Users Guide
About the Shared PERC 8 card
NOTE: Unless noted otherwise, all references to Shared PERC 8 throughout the document see both Internal and External Shared
PERC 8 cards.
The Dell Shared PowerEdge RAID controller (PERC) 8 card is a storage controller designed specically for the Dell PowerEdge VRTX
System. The Shared PERC 8 card supports Single Root Input Output Virtualization (SR-IOV), which allows multiple systems to share
available hardware resources.
The controller allows four server modules to access a local storage. Each server module's operating system (OS) loads a Virtual Function
(VF) driver that allows the server module to communicate with the Shared PERC 8 rmware. Virtual disks on the shared storage can then
be mapped to a server module. From a single-server module, you can only access the virtual disks that are mapped to that server module.
Storage domains are independent on Shared PERC 8 Internal and External cards. That is, the Internal card cannot access disks connected
to an External card and vice versa. However, migration of disks from Shared PERC 8 Internal to External cards is possible as long as they
have the same rmware.
• The Shared PERC 8 Internal card controls the internal storage enclosure on the VRTX chassis. The Shared PERC 8 Internal cards are
connected on the PERC slots labeled PERC1 and PERC2.
Figure 1. Features of Shared PERC 8 Internal card
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Shared PERC Internal card 2 heat sink
3 battery cable 4 battery
• The shared PERC 8 External card extends storage capacity by allowing server modules to access up to two external JBODs. The
Shared PERC 8 External cards are connected through PCIe slots 5 and 6 on the VRTX system. Shared PERC 8 External card will
support MD1200 or MD1220 JBOD.
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6 About the Shared PERC 8 card