Dell UCC-60, UCP-61, UCP-60 User Manual
Dell™ PERC 6/i, PERC 6/E and CERC 6/i
User’s Guide
Model UCP-60 , UCP-61, and UCC-60
Notes, Notices, and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your system.
NOTICE: A NOTICE warns against either potential damage to hardware or of data
and tells you how to avoid the problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury,
or death.
NOTE: Refer to the Product Information Guide that came with your system for
complete information about U.S. Terms and Conditions of Sale, Limited Warranties,
and Returns, Export Regulations, Software License Agreement, Safety,
Environmental and Ergonomic Instructions, Regulatory Notices, and Recycling
Information.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2007–2008 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, PowerEdge, PowerVault, Dell Precision, and
OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.; MegaRAID is a registered trademark of LSI Corporation;
Microsoft, MS-DOS, W indows Server , W indows, and Windows V ista are either trademarks or registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries; Citrix XenServer is
a trademark of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries; VMware is a registered trademark of
VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions; Solaris is a trademark of
Sun Microsystems, Inc.; Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in
the United States or other countries; Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks, and SUSE is
a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries; Red Hat and Red Hat
Enterprise Linux are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
Model UCP-60, UCP-61, and UCC-60
July 2008 P/N P412J Rev. A00
Contents
A CAUTION: Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . 11
SAFETY: General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
SAFETY: When Working Inside Your System
Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge
SAFETY: Battery Disposal
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
. . . . . . 12
. . . . . . 12
1Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Scope of the User’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Descriptions
PCI Architecture
Operating System Support
RAID Description
Summary of RAID Levels
RAID Terminology
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
. . . . . . 15
2 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i
Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controller Features . . . . . . . . 21
Using the SMART Feature
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Contents 3
Initializing Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Background Initialization
Full Inititialization of Virtual Disks
Fast Inititialization of Virtual Disks
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
. . . . . . . . . . 26
. . . . . . . . . 26
Consistency Checks
Disk Roaming
Disk Migration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Compatibility With Virtual Disks Created
on PERC 5 Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Compatibility With Virtual Disks Created
on SAS 6/iR Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Migrating Virtual Disks from SAS 6/iR
to PERC 6 and CERC 6i
Battery Management
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Battery Warranty Information
Battery Learn Cycle
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Virtual Disk Write Cache Policies
Write-Back and Write-Through
Conditions Under Which
Write-Back is Employed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Conditions Under Which
Write-Through is Employed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Conditions Under Which Forced
Write-Back With No Battery is Employed
. . . . . . . . . . . 31
. . . . . . . . . . . . 32
. . . . . . . . . . . 32
. . . . . 33
4 Contents
Virtual Disk Read Policies
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Reconfiguring Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fault Tolerance Features
Physical Disk Hot Swapping
Failed Physical Disk Detection
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
. . . . . . . . . . . . 36
. . . . . . . . . . . 37
Redundant Path With Load
Balancing Support
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Using Replace Member and
Revertible Hot Spares
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Patrol Read
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Patrol Read Feature
Patrol Read Modes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Installaing and Configuring
Hardware
Installing the PERC 6/E and PERC 6/i Adapters . . . . . 41
Installing the Transportable Battery
Backup Unit (TBBU) for PERC 6/E
Installing the DIMM on a PERC 6/E Adapter
Transferring a TBBU Between Controllers
Removing the PERC 6/E and PERC 6/i Adapters
Removing the DIMM and Battery from
a PERC 6/E Adapter
Disconnecting the BBU from a PERC 6/i Adapter
or a PERC 6/i Integrated Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
. . . . . . . . . . . . 45
. . . . . . 47
. . . . . . . 49
. . . . . 50
. . . . . . . . . . . 55
Setting up Redundant Path Support
on the PERC 6/E Adapter
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Removing and Installing the CERC 6/i
Modular Storage Controller Card
(Service-Only Procedure)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Installing the Modular Storage
Controller Card
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Contents 5
4 Installing the Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Installing Windows Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Creating the Driver Media
Pre-Installation Requirements
Installing the Driver During a Windows
Server 2003 or Windows XP
Operating System Installation
Installing the Driver During a
Windows Server 2008 or
Windows Vista Installation
Installing a Windows Server 2003,
Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista,
or Windows XP Driver for
a New RAID Controller
Updating an Existing Windows
Server 2003, Windows Server 2008,
Windows XP, or Windows Vista Driver
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
