PowerEdge: VRTX Shared PERC8 Controller Overview and Specifications
Resumen: This article provides an overview of the Shared PERC 8 internal and external storage controllers for the Dell PowerEdge VRTX enclosure. It covers available form factors, supported configuration types (Single Non-Fault Tolerant, Dual Fault Tolerant, and Dual Non-Fault Tolerant), hardware specifications, and key features. ...
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Introduction to Shared PERC 8
The Shared PERC 8 cards for the Dell PowerEdge VRTX enclosure are available in two form factors:
- Shared PERC 8 Internal card — Manages the internal storage on the VRTX enclosure. The Shared PERC 8 Internal cards connect to the PERC slots labeled PERC1 and PERC2.
- Shared PERC 8 External card — Extends storage capacity by allowing server modules to access up to two external JBODs. The Shared PERC 8 External cards connect through PCIe slots 5 and 6 on the VRTX system. The Shared PERC 8 External card supports MD1200 or MD1220 JBODs.
The Shared PERC 8 Internal and External cards operate as two separate SAS domains.
Configuration Types
The PowerEdge VRTX system supports the following Shared PERC 8 configurations:
Single Non-Fault Tolerant Configuration
In this configuration, a single Shared PERC 8 card is installed. The controller does not mirror its cache. The default cache policy for virtual disks is write-back. Write completion is returned to the host after data is written to the Shared PERC 8 controller cache.
This configuration is available for both internal and external cards.
Dual Fault Tolerant Configuration
In this configuration, two Shared PERC 8 cards are configured in an active-passive cluster. Both controllers can access the same storage subsystem, but only the active controller provides data access. If one Shared PERC 8 card fails, the other takes control in a seamless transition. The default cache policy for virtual disks is write-back.
This configuration is available for both internal and external cards.
Dual Non-Fault Tolerant Configuration (External Only)
In this configuration, two Shared PERC 8 External cards are each cabled to separate JBODs, creating separate SAS domains. If one Shared PERC 8 External card fails, access to the storage subsystem attached to that card is lost.
Migration of disks from Shared PERC 8 Internal to External cards is possible as long as both cards have the same firmware version.
Shared PERC 8 Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Supported drives | Dell-qualified SAS hard drives and SAS solid state drives (SSDs). Mixing disks of different speeds (7,200 RPM, 10,000 RPM, or 15,000 RPM) and bandwidth (6 Gbps or higher) while maintaining the same drive type (SAS) and technology (hard drive or SSD) is supported. However, this may affect data transfer performance. |
| RAID levels | 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 |
| Virtual functions | Four virtual functions to support up to four host servers |
| Management application | Dell Chassis Management Controller (CMC) |
| Enclosures per external domain | 2 |
| Processor | Dell Adapter SAS RAID-on-Chip, eight ports with LSI 2208 chipset |
| Battery backup unit | Yes |
| Nonvolatile cache | Yes |
| Cache memory | 1 GB DDR3, 1333 MHz |
| Cache policies | Write Back, Forced Write-Back, Write Through, Adaptive Read-Ahead, No Read-Ahead, and Read Ahead |
| Maximum spans per disk group | 8 |
| Maximum virtual disks per disk group | 16 |
| Maximum virtual disks | 64 |
| Hardware XOR engine | Yes |
| PCIe hot plug of controller | PCIe Hot Add supported with Shared PERC 8 External card only |
| Multipath support | Required for systems with Fault Tolerant Shared PERC 8 card configuration |
| Controller failover | Available only for systems with Fault Tolerant Shared PERC 8 card configuration |
Shared PERC 8 Features
The Shared PERC 8 storage controllers offer the following features: