adequate cooling

ST19101FC specifications

The Seagate ST19101FC is a pioneering hard disk drive that made strides in the mid-1990s, primarily designed for enterprise and high-performance applications. With its formidable capacity of 9.1 GB, it was a significant breakthrough at the time, catering to the increasing demands for data storage in servers and workstations.

One of the standout features of the ST19101FC is its SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) interface, specifically the Fast/Wide SCSI-2, which facilitates faster data transfer rates and improved performance. The drive's transfer rates reached up to 10 MB/s, enabling quicker access to data compared to previous models. This interface played a crucial role in its utility within a variety of computer systems, especially in environments requiring rapid data retrieval.

The ST19101FC utilized a 3.5-inch form factor, making it compatible with numerous server chassis and workstations of the era. Its spindle speed of 10,000 RPM significantly contributes to its performance metrics. This high rotational speed, combined with the drive's average seek time of around 5.5 milliseconds, results in low latency and rapid data access, vital for high-intensity applications.

This drive features an advanced error correction technology, ensuring data integrity during storage and retrieval. Additionally, it employs a sophisticated disk cache mechanism that enhances read and write operations, achieving higher throughput and reliability under heavy workloads. The ST19101FC also showcases Seagate's commitment to durability, designed to withstand the rigors of continuous operation, typical of enterprise environments.

Furthermore, the ST19101FC's capacity and performance made it well-suited for database management systems, video editing, and CAD applications that required efficient handling of large files and data sets. Although technology has advanced significantly since its release, the ST19101FC remains a notable part of Seagate's legacy, showcasing the evolution of storage solutions in the industry.

In conclusion, the Seagate ST19101FC is a testament to the engineering prowess of its time. With its competitive storage capacity, high-speed performance, and robust design, it has left an indelible mark on the world of enterprise storage solutions, setting the stage for subsequent innovations in hard disk technology.