. . . . . . . . . . . 64
. . . . . . . . . . . . 66
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
. . . . . . . 68
6 Contents
Installing Linux Driver
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Operating Systems using the
Driver Update Diskette
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server Using the Driver Update Diskette
Installing the RPM Package
With DKMS Support
Installing Solaris Driver
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Installing Solaris 10 on a PowerEdge
System Booting From a PERC 6 and
CERC 6i Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Adding/Updating the Driver to
an Existing System
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
. . . . . . 71
Installing NetWare Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Installing the NetWare Driver in
a New NetWare System
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Installing or Updating the NetWare
Driver in an Existing NetWare System
. . . . . . . 76
5 Configuring and Managing RAID. . . . . . . 77
Dell OpenManage Storage Management . . . . . . . . 77
Dell SAS RAID Storage Manager
RAID Configuration Functions
BIOS Configuration Utility
. . . . . . . . . . . . 77
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Entering the BIOS Configuration Utility
Exiting the Configuration Utility
Menu Navigation Controls
Setting Up Virtual Disks
Virtual Disk Management
Creating Virtual Disks
Initializing Virtual Disks
Checking Data Consistency
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
. . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Importing or Clearing Foreign
Configurations Using the VD Mgmt Menu
Importing or Clearing
Foreign Configurations Using the
Foreign Configuration View Screen
Managing Preserved Cache
. . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Managing Dedicated Hot Spares
Deleting Virtual Disks
Deleting Disk Groups
Resetting the Configuration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
. . . . . . . . . . . . 96
BIOS Configuration Utility Menu Options
. . . . . . . 79
. . . . . . . . . . . 80
. . . . . 89
. . . . . . . . 90
. . . . . . . . . . 94
. . . . . . 96
Contents 7
Physical Disk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Setting LED Blinking
Creating Global Hot Spares
Removing Global or Dedicated Hot Spares
Replacing an Online Physical Disk
Stopping Background Initialization
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
. . . . . . . . . . . . 104
. . . . 105
. . . . . . . . 106
. . . . . . . . 107
Performing a Manual Rebuild of
an Individual Physical Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Controller Management
Enabling Boot Support
Enabling BIOS Stop on Error
Restoring Factory Default Settings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
. . . . . . . . . . . 109
. . . . . . . . 110
6 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Post Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Virtual Disks Degraded
Memory Errors
Pinned Cache State
General Problems
Physical Disk Related Issues
Physical Disk Failures and Rebuilds
SMART Errors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Replace Member Errors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
. . . . . . . . . 121
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
8 Contents
Linux Operating System Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Controller LED Indicators
Drive Carrier LED Indicators
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
B Regulatory Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
C Corporate Contact Details
(Taiwan Only)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Contents 9
10 Contents
CAUTION: Safety Instructions
Use the following safety guidelines to help ensure your own personal safety and to help protect
your system and working environment from potential damage.
CAUTION: There is a danger of a new battery exploding if it is incorrectly installed.
Replace the battery only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the
manufacturer. Refer to "SAFETY: Battery Disposal" on page 13.
NOTE: Refer to the safety regulations and warnings stated in the documentation that ships
with your Dell™ workstation.
SAFETY: General
• Observe and follow service markings. Do not service any product except as explained in
your user documentation. Opening or removing covers that are marked with the triangular
symbol with a lightning bolt may expose you to electrical shock. Components inside these
compartments should be serviced only by a trained service technician.
• If any of the following conditions occur, unplug the product from the electrical outlet and
replace the part or contact your trained service provider:
– The power cable, extension cable, or plug is damaged.
– An object has fallen into the product.
– The product has been exposed to water.
– The product has been dropped or damaged.
– The product does not operate correctly when you follow the operating instructions.
• Use the product only with approved equipment.
• Operate the product only from the type of external power source indicated on the
electrical ratings label. If you are not sure of the type of power source required, consult
your service provider or local power company.
• Handle batteries carefully. Do not disassemble, crush, puncture, short external contacts,
dispose of in fire or water, or expose batteries to temperatures higher than
60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Do not attempt to open or service batteries;
replace batteries only with batteries designated for the product.
SAFETY: General 11
SAFETY: When Working Inside Your System
Before you remove the system covers, perform the following steps in the sequence indicated.
CAUTION: Except as expressly otherwise instructed in Dell documentation, only trained
service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the
components inside the system.
NOTICE: To help avoid possible damage to the system board, wait 5 seconds after turning
off the system before removing a component from the system board or disconnecting a
peripheral device.
