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At first, I apologize for my question, but I am complete beginner.

My friend gave me an old HP Proliant DL385 server which was replaced in bank, where he works, by newer stuff. Because of privacy, he removed all hard-drives from it and told me that I have to search for my own.

I've realized that this server uses SCSI-SCA interface and these kind of hard drives are not selling anymore. I've tried to search for second hand; however, I found only one person in my country, who is willing to sell only two very old SCSI drives.

I would like to ask you, is it possible "somehow" to replace SCSI interface with SATA one on the server motherboard, or is there any way to adapt SATA harddrives to SCSI interface?

ewwhite
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Michal
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  • which exact generation of 385 have you got? if in doubt find the server's part number, it'll be on the outside and is a 6-digit number followed but a three character string - i.e. 123456-B21 or similar - let us know and we can help with this. – Chopper3 Jul 21 '14 at 20:03
  • Why didn't you just have home wipe the original drives? – austinian Jul 11 '15 at 04:35

2 Answers2

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That's an HP ProLiant DL385 (G1) and was released in 2004 around the same time as the DL380 G4 (Intel variant). These were HP's first x86_64 servers, but still used some legacy technologies (like IDE for CDROM, parallel SCSI disks and PCI-X expansion).

The full specifications for your server are here: DL385 Quickspecs.

You can use any 80-pin SCSI SCA drive, like the 146GB Ultra 320 disk, part #347708-B22. Your best bet in most countries is to search eBay.

It's possible to convert this server to SAS (using a new front bezel, a new drive cage and SAS HBA/RAID controller), but it's stupid. Please see the following question which outlines the process for the sister DL380 G4 model: HP ProLiant DL380 G4 SATA support?

Community
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ewwhite
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In general, no. The 2 interfaces are completely different, and there's no way to "convert" one into the other, especially within the confines of a drive bay with backplane.

I've done this before on an old Poweredge, many years ago. It basically involved shifting the backplane back off the chassis far enough away that I could route the SATA cables around it, but not too far away because, for some reason, the entire system's power distribution circuitry was at the bottom of it (the PSU's plugged into it).

You may be able to get away with removing the backplane entirely, put in a PCI SATA card and forget the whole hot-swappable nature of the disks. If you wire everything up, and just get some HDD caddies, you can use any type of disk in there. However, if the backplane contains more electronics that are key to the system's internals (such as the power system), then a bit of fudging may be required to get it to work. It can be done though, without seeing the internals, it's hard to say for certain.

Hope this helps.

dannosaur
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