Dell PowerEdge 4600

SCSI/RAID

Embedded SCSI channels

The PowerEdge 4600 system has three SCSI channels on the system board, providing dual Ultra3/LVD (U160) primary channels, and an Ultra2/LVD (U80) secondary channel. Ultra3/LVD is the latest high performance SCSI standard, superseding Ultra2/LVD, and provides peak throughput of up to 160Mb/sec (vs. 80Mb/sec with Ultra2). Dual-Channel 7899W U160 Ultra3/LVD SCSI Controller
The Ultra3/LVD SCSI channels are based on the Adaptec 7899W host adapter IC and supports a dual-channel U160/Ultra3 LVD SCSI bus. The Low-Voltage Differential (LVD) interface utilizes pairs of control and data signals, to permit greater distances between the SCSI controller and the target devices. The primary high speed 64-bit/66MHz primary dual-channel SCSI controller interfaces to selected internal hard drives by means of a 1 x 8 or 2 x 4 SCSI backplane and provides internal RAID support.

Additionally, the PowerEdge 4600 provides the option of routing one or both (if unused internally) of the Ultra3/LVD channels externally through the two SCSI ports placed on the rear of the chassis. The Ultra3/LVD interface is fully backward compatible with the previous generation of single-ended Ultra/Wide peripherals. The 7899W allows for future forward compatibility with the Adaptec 7902 U320 SCSI controller IC.

Single-Channel 7890 Ultra2/LVD SCSI Controller
The secondary SCSI channel is based on the Adaptec 7890 chip and supports Ultra2 (Fast-40) speed SCSI transactions. It will interface to Tape Backup Units (TBU) and other SCSI type peripherals via a 2x1 SCSI backplane.

Embedded RAID (PERC3/Di)

The PowerEdge 4600 may be equipped with an optional PERC 3/ Di. The PERC 3/Di is a high-performance, dual-channel Ultra3/LVD RAID solution.

A RAID enabling kit must be purchased from Dell (either at time of system purchase or at a later date) and used to enable the integrated RAID on the PowerEdge 4600. This kit includes a hardware key, software, battery pack (to provide backup to the cache), and 128MB cache memory. Once enabled the embedded hardware uses the onboard Ultra3/LVD SCSI controllers to provide RAID levels 0, 1, 5, & 10. The dual channels on the RAID controller allow a high degree of flexibility in configuring arrays attached to the system.

NOTE: The PERC3/Di does not support clustering.