1
Turn off the system and any devices.
2
Ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface on the chassis before touching
anything inside the system.
3
While you work, periodically touch an unpainted metal surface on the chassis to dissipate any
static electricity that might harm internal components.
4
Disconnect your system and devices from their power sources. To reduce the potential of
personal injury or shock, disconnect any telecommunication lines from the system.
In addition, take note of these safety guidelines when appropriate:
• When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector or on its strain-relief loop, not on the
cable itself. Some cables have a connector with locking tabs; if you are disconnecting this
type of cable, press in on the locking tabs before disconnecting the cable. As you pull
connectors apart, keep them evenly aligned to avoid bending any connector pins. Also,
before you connect a cable, make sure that both connectors are correctly oriented and
aligned.
• Handle components and cards with care. Do not touch the components or contacts on a
card. Hold a card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Hold a component such as
a microprocessor chip by its edges, not by its pins.
Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) events can harm electronic components inside your computer.
Under certain conditions, ESD may build up on your body or an object, such as a peripheral, and
then discharge into another object, such as your computer. To prevent ESD damage, you should
discharge static electricity from your body before you interact with any of your computer’s internal
electronic components, such as a memory module. You can protect against ESD by touching a
metal grounded object (such as an unpainted metal surface on your computer’s I/O panel) before
you interact with anything electronic. When connecting a peripheral (including handheld digital
assistants) to your computer, you should always ground both yourself and the peripheral before
connecting it to the computer. In addition, as you work inside the computer, periodically touch
an I/O connector to remove any static charge your body may have accumulated.
12 SAFETY: General
You can also take the following steps to prevent damage from electrostatic discharge:
• When unpacking a static-sensitive component from its shipping carton, do not remove the
component from the antistatic packing material until you are ready to install the
component. Just before unwrapping the antistatic package, be sure to discharge static
electricity from your body.
• When transporting a sensitive component, first place it in an antistatic container or
packaging.
• Handle all electrostatic sensitive components in a static-safe area. If possible, use antistatic
floor pads and work bench pads.
SAFETY: Battery Disposal
Your system may use a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium coin-cell, and/or a
lithium-ion battery. The NiMH, lithium coin-cell, and lithium-ion batteries are
long-life batteries, and it is very possible that you will never need to replace them.
However, should you need to replace them, refer to the instructions included in the
section "Configuring and Managing RAID" on page 77.
Do not dispose of the battery along with household waste. Contact your local waste
disposal agency for the address of the nearest battery deposit site.
NOTE: Your system may also include circuit cards or other components that contain
batteries. These batteries must also be disposed of in a battery deposit site. For information
about such batteries, refer to the documentation for the specific card or component.
Taiwan Battery Recycling Mark
SAFETY: General 13
14 SAFETY: General
Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ Expandable RAID Controller (PERC) 6 family of
controllers and the Dell Cost-Effective RAID Controller (CERC) 6/i offer
redundant array of independent disks (RAID) control capabilities. The PERC 6
and CERC 6/i Serial Attached SCSI(SAS) RAID controllers support
Dell-qualified SAS and SATA devices. The controllers are designed to provide
reliability, high performance, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management.
Scope of the User’s Guide
This user’s guide for the PERC 6 and CERC 6/i controllers documents the
following topics:
• Overview
• About PERC 6 and CERC 6/i controllers
• Hardware installation and configuration
• Driver installation
• RAID configuration and management
• Troubleshooting
PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Descriptions
The following list describes each type of controller:
• The PERC 6/E adapter with two external x4 SAS ports and a transportable
battery backup unit (TBBU)
• The PERC 6/i adapter with two internal x4 SAS ports with or without a
battery backup unit, depending on the system
• The PERC 6/i Integrated controller with two internal x4 SAS ports and a
battery backup unit
• The CERC 6/i modular storage controller with one internal x4 SAS port
and no battery backup unit
NOTE: The CERC 6/i modular storage controller is a custom form-factor card for
PowerEdge M-Series Modular systems.
Overview 15
Each controller supports up to 64 virtual disks.
NOTE: The number of virtual disks supported by the PERC 6/i and the CERC 6/i
cards is limited by the configuration supported by the system.
PCI Architecture
PERC 6 controllers support a Peripheral Component Interconnect
Express (PCI-E) x8 host interface. CERC 6/i Modular controller supports
a PCI-E x4 host. PCI-E is a high-performance input/output (I/O) bus
architecture designed to increase data transfers without slowing down the
Central Processing Unit (CPU).
