Question re: 8" drive form-factor

[Steven Hirsch]

On Wed, 3 Jun 2009, Eric Smith wrote:

> Steven Hirsch wrote:
>> Here's a strange one:  I recently acquired two Shugart 851 drives from 
>> another cctech-er.  They were in nice shape and operate fine.  The weird 
>> part is their form-factor.
>> 
>> I have 8 or 10 other 8" drives in my collection, both half-height and 
>> full-height, including two other 851 Shugarts.  All of these are 8.5" wide, 
>> with faceplate and frame being exactly the same size.
>> 
>> These two "new" Shugart units are _9.5"_ wide at the faceplate and require 
>> a clearance of about 9-1/8" for the frame.  Can anyone explain this odd 
>> sizing?  Were they perhaps manufactured against an earlier standard?
>
> IIRC, the "R" suffix drives are intended to be rack-mounted in pairs.  I have 
> no idea, though, how that could be better than using the standard-width 
> drives since either way they're going to need some mounting hardware.

Nothing on these units indicates an "R" model, but your explanation makes 
sense.  I'd expect there to be an obvious way to fasten the drives 
together along their common edge, but don't see anything that jumps out at 
me.

Live and learn.  If anyone has a particular need for this type of drive, 
let me know?  A swap for one of the 8.5" wide units would be ideal.

Steve


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