Dell PowerVault DP600 - Manual (Page 9)

Expanding Disk Storage
9
RAID Adapter Considerations
PowerVault Data Protection Solutions include an internal Dell PERC-series
RAID adapter that manages internal disk drives. Additional internal disk
drives are managed by the internal controller.
Some PowerVault Data Protection Solutions support external RAID adapters,
such as the PERC 6/E, which can be used to manage disks in an external
enclosure.
NOTE:
Refer to the Dell PowerVault Data Protection Solution Support Matrix for
more information on supported RAID adapters for your system.
RAID adapters combine a number of physical disks into a RAID disk group.
The adapter then creates one or more virtual disks from the RAID group
which the operating system and DPM use to store data. RAID 5
configurations only are recommended for use with DPM. In a DPM
environment, RAID 5 provides the best cost, performance and reliability for
this configuration type. Refer to the "Planning the Disk Configuration"
section in Planning a System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
Deployment for additional details on RAID types.
Example: Choosing a RAID Adapter
In our example, the system administrator's PowerVault DP500 has all six
internal drives configured. The administrator adds additional storage using a
PowerVault MD1000 Storage Enclosure to expand storage capacity. Attaching
the MD1000 to the DP500 requires an external RAID controller. Using the
Dell PowerVault Data Protection Solution Support Matrix information, the
administrator chooses to install a PERC 6/E.
Disk Size Selection and Considerations
When adding additional physical disks to your PowerVault Data Protection
Solution, consider the following:
• If adding internal disks to your data protection solution, make sure that
there are at least three drive slots available to add at least three drives.
RAID 5 virtual disks require a minimum of three physical disks.
• If adding additional disks to an existing storage enclosure, ensure there are
at least three drive slots available. Refer to the external storage enclosure’s
Hardware Owner's Manual for detailed configuration rules.