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PCI Architecture
PERC 5 controllers support a PCI-E x8 host interface. PCI-E is a high-performance I/O bus architecture
designed to increase data transfers without slowing down the Central Processing Unit (CPU). PCI-E goes
beyond the PCI specification and is intended as a unifying I/O architecture for various systems such as,
desktops, workstations, mobiles, server, communications, and embedded devices.
Operating System Support
The PERC 5 controllers support the following operating systems:
®
•
Microsoft
Windows
•
Windows Server
•
Windows Server 2003 DataCenter
•
Windows XP
•
Windows Vista™
®
•
Red Hat
Enterprise Linux
®
•
SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server 9 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
NOTE:
See driver release on www.dell.com for specific operating system service pack requirements.
NOTE:
Microsoft Windows XP is supported with a PERC 5 controller only when the controller is installed in a
Dell Precision™ workstation.
NOTE:
See the system documentation located at the Dell Support website at support.dell.com for the latest list of
supported operating systems and driver installation instructions.
RAID Description
RAID is a group of multiple independent physical disks that provide high performance by increasing the
number of drives used for saving and accessing data. A RAID disk subsystem improves input/output
(I/O) performance and data availability. The physical disk group appears to the host system as either a
single storage unit or multiple logical units. Data throughput improves because several disks are accessed
simultaneously. RAID systems also improve data storage availability and fault tolerance. Data loss caused
by a physical disk failure can be recovered by rebuilding missing data from the remaining data or parity
physical disks.
NOTICE:
In the event of a physical disk failure, you cannot rebuild data on a RAID 0 virtual disk.
Summary of RAID Levels
RAID 0 uses disk striping to provide high data throughput, especially for large files in an environment
that requires no data redundancy.
12
Overview
®
2000 Server family
®
2003 (includes Standard, Enterprise, and Small Business Servers)
®
3, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
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