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Controllers
Dell™OpenManage™ServerAdministratorStorageManagementUser'sGuide
This section describes the controllers supported by Storage Management as well as the different controller features.
What is a Controller?
Most operating systems do not read and write data directly from the disks, but instead send read and write instructions to a controller. The controller is the
hardware in your system that interacts directly with the disks to write and retrieve data. A controller has connectors (channels or ports) which are attached to
one or more physical disks or an enclosure containing physical disks. RAID controllers can span the boundaries of the disks so as to create an extended
amount of storage space – or a virtual disk – using the capacity of more than one disk.
Controllers also perform other tasks, such as initiating rebuilds, initializing disks, and so on. To complete their tasks, controllers require special software known
as firmware and drivers. In order to function properly, the controller must have the minimum required version of the firmware and drivers installed.
Storage Management supports different types of controllers. If your system has a supported controller, the controller is displayed by expanding the Storage
object in the tree view. You can select the controller to display tabs for executing controller tasks and viewing controller properties.
Different controllers have different characteristics in the way they read and write data and execute tasks. It is helpful to understand these features to most
efficiently manage your storage. The following sections describe the supported controllers and their features.
RAID Controller Technology: SAS
Storage Management supports RAID controllers using SAS technology. This section indicates which technology the supported RAID controllers use. For more
information on these controllers, see "Supported Features" and the controller hardware documentation.
SAS RAID Controllers
The following RAID controllers use Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) technology.
l PERC 5/E
l PERC 5/i Integrated
l PERC 5/i Adapter
l SAS 5/iR Integrated
l SAS 5/iR Adapter
What is a Controller?
RAID Controller Technology: SAS
RAID Controller Features
Controller-supported RAID Levels
Controller-supported Stripe Sizes
RAID Controller Read, Write, Cache, and Disk Cache Policy
Non-RAID Controller Description
Firmware/Driver Versions
Controller Health
Controller Properties and Tasks
Set Rebuild Rate
Reset Configuration
Export Log
Foreign Configuration Operations
Importing Foreign Configurations
Importing/Recovering Foreign Configurations
Clear Foreign Configuration
Physical Disks in Foreign Virtual Disks
Set Background Initialization Rate
Set Check Consistency Rate
Set Reconstruct Rate
Redundant Path Configuration
Set Patrol Read Mode
Start and Stop Patrol Read
Change Controller Properties
Manage Preserved Cache