Operating System Support
The PERC 6 and CERC 6/i controllers support the following operating
systems:
• Citrix® XenServer Dell Edition
• Microsoft
• Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows Vista™
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (including Hyper-V virtualization)
•Novell
•Red Hat
Linux Version 5
• Solaris™ 10 (64-bit)
•SUSE
Enterprise Server Version 10 (64-bit)
• VMWare
®
Windows Server® 2003
®
NetWare® 6.5
®
Enterprise Linux® Version 4 Update 5 and Red Hat Enterprise
®
Linux Enterprise Server Version 9 (64-bit) and SUSE Linux
®
ESX 3.5 and 3.5i
NOTE: Windows XP and Windows Vista are supported with a PERC 6 controller
only when the controller is installed in a Dell Precision™ workstation.
NOTE: For the latest list of supported operating systems and driver installation
instructions, see the system documentation located at the Dell Support website at
support.dell.com. For specific operating system service pack requirements, see the
Drivers and Downloads section on the Dell Support site at support.dell.com.
16 Overview
RAID Description
RAID is a group of independent physical disks that provides high performance by
increasing the number of drives used for saving and accessing data. A RAID disk
subsystem improves I/O performance and data availability. The physical disk
group appears to the host system either as a single storage unit or multiple logical
units. Data throughput improves because several disks are accessed
simultaneously. RAID systems also improve data storage availability and fault
tolerance. Data loss caused by a physical disk failure can be recovered by rebuilding
missing data from the remaining physical disks containing data or parity.
NOTICE: In the event of a physical disk failure, a RAID 0 virtual disk fails, resulting in
data loss.
Summary of RAID Levels
RAID 0 uses disk striping to provide high data throughput, especially for large
files in an environment that requires no data redundancy.
RAID 1 uses disk mirroring so that data written to one physical disk is
simultaneously written to another physical disk. RAID 1 is good for small
databases or other applications that require small capacity, but also require
complete data redundancy.
RAID 5 uses disk striping and parity data across all physical disks (distributed
parity) to provide high data throughput and data redundancy, especially for
small random access.
RAID 6 is an extension of RAID 5 and uses an additional parity block. RAID 6
uses block-level striping with two parity blocks distributed across all member
disks. RAID 6 provides protection against double disk failures and failures
while a single disk is rebuilding. If you are using only one array, deploying
RAID 6 is more effective than deploying a hot spare disk.
RAID 10, a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1, uses disk striping across
mirrored disks. It provides high data throughput and complete data redundancy.
RAID 10 can support up to eight spans, and up to 32 physical disks per span.
RAID 50, a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 5, uses distributed data parity
and disk striping and works best with data that requires high system availability,
high request rates, high data transfers, and medium-to-large capacity.
RAID 60 is a combination of RAID 6 and RAID 0, a RAID 0 array is striped
across RAID 6 elements. RAID 60 requires at least 8 disks.
Overview 17
RAID Terminology
Disk Striping
Disk striping allows you to write data across multiple physical disks instead of
just one physical disk. Disk striping involves partitioning each physical disk
storage space into stripes of the following sizes: 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB,
128 KB, 256KB, 512KB, and 1024KB. These stripes are interleaved in a
repeated sequential manner. The part of the stripe on a single physical disk is
called a stripe element.
For example, in a four-disk system using only disk striping (used in RAID
level 0), segment 1 is written to disk 1, segment 2 is written to disk 2, and
so on. Disk striping enhances performance because multiple physical disks are
accessed simultaneously, but disk striping does not provide data redundancy.
Figure 2-1 shows an example of disk striping.
Figure 2-1. Example of Disk Striping (RAID 0)
Stripe element 1
Stripe element 5
Stripe element 9
Stripe element 2
Stripe element 6
Stripe element 10
Stripe element 3
Stripe element 7
Stripe element 11
Stripe element 4
Stripe element 8
Stripe element 12
Disk Mirroring
With mirroring (used in RAID 1), data written to one disk is simultaneously
written to another disk. If one disk fails, the contents of the other disk can be
used to run the system and rebuild the failed physical disk. The primary
advantage of disk mirroring is that it provides 100 percent data redundancy.
Because the contents of the disk are completely written to a second disk, it
does not matter if one of the disks fails. Both disks contain the same data at
all times. Either of the physical disks can act as the operational physical disk.
