  Third-party SCSI devices on OpenVMS? 
 The Question is:
 
Can I buy 3rd party generic scsi disks for my alphaserver 2000
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  Yes, you can certainly purchase third-party "generic" SCSI disks for your
  AlphaServer 2000.
 
  If you purchase third-party "generic" SCSI devices, you and your SCSI
  device vendor will be responsible for the testing and the support of the
  devices.  Compaq will address problems in the host interface (changes
  that will not prevent operations with supported devices, of course), but
  you and the device vendor are responsible for problems in the device.
 
  Realize that SCSI is not a standard interface, it is a collection of
  optionally-implemented and standardized interface features.  Do not
  simply assume that all SCSI devices are interchangable.
 
  Each SCSI host contains non-trivial SCSI driver software, and each SCSI
  device contains equally non-trivial firmware -- taken together with the
  mechanical and electronic components, this software and firmware will
  communicate storage-related requests using the standard SCSI protocol.
  Hosts and devices have various optionally-implemented features, and both
  also implement vendor-specific protocol extensions for operations outside
  those explicitly specified in the SCSI protocol.
 
  Integration and testing work is mandatory with each new SCSI device, and
  there can be no certainty that any particular SCSI device will operate as
  expected in any particular configuration without first performing this
  (non-trivial) work.
 
  Please review the previous discussions of third-party SCSI device support
  issues here in Ask The Wizard.
 
	--
 
  The Wizard would encourage you to upgrade to OpenVMS Alpha V7.1.
