The CS3-FLUTE from EKF is a CompactPCI® based Ultra2 SCSI Hostadapter, suitable for attachment of LVD/SE 16-bit peripherals as Raid-systems, high performance hard disks and streamer tape drives.

LVD (low voltage differential) signaling technology allows an overall cable length of the SCSI bus up to 12m. LVD and SE (single ended) devices are sensed automatically by the CS3-FLUTE, and the SCSI interface is self-configured to match the peripherals SCSI operating mode.

The CS3-FLUTE hostadapter is offering a data transfer rate of up to 80MBps when operated in the Ultra2 mode. Compatibility is maintained to all previous SCSI standards, e.g. Fast and Ultra SCSI. The board is provided with two HD68 receptacles; hence external and internal devices can be connected simultaneously.

SCAM (SCSI Configured AutoMatically) as well as PCI plug&play technology care for effortless installation of the CS3-FLUTE.

The CS3-FLUTE allows for connecting of up to 15 peripherals with 16-bit (Wide) connector. Internal and/or external mounting of the devices is at the users choice; the active termination of the CS3 follows any configuration automatically.

The jumperless board is built around the LSI Logic (Symbios) SYM53C895 PCI-SCSI I/O processor, a high performance, widely accepted industry standard chip. Being also compatible to the popular SYM8951U hostadapter board, the CS3-FLUTE can be used with all LSI Logic software (e.g. the Device Management System SDMS 4.x), and all existing SYM8951U drivers for operating systems as Windows9x/NT or Linux are valid also for the CS3-FLUTE.

For flexible cabling, the CS3 is provided with SCSI connectors for both internal and external use. Both of the SCSI connectors can be used together at the same time.

The 68-position receptacle SCSI_A protrudes through the front panel of the CS3-FLUTE. External SCSI devices with 16-bit (Wide) interface can be connected directly here; 8-bit (Narrow) SCSI peripherals need an adapter (connector or cable) in order to reduce from 68 to 50 leads. The connector SCSI_B is provided for internal wiring to 16-bit Wide SCSI devices, mounted within the CompactPCI® rack. Peripherals, attached to any of the SCSI connectors, are sensed by a logic circuitry. If the logic detects the CS3-FLUTE to be one end of the SCSI bus, the local SCSI terminators are activated.

The CS3-FLUTE contains a Flash Extended BIOS, allowing operating system boot from a SCSI drive. The Flash-EEPROM can be updated at any time by means of a utility program. The CS3-FLUTE is additionally provided with a serial EEPROM, acting as a NVRAM, saving configuration parameters of the board (e.g. for SCAM support).

A toolset already mentioned, but worth to be more intensively discussed is the LSI Logic (Symbios) SCSI Device Management Software SDMS, running on the CS3-FLUTE without any modification. SDMS is a package of utilities and drivers, including ASPI, RAID, or removable media support for popular disk operating systems. As a resident part of the SDMS, basic routines are contained within the on-board Flash Extended BIOS. Like any other BIOS routine, this resident software does not depend on an individual OS, but allows standalone operation and diagnostics instead, e.g. low level harddisk formatting or SCSI bus configuration. In order to obtain current information or download the most recent firmware release, the LSI Logic Internet site http://www.lsi.com should be visited.

The CS3-FLUTE sources the voltage for the on-board and external SCSI terminators (TERMPOWER), fused by a Polyswitch (reversible fuse).

SCSI Bus data and control signal integrity will be improved by the SCSI controller chip using the Symbios Tolerant™ filtering technology, thus minimizing the influence of a critical SCSI cabling (poor cables, mixed cable types, noisy environment).

It is hardly necessary to discuss the advantages of SCSI here, such as superiour data throughput at minimal CPU load. With the CS3-FLUTE, any CompactPCI® system can profit from Ultra2 SCSI performance. The CS3-FLUTE is a highly reliable, industrial grade product, available at moderate cost, and - last not least - fast and smoothly to be installed.

As a help for installation or fault detection, several LEDs show important board status information: