Hello

I pulled out (what I think is) the PERC controller, but on boot up, information about the PERC S100-S300 and CTRL-R to configure it.

The PERC S100 is the chipset RAID controller. If you set the SATA mode to RAID in the system BIOS it will enable the PERC S100.

I have two poweredge r210 (not version II) and i have added two Samsung Pro SSD's in place of the original mechanical drive. I used SATA cables to bypass the PERC controller, because I don't believe that is compatible with SSD's or upgrading to WinServer 2012.

Even if the drives or configuration is not validated that does not mean it will not work. It is likely that the PERC you removed will work with both SSDs and server 2012. I have used SSDs and server 2012 on much older equipment. The PERC S100/S300 has many limitations, so it will not likely work in configurations that it is not validated.

Thanks

If you pulled the S300, then make sure the S100 is disabled ... you don't want to use it. Use AHCI mode and mirror in the OS if necessary.

Thanks, Daniel

I am a bit confused, though. Do you think I should rather leave the PERC in and connect the two SSD's to it or use software based (windows server 2012 II) raid? Please consider performance and reliablilty, as I am trying to upgrade this into a more stable environment.

Doug

Daniel

Now that I look at the invoice from the original shipment (2010)

Hard Drive Configuration --
-- Add-in PERC S300 (SAS/SATA Controller) supporting 1 Hard Drive - No RAID
-- [330-5370]

so that means the perc card isn't good for more than one drive?

Doug

Do you think I should rather leave the PERC in and connect the two SSD's to it or use software based (windows server 2012 II) raid?

Which PERC do you have?

No, that just means it was ordered with one drive.

The S100 and S300 are not compatible with Server 2012. We do not have a driver for them to function in that OS:

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/w/wiki/4311.dell-software-raid-controller-support-for-microsoft-windows-server-2012

That document has instructions for changing the SATA mode. If you remove the S300 and set the SATA mode to anything other than RAID then the SATA ports will act like normal SATA ports instead of a PERC S100 RAID controller.

Thanks

Thanks, Daniel.

Do you think I should invest in new PERCs compatible with win 2012 server compared to software based RAID?

Doug

Thanks, Daniel for your help!

Just to add to this ... the only controller you should be considering is the H200. SAS 6/iR is 3Gbps, and the S-series are garbage. You should also ONLY consider RAID 1 on the H200. Windows RAID would be MUCH preferred to ANYTHING other than RAID 1 on an H200.

interesting reading, following up on the H200: from

serverfault.com/.../software-vs-hardware-raid-performance-and-cache-usage

Moreover, some low-end RAID controllers do not only came without a cache, but forcibly disable the disk's private DRAM cache, leading to slower performance than without RAID card at all. An example are DELL's PERC H200 and H300 cards: if newer firmware has not changed that, they totally disable the disk's private cache (and it can not be re-enabled while the disks are connected to the RAID controller). Do a favor yourself and do not, ever, never buy such controllers. While even higher-end controller often disable disk's private cache, they at least have they own protected cache - making HDD's (but not SSD's!) private cache somewhat redundant.

This is why I only use the H7x0 cards and would never consider a system I couldn't use that in. My advice is generally: if you will ever even wonder about performance or ever consider running a benchmark, don't look at anything but the H7x0.

You wouldn't want both disk cache and controller cache enabled. Controller cache has a battery to protect against cached data loss. Disk cache has no protection, so most RAID controllers with cache will disable or ignore the disk cache because the controller can't reliably confirm the write was committed to the disk.