Peripherals

USB to SCSI Adapter Problem Solved

Posted by Brad

Finally figured out the problem with the USB to SCSI adapter not working with my Jaz 2GB drives. Turns out the SCSI id must be set to 0 for the adapter to work. I tried it with termination off and on, and this made no difference. The SCSI id was the difference on my Jaz 1GB drive – I’m glad I remembered that little fact.

So the adapter works now, but, as expected, is not fast. As a test I tried to copy a 275 MB file to a Jaz 2GB drive on the USB to SCSI adapter. Windows said it would take about 10 minutes to complete. I did not time the whole file to see the actual time, since I figured if Windows was anywhere close to accurate it would be a lousy interface to use. I figure I’ll use it if I have problems hooking up the Jaz 2GB to the Dell PC at the office with the Adaptec 2930 card; otherwise it is still a nice accessory to have in a pinch.

Iomega Jaz Drive Still a Viable Backup Solution – Part 1

Posted by Brad

I found myself in a bit of a backup quandary recently after one of my office’s backup media became maxed out. We are using an Iomega Zip 250 with a daily 6 disk rotation for backups. That has worked fine until the staff began scanning a lot of documents. Now that 250 MB isn’t quite big enough anymore. So I had to decide what backup solution to change to.

I’ve setup Iomega Rev drives at a few offices, including one of my own. However, considering I would need to buy the USB starter version (which comes with 6 disks), I thought $500-600 a little pricey considering the office does not need near 35 GB of backup space any time soon.

A solution between these two extremes was what I was shooting for. Since I have personally used an Iomega 1 GB Jaz drive for about ten years without any problems with the drive (I had 1 of 4 disks go bad, but it was replaced under warranty), a 2 GB Jaz drive seemed a good fit. Unfortunately, these drives have not been sold new for a few years. So I decided to check eBay and found some really good deals. There are a lot of used drives and disks for sale, and even some new disks and drives available (still sealed in the box). Although it took a few auctions, I was able to acquire a new Jaz drive, 6 disks, and a SCSI to USB adapter (Jaz drives all had SCSI interfaces) for just under $200. If this works out for a few years, I think it will be a great deal.

In part 2 of this thread, I will talk about how the deployment of the drive goes.

Stay tuned.