Administrator's Guide

RAID and Disk Management 25
RAID and Disk Management
Your storage server is available from Dell™ in either a software 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 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.
To determine if your RAID configuration is hardware or software based, perform the following steps:
1
On the Windows desktop, right-click My Computer and select Manage .
2 In the Computer Management window in the Computer Management (Local) tree,
click
Device Manager .
3 In the Computer Management right window pane, expand SCSI and RAID Devices .
If a PERC or CERC hardware RAID controller
is listed under SCSI and RAID Devices, the system
is configured with
hardware RAID.
If a PERC or CERC hardware RAID controller
is not listed under SCSI and RAID Devices,
the system is configured with
software RAID.