Dell POWERVAULT MD1000 - Manual (Page 9)

A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR OPTIMIZING DELL™ MD1000 SAS SOLUTIONS VER A00
PAGE 9 5/06/2005
For the latest information on support for specific physical disks, see the Dell Storage web site at:
http://www.us.dell.com/storage/
3 rd Party Hardware support
To help provide the best possible customer experience, Dell supports only hardware purchased
direct from Dell for the PowerVault MD1000 and PERC 5/E controller. Dell-developed server and
storage solutions include many thousands of person-hours of engineering testing and validation to
help ensure the highest product quality. For example, physical disks purchased direct from Dell
may include features not generally available to the rest of the industry. As such, Dell supports only
Dell tested and qualified hardware. Hardware purchased direct from Dell carries the full Dell
system limited warranty
1 and helps ensure full compatibility. Materials purchased from 3 rd party
vendors for use in Dell systems are not covered under Dell’s limited warranty and may not deliver
an acceptable customer experience.
Server Support
The PowerVault MD1000 storage enclosure and PERC 5/E solution are supported on the
PowerEdge 1850, 2850, 6800, and 6850 servers.
4. PowerVault MD1000 Storage Enclosure Details
Enclosure Modes
The enclosure can be set to either unified or split mode through the use of a two-position switch
located on the front panel of the enclosure. The enclosure can be configured into the selected
mode only at power up. Any changes to the mode switch made while the enclosure is powered on
will not take effect until the enclosure is powered off and back on again.
Note: Any time you power on the PowerVault MD1000 storage enclosure, ensure the mode switch
is set in the desired position. If the position of the switch changes inadvertently, data loss could
occur as the controller may recognize an inaccurate number of attached physical disks versus the
previous mode. In order to cycle power on your MD1000, all attached servers, must be turned off.
Unified Topology
In unified mode, a single server has access to all fifteen physical disks in the PowerVault MD1000
storage enclosure through a single SAS cable. The unified mode can also provide a single server
access to a maximum of forty five physical disks by daisy-chaining up to three enclosures from a
single host port. The main advantage of unified mode is that it provides a high degree of physical
disk scalability.
1 For a copy of our guarantees or limited warranties, please write Dell USA L.P., Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round
Rock, TX 78682. For more information, visit www.dell.com/warranty.