Back to Contents Page

Introduction

Installation Overview Controller Management Utilities System Requirements Conventions

The DellTMPERC 2 ® RAID Controller provides powerful disk array support in servers that have a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. The PERC 2 has four SCSI Ultra 2 channels, and each channel has the equivalent functionality of a separate SCSI Ultra 2 bus.

This installation guide explains how to install the PERC 2, connect SCSI devices to it, install the PERC 2 device drivers and the Controller Management Software, allowing you to manage the controller and its attached storage devices.

Installation Overview

The following steps are required to install the PERC 2 hardware and software:

  1. Install the hardware:
    For more information, see Installing the Hardware.
  2. Optionally create and configure containers using the PERC 2 BIOS.
    For more information, see Using the BIOS Container Configuration Utility.
  3. Install the PERC 2 device drivers.
    For more information, see Installing the Device Drivers.
  4. Install the RAID Controller Management Software.
    For more information, see Installing the Controller Management Software.

    Note: Version 2.1 and Version 1.X are incompatible. If you have a V1.X controller in your system and are adding a new controller, you must upgrade the V1.X controller's firmware, drivers, and Controller Management Software to V2.1 (and they must be upgraded as a complete set). For information on how to perform the upgrade, see Performing an Upgrade Installation.

Controller Management Utilities

The PERC 2 supports the following management utilities:

System Requirements

The following are the minimum system requirements for the PERC 2:

Conventions

This document uses the following typographic conventions:

bold
Used for key names (... press the Enter key ...) and for options you are told to select (... select Configure SCSI Channels...).
Helvetica
Used for screen messages (...Save changes?...) and for text that must be typed exactly as shown.
Helvetica Italics
Used for program and file names when referenced in the text (... these changes are made to the config.sys file...).

This document includes three kinds of advisories:

Note: Notes are reminders, tips, or suggestions that might simplify the procedures included in this document.

Caution: Cautions alert you to actions that might cause damage to your system or your data.

WARNING: Warnings alert you to actions that might cause injury to you or someone else.

To avoid injury to people or damage to equipment and data, be sure to follow the cautions and warnings in this document. Dell does not claim to have included in this document every condition or situation that might require a caution or warning notice. Be sure to consult the documentation for your computer and any connected equipment when you are installing the equipment or changing its configuration.

WARNING: Always use caution when handling electrical equipment!



Back to Contents Page