Dell PowerVault DP500 - Manual (Page 29)

RAID and Disk Management
29
RAID and Disk Management
Your storage server is available from Dell™ in either a software redundant
array of independent disks (RAID), a hardware RAID, or an external storage
configuration. The following is an overview of supported storage server
configurations:
• In a software RAID configuration, the RAID functionality is configured by
the Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Storage Server 2003 R2 x64 Editions with SP2
operating systems.
• In a hardware RAID configuration, the hard drives are controlled by an
on-board and/or an optional RAID controller in the system’s expansion slot.
• The internal system hard drives are controlled by hardware RAID or
software RAID. The external enclosure hard drives are controlled by the
RAID controller in the PCI or PCIe slot.
NOTE:
Although you can change RAID levels on your storage server, you cannot
change the basic configuration of your storage server. For example, you cannot
change a system from a software RAID configuration to a hardware RAID
configuration.
NOTE:
Configuring software RAID on top of hardware RAID is not supported.
Determining Your RAID Configuration
The storage server RAID configuration affects some of the configuration
procedures. As a result, determine the RAID configuration of your storage
server before you perform the procedures in the remaining portion of this guide.