Servers and PC's don't necessarily use the same drives. SAS drives are strictly for servers and cannot be plugged into a desktop PC (without a controller card to go into the desktop). SATA drives can be used in either servers or desktops, but there are drives designed for one or the other:
Enterprise-class drives should be used in servers, as they are designed for 24x7 use, are programmed to be able to answer commands/requests from many server-class controllers, and have the high-speed timing that a server-class controller would require.
Desktop-class drives are not designed to be used in servers. They are generally cheaper, because they lack what Enterprise-class drives have (above).
Additionally, if the drives you have are Dell-co-branded, then you can expect to use them without problems. If they are generic/Retail Hitachi/Seagate drives, you might expect to see some problems during the life of the drives. Dell-branded drives (regardless of who actually makes them for Dell - Hitachi, Seagate, etc.) are loaded with special firmware to ensure they will work seamlessly with Dell-branded controllers.
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Posted January 12th, 2011 06:00
You can mix drive models in a server just fine. You can even mix them in a single raid set.
The 2950 will probably have either a PERC5i or PERC6i. These adapters will work just fine with these drives.