18 Overview
Disk mirroring provides 100 percent redundancy, but is expensive because
each physical disk in the system must be duplicated. Figure 2-2 shows an
example of disk mirroring.
NOTE: Mirrored physical disks improve read performance by read load balance.
Figure 2-2. Example of Disk Mirroring (RAID 1)
Stripe element 1
Stripe element 2
Stripe element 3
Stripe element 4 Stripe element 4 Duplicated
Stripe element 1 Duplicated
Stripe element 2 Duplicated
Stripe element 3 Duplicated
Spanned RAID Levels
Spanning is a term used to describe the way in which RAID levels 10, 50,
and 60 are constructed from multiple sets of basic, or simple RAID levels.
For example, a RAID 10 has multiple sets of RAID 1 arrays where each RAID 1
set is considered a span. Data is then striped (RAID 0) across the RAID 1
spans to create a RAID 10 virtual disk. If you are using RAID 50 or RAID 60,
you can combine multiple sets of RAID 5 and RAID 6 together with striping.
Parity Data
Parity data is redundant data that has been generated to provide fault
tolerance within certain RAID levels. In the event of a drive failure the parity
data can be used by the controller to regenerate user data. Parity data is
present for RAID 5, 6, 50, and 60.
The parity data is distributed across all the physical disks in the system. If a
single physical disk fails, it can be rebuilt from the parity and the data on the
remaining physical disks. RAID level 5 combines distributed parity with disk
striping, as shown in Figure 2-3. Parity provides redundancy for one physical
disk failure without duplicating the contents of entire physical disks.
RAID level 6 combines dual distributed parity with disk striping. This level of
parity allows for two disk failures without duplicating the contents of entire
physical disks.
Overview 19
Figure 2-3. Example of Distributed Parity (RAID 5)
Stripe element 1
Stripe element 7
Stripe element 13
Stripe element 19
Stripe element 25
Parity (26–30)
NOTE: Parity is distributed across multiple physical disks in the disk group.
Stripe element 2
Stripe element 8
Stripe element 14
Stripe element 20
Parity (21–25)
Stripe element 26
Stripe element 3
Stripe element 9
Stripe element 15
Parity (16–20)
Stripe element 21
Stripe element 27 Stripe element 29
Stripe element 4
Stripe element 10
Parity (11–15)
Stripe element 16
Stripe element 22
Stripe element 28
Stripe element 5
Parity (6–10)
Stripe element 11
Stripe element 17
Stripe element 23
Figure 2-4. Example of Dual Distributed Parity (RAID 6)
Stripe element 1
Stripe element 5
Parity (9–12)
Stripe element 13 Stripe element 14 Stripe element 16Parity (13–16) Stripe element 15
NOTE: Parity is distributed across all drives in the array.
Stripe element 2
Stripe element 6
Parity (9–12)
Stripe element 3
Parity (5–8)
Stripe element 9
Parity (13–16)
Stripe element 4
Parity (5–8)
Stripe element 10
Parity (1–4)
Stripe element 7
Stripe element 11
Parity (1–5)
Stripe element 6
Stripe element 12
Stripe element 18
Stripe element 24
Stripe element 30
Parity (1–4)
Stripe element 8
Stripe element 12
20 Overview
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
This section describes the features of the Dell™ PowerEdge™ Expandable
RAID Controller (PERC) 6 and Dell Cost-Effective RAID Controller (CERC)
6/i family of controllers, such as the configuration options, disk array
performance, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) management
utilities, and operating system software drivers.
PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controller Features
Table 3-1 compares the hardware configurations for the PERC 6 and CERC 6/i
controllers.
Table 3-1. PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Comparisons
Specification PERC 6/E
Adapter
RAID Levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10,
50, 60
Enclosures
per Port
Ports 2 x4 external
Processor LSI adapter
Battery
Backup Unit
Up to 3
enclosures
wide port
SAS RAID-onChip, 8-port
with 1078
Ye s,
Transportable
PERC 6/i Adapter PERC 6/i
Integrated
0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 600, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 600 and 1
N/A N/A N/A
2 x4 internal
wide port
LSI adapter SAS
RAID-on-Chip,
8-port with 1078
a
Ye s
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers 21
2 x4 internal
wide port
LSI adapter SAS
RAID-on-Chip,
8-port with 1078
Ye s N o
CERC 6/i
Integrated
1 x4
internal
wide port
LSI adapter
SAS RAIDon-Chip,
8-port with
1078
Table 3-1. PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Comparisons (continued)
Specification PERC 6/E
Adapter
Cache
Memory
Cache
Funct ion
Maximum
Number of
Spans per
Disk Group
Maximum
Number of
Virtual Disks
per Disk
Group
Multiple
Virtual Disks
per
Controller
256-MB
DDRII cache
memory size
Optional 512MB DIMM
Write-Back,
Write-Throug
h, Adaptive
Read Ahead,
No-Read
Ahead,
Read Ahead
Up to 8 arrays Up to 8 arrays Up to 8 arrays N/A
Up to 16
virtual disks
per disk group
for nonspanned RAID
levels: 0, 1, 5,
and 6.
