Dell POWERVAULT MD3600F - Manual (Page 33)

Planning: RAID Controller Modules 33
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Planning: RAID Controller Modules
RAID Controller Modules
The RAID controller modules provide high-performance, advanced virtual
disk configuration, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management. Each
RAID controller module contains 2 GB or 4 GB of mirrored cache for high
availability and is protected by a battery powered cache offload mechanism.
NOTE: The 4 GB mirrored cache is an optional feature.
RAID controller modules provide the following data path and enclosure
management functions:
• Monitoring and controlling enclosure environment elements
(temperature, fans, power supplies, and enclosure LEDs)
• Controlling access to the physical disks
• Communicating enclosure attributes and states to the host server and
management station
Each RAID controller module has multiple Fibre Channel (FC) ports
(labeled FCIN) for host access. The ports provide redundant host
connections and support a high availability storage environment. Each port
must have a small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceiver module installed
for connectivity. Various configurations can be utilized, in both single
controller (simplex) and dual controller (duplex) modes, to connect the
storage enclosure to hosts depending on specific redundancy needs.
For information on cabling, see the MD3600f and MD3620f Series Storage
Array’s Deployment Guide, at dell.com/support/manuals.
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