Array Functions; Planning The Array Configuration; Table 7-11. Factors To Consider For Array Configuration - Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 3 User Manual

Servers that support Video on Demand typically read the data often, but
write data infrequently. Both the read and write operations tend to be long.
Data stored on a general-purpose file server involves relatively short read
and write operations with relatively small files.

Array Functions

You must first define the major purpose of the disk array. Will this disk array
increase the system storage capacity for general-purpose file and print
servers? Does this disk array support any software system that must be
available 24 hours per day? Will the information stored in this disk array
contains large audio or video files that must be available on demand? Will
this disk array contain data from an imaging system?
You must identify the purpose of the data to be stored in the disk subsystem
before you can confidently choose a RAID level and a RAID configuration.

Planning the Array Configuration

Complete the items in Table 7-11 to help you plan the array configuration.
Ta b l e 7 - 1 1 . Fa c t o r s t o C o n s i d e r f o r A r r a y C o n f i g u r a t i o n
Question
Number of physical disk drives in the array
Purpose of this array. Rank the following factors:
Maximize drive capacity
Maximize the safety of the data (fault tolerance)
Maximize hard drive performance and throughput
How many hot spares?
Amount of cache memory installed on PERC 3
Are all of the disk drives and the server protected by a UPS?
Answer
Configuring PERC 3
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