One virtual
disk per disk
group for
spanned RAID
levels: 10, 50,
and 60.
Up to 64
virtual disks
per controller
PERC 6/i Adapter PERC 6/i
Integrated
256-MB DDRII
cache memory
size
Wri te -Bac k,
Write-Through,
Adaptive
Read Ahead,
No-Read Ahead,
Read Ahead
Up to 16 virtual
disks per disk
group for nonspanned RAID
levels: 0, 1, 5,
and 6.
One virtual disk
per disk group
for spanned
RAID levels: 10,
50, and 60.
Up to 64 virtual
disks per
controller
256-MB DDRII
cache memory
size
Write-Back,
Write-Through,
Adaptive
Read Ahead,
No-Read Ahead,
Read Ahead
Up to 16 virtual
disks per disk
group for nonspanned RAID
levels: 0, 1, 5,
and 6.
One virtual disk
per disk group
for spanned
RAID levels: 10,
50, and 60.
Up to 64 virtual
disks per
controller
CERC 6/i
Integrated
128-MB
DDRII
cache
memory
size
Write-Back,
Writ eThrough,
Adaptive
Read
Ahead,
No-Read
Ahead,
Read Ahead
Up to 16
virtual disks
per disk
group
RAID 0=16
RAID 1=16
Up to 64
virtual disks
per
controller
22 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
Table 3-1. PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Comparisons (continued)
Specification PERC 6/E
Adapter
Support for
Ye s Ye s Ye s Ye s
x8 PCI
Express host
interface
Online
Ye s Ye s Ye s Ye s
Capacity
Expansion
Dedicated
Ye s Ye s Ye s Ye s
and Global
Hot Spares
Hot Swap
Ye s Ye s Ye s Ye s
Devices
Supported
Non-Disk
No No No No
Devices
Supported
Enclosure
Hot-Add
Mixed
Yes N/A N/A N/A
b
Ye s Ye s Ye s Ye s
Capacity
Physical
Disks
Supported
Hardware
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Exclusive-OR
(XOR)
Assistance
PERC 6/i Adapter PERC 6/i
Integrated
CERC 6/i
Integrated
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers 23
Table 3-1. PERC 6 and CERC 6/i Controller Comparisons (continued)
Specification PERC 6/E
Adapter
Revertible
Hot Spares
Supported
Redundant
Path Support
a
The PERC 6/i adapter supports a battery backup unit (BBU) on selected systems only. For
additional information, see the documentation that shipped with the system.
b
Using the enclosure Hot-Add feature you can hot plug enclosures to the PERC 6/E adapter
without rebooting the system.
NOTE: The maximum array size is limited by the maximum number of drives per
disk group (32), the maximum number of spans per disk group (8), and the size of the
physical drives.
NOTE: The number of physical disks on a controller is limited by the number of
slots in the backplane on which the card is attached.
Ye s Ye s Ye s N /A
Yes N/A N/A N/A
PERC 6/i Adapter PERC 6/i
Integrated
CERC 6/i
Integrated
Using the SMART Feature
The Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) feature
monitors the internal performance of all motors, heads, and physical disk
electronics to detect predictable physical disk failures. The SMART feature
helps monitor physical disk performance and reliability.
SMART-compliant physical disks have attributes for which data (values) can
be monitored to identify changes in values and determine whether the values
are within threshold limits. Many mechanical and electrical failures display
some degradation in performance before failure.
24 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
A SMART failure is also referred to as a predicted failure. There are numerous
factors that relate to predicted physical disk failures, such as a bearing failure,
a broken read/write head, and changes in spin-up rate. In addition, there are
factors related to read/write surface failure, such as seek error rate
and excessive bad sectors. For information on physical disk status, see "Disk
Roaming" on page 27.
