The PERC 4 RAID controller is a high-performance, intelligent peripheral component interconnect (PCI) and PCI-Express to Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) host adapter with RAID control capabilities. It provides reliable fault-tolerant disk subsystem management and is an ideal RAID solution for internal storage in Dell's™ PowerEdge™ enterprise systems. The RAID controller offers a cost-effective way to implement RAID in a server.
PERC 4 controllers are available with one or two SCSI channels using PCI or PCI-Express input/output (I/O) architecture:
PERC 4/SC (single channel) provides one SCSI channel and PCI architecture
PERC 4/DC (dual channel) provides two SCSI channels and PCI architecture
PERC 4e/DC (dual channel) provides two SCSI channels and PCI-Express architecture
PCI and PCI-Express are I/O architectures designed to increase data transfers without slowing down the central processing unit (CPU). PCI-Express goes beyond the PCI specification in that it is intended as a unifying I/O architecture for various systems: desktops, workstations, mobile, server, communications, and embedded devices.
Your RAID controller supports a low-voltage differential (LVD) SCSI
bus. Using LVD, you can use cables up to 12 meters long. Throughput on each SCSI channel can be as high as 320 MB/sec.
Documentation
The technical documentation set includes
Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller 4/SC, 4/DC, and 4e/DC User's Guide, which contains information about installation of the RAID controller, general introductory information about RAID, RAID system planning, configuration information, and software utility programs.
CERC and PERC RAID Controllers Operating System Driver Installation Guide, which contains the information you need to install the appropriate operating system software drivers.
