We've got an old server with SCSI hard disk. The server crashed last week and it isn't exactly known what hardware component is damaged. Since the server is due to be retired anyway we don't want to repair it but just restore the data from the SCSI drive.
We expect that the hard disk itself is not damaged but the problem is that we don't have any other computer with SCSI controller.
What are my options to restore the data?
Aside from commisioning a professional data recovery service I have in mind just to buy a cheap SCSI controller card (for example I can find an IBM Adaptec PCI W-Ultra SCSI Controller for 10 Euro, for sure less expensive than a recovery service fee), plug it into a PCI slot of some desktop PC, connect the SCSI hard disk and copy the necessary data from the disk onto the PC. I am not sure though if that will work and what technical specifications I had to follow, given that the SCSI hard disk is pretty old (a 18 GB IBM disk from 1999), if the OS on the PC side matters (it's Win XP, the server had Win NT) or other specifications on the PC side (the PCI slot?), etc.
Thank you for help in advance!
Best Answer
It's always nice to see a new serverfault user that's already got the right answer in mind :)
Basically what you suggest is spot-on, there are some SCSI-to-USB devices out there (I think Adaptec did their own at one point) that may make it a bit more portable but essentially that's exactly the way to do it.