4 Features

MegaRAID is a family of high performance intelligent PCI-to-SCSI host adapters with RAID control capabilities. MegaRAID Express 500 has a SCSI channel that supports 160M Ultra and Wide SCSI at data transfer rates up to 160 MB/s. The SCSI channel supports up to 15 Wide devices and up to seven non- Wide devices.

In This Chapter Topics described in this chapter include:

•new features

•configuration features

•hardware architecture features

•array performance features

•RAID management features

•fault tolerance features

•utility programs

•software drivers

SMART Technology The MegaRAID Express 500 Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) detects up to 70% of all predictable drive failures. SMART monitors the internal performance of all motors, heads, and drive electronics.

Configuration on Disk Configuration on Disk (drive roaming) saves configuration information both in NVRAM on MegaRAID Express 500 and on the disk drives connected to MegaRAID Express 500. If MegaRAID Express 500 is replaced, the new MegaRAID Express 500 controller can detect the actual RAID configuration, maintaining the integrity of the data on each drive, even if the drives have changed channel and/or target ID.

Chapter 4 Features

27