NOTE: For detailed information on Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
interface specifications, see www.t10.org and for detailed information on for Serial
Attached ATA (SATA) interface specifications, see www.t13.org.
Initializing Virtual Disks
You can initialize the virtual disks in four ways as described in the following
sections.
Background Initialization
Background Initialization (BGI) is an automated process that writes the
parity or mirror data on newly created virtual disks. BGI assumes that the data
is correct on all new drives. BGI does not run on RAID 0 virtual disks.
NOTE: You cannot permanently disable BGI. If you cancel BGI, it automatically
restarts within five minutes. For information on stopping BGI, see "Stopping
Background Initialization" on page 107.
The BGI rate is controlled by the Open Manage storage management
software. After you have changed the BGI rate in Open Manage storage
management software, the change does not take effect until the next BGI
is run.
NOTE: Unlike full or fast initialization of virtual disks, background initialization does
not clear data from the physical disks.
Consistency Check (CC) and BGI perform similar functions in that they
both correct parity errors. However, Consistency Check reports data
inconsistencies through an event notification, but BGI does not (BGI
assumes the data is correct, as it is run only on a newly created disk). You can
start Consistency Check manually, but not Background Initialization.
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers 25
Full Inititialization of Virtual Disks
Performing a full initialization on a virtual disk overwrites all blocks and
destroys any data that previously existed on the virtual disk. A full
initialization eliminates the need for that virtual disk to undergo a
background initialization and can be performed directly after the creation of
a virtual disk.
During full initialization, the host is not be able to access the virtual disk.
You can start a full initialization on a virtual disk by using the Slow Initialize
option in the Dell OpenManage Storage Management application. To use the
BIOS Configuration Utility to perform a full initialization, see "Initializing
Virtual Disks" on page 88.
NOTE: If the system is rebooted during a full initialization, the operation aborts and
a BGI begins on the virtual disk.
Fast Inititialization of Virtual Disks
A fast initialization on a virtual disk overwrites the first and last 8 MB of the
virtual disk, clearing any boot records or partition information. This operation
takes only 2-3 seconds to complete and is recommended when recreating
virtual disks. To perform a fast initialization using the BIOS Configuration
Utility, see "Initializing Virtual Disks" on page 88.
Consistency Checks
Consistency Check is a background operation that verifies and corrects the
mirror or parity data for fault tolerant virtual disks. It is recommended that
you periodically run a consistency check on virtual disks.
You can manually start a consistency check using the BIOS Configuration
Utility or a Open Manage storage management application. To start a
consistency check using the BIOS Configuration Utility, see "Checking Data
Consistency" on page 88. Consistency checks can be scheduled to run on
virtual disks using a Open Manage storage management application.
26 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
By default, consistency check automatically corrects mirror or parity
inconsistencies. However, you can enable the Abort Consistency Check on
Error feature on the controller using Dell™ OpenManage™ Storage
Management. With the Abort Consistency Check on Error setting enabled,
consistency check notifies if any inconsistency is found and aborts instead of
automatically correcting the error.
Disk Roaming
The PERC 6 and CERC 6/i adapters support moving physical disks from
one cable connection or backplane slot to another on the same controller.
The controller automatically recognizes the relocated physical disks and
logically places them in the proper virtual disks that are part of the disk group.
You can perform disk roaming only when the system is turned off.
CAUTION: Do not attempt disk roaming during RAID level migration (RLM) or
capacity expansion (CE). This causes loss of the virtual disk.
Perform the following steps to use disk roaming:
1
Turn off the power to the system, physical disks, enclosures, and system
components, and then disconnect the power cords from the system.
2
Move the physical disks to different positions on the backplane or the
enclosure.
3
Perform a safety check. Make sure the physical disks are inserted properly.
4
Turn on the system.
The controller detects the RAID configuration from the configuration
data on the physical disks.
Disk Migration
The PERC 6 and CERC 6/i controllers support migration of virtual disks from
one controller to another without taking the target controller offline. However,
the source controller must be offline prior to performing the disk migration.
The controller can import RAID virtual disks in optimal, degraded, or partially
degraded states. You cannot import a virtual disk that is in an offline state.
NOTE: The PERC 6 controllers are not backward compatible with previous Small
Computer System Interface (SCSI), PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller (PERC),
and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) controllers.
