Dell PERC 4/DC - Manual (Page 50)

Table 2 -3 lists the configuration features for the RAID controller.
Table 2-3. Configuration Features
Firmware Upgrade
You can download the latest firmware from the Dell web site and flash it to the firmware on the board. Perform the following steps to upgrade the firmware:
1. Go to the support.dell.com web site.
2. Download the latest firmware and driver to a diskette.
The firmware is an executable file that downloads the files to the diskette in your system.
3. Restart the system and boot from the diskette.
4. Run pflash to flash the firmware.
SMART Hard Drive Technology
The Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) detects predictable hard drive failures. SMART monitors the internal performance of all motors,
heads, and hard drive electronics.
Drive Roaming
Drive roaming (also known as configuration on disk) occurs when the hard drives are changed to different channels on the same controller. When the drives
are placed on different channels, the controller detects the RAID configuration from the configuration information on the drives.
Configuration data is saved in both non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) on the RAID controller and on the hard drives attached to the controller. This
maintains the integrity of the data on each drive, even if the drives have changed their target ID. Drive roaming is supported across channels on the same
controller, except when cluster mode is enabled.
Specifications PERC 4/SC PERC 4/DC
RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50
SCSI channels 1 2
Maximum number of drives per
channel
14 14 (for a maximum of 28 on two channels)
Array interface to host PCI Rev 2.2 PCI Rev 2.2
Cache memory size 64 MB SDRAM Up to 128 MB SDRAM
Cache Function Write-back, write-through, adaptive read-ahead, non
read-ahead, read-ahead
Write-back, write-through, adaptive read-ahead, non
read-ahead, read-ahead
Number of logical drives and arrays
supported
Up to 40 logical drives and 32 arrays per controller Up to 40 logical drives and 32 arrays per controller
Hot spares Yes Yes
Flashable firmware Yes Yes
Hot swap devices supported Yes Yes
Non-disk devices supported Only SAF-TE and SES Only SAF-TE and SES
Mixed capacity hard drives Yes Yes
Number of 16-bit internal
connectors
1 2
Cluster support No Yes
CAUTION: Do not flash the firmware while performing a background initialization or data consistency check, as it can cause the procedures to
fail.
NOTE: Drive roaming does not work if you move the drives to a new controller and put them on different channels on the new adapter. If you put drives
on a new controller, they must be on the same channel/target as they were on the previous controller to keep the same configuration.
NOTE: Before performing drive roaming, make sure that you have first powered off both your platform and your drive enclosure.