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers 27
When a controller detects a physical disk with a pre-existing configuration, it
flags the physical disk as foreign, and it generates an alert indicating that a
foreign disk was detected.
CAUTION: Do not attempt disk roaming during RLM or CE. This causes loss of the
virtual disk.
Perform the following steps to use disk migration.
1
Turn off the system that contains the source controller.
2
Move the appropriate physical disks from the source controller to the
target controller.
The system with the target controller can be running while inserting the
physical disks.
The controller flags the inserted disks as foreign disks.
3
Use the Open Manage storage management application to import the
detected foreign configuration.
NOTE: Ensure that all physical disks that are part of the virtual disk are migrated.
NOTE: You can also use the controller BIOS configuration utility to migrate disks.
Compatibility With Virtual Disks Created on PERC 5 Controllers
Virtual disks that were created on the PERC 5 family of controllers can be
migrated to the PERC 6 and CERC 6i controllers without risking data or
configuration loss. Migrating virtual disks from PERC 6 and CERC 6i controllers
to PERC 5 is not supported.
NOTE: For more information about compatibility, contact your Dell Technical
Support Representative.
Virtual disks that were created on the CERC 6/i controller or the PERC 5
family of controllers can be migrated to PERC 6.
28 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
Compatibility With Virtual Disks Created on SAS 6/iR Controllers
The migration of virtual disks created on the SAS 6/iR family of controllers
can be migrated to PERC 6 and CERC 6i. However, only virtual disks with
boot volumes of the following Linux operating systems successfully boot after
migration:
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (64-bit)
NOTE: The migration of virtual disks with Microsoft Windows operating systems is
not supported.
NOTICE: Before migrating virtual disks, back up your data and ensure that the
firmware of both controllers is the latest revision. Also ensure that you use the
SAS 6 firmware version 00.25.41.00.06.22.01.00 or later version.
Migrating Virtual Disks from SAS 6/iR to PERC 6 and CERC 6i
NOTE: The supported operating systems listed above contain a driver for the
PERC 6 and CERC 6i controller family. No additional drivers are needed during the
migration process.
1
If virtual disks with one of the supported Linux operating systems listed
above are being migrated, open a command prompt and type the following
commands:
modprobe megaraid_sas
mkinitrd -f --preload megaraid_sas /boot/initrd-`uname
-r`.img `uname -r`
2
Turn off the system.
3
Move the appropriate physical disks from the SAS 6/iR controller to the
PERC 6 and CERC 6i. If you are replacing your SAS 6/iR controller with a
PERC 6, see the
Hardware Owner’s Manual
that came with your system.
CAUTION: After you have imported the foreign configuration on the PERC 6 or
CERC 6i storage controllers, you cannot migrate the storage disks back to the SAS
6/iR controller as it may result in the loss of data.
About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers 29
4
Boot the system and import the foreign configuration that is detected.
You can do this in two ways as described below:
• Press <F> to automatically import the foreign configuration
• Enter the
Configuration View
BIOS Configuration Utility
and navigate to the
Foreign
NOTE: For more information on BIOS Configuration Utility, see
BIOS Configuration Utility
NOTE: For more information on Foreign Configuration View, see
Configuration View
5
If the migrated virtual disk is the boot volume, ensure that the virtual disk
" on page 103
" on page 79
.
"Entering the
"Foreign
is selected as the bootable volume for the target PERC 6 and CERC 6i
controller. See "Controller Management Actions" on page 103.
6
Exit the
7
Ensure that all the latest drivers available on the Dell support website at
BIOS Configuration Utility
and reboot the system.
support.dell.com for PERC 6 or CERC 6/i controller are installed. For
more information, see "Installing the Drivers" on page 63.
NOTE: For more information about compatibility, contact your Dell Technical
Support Representative.
Battery Management
NOTE: Battery management is only applicable to PERC 6 family of controllers.
The Transportable Battery Backup Unit (TBBU) is a cache memory module
with an integrated battery pack that enables you to transport the cache
module with the battery into a new controller. The TBBU protects the
integrity of the cached data on the PERC 6/E adapter by providing backup
power during a power outage.
The Battery Backup Unit (BBU) is a battery pack that protects the integrity of
the cached data on the PERC 6/i adapter and PERC 6/i Integrated controllers
by providing backup power during a power outage.
The battery may provide up to 72 hours for a 256-MB controller cache
memory backup power and up to 48 hours for a 512-MB cache when new.
30 About PERC 6 and CERC 6i Controllers
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