PERC

Daughter Card PERC

The Daughter Card PERC (PowerEdge RAID Controller) is an essential hardware component used to enhance the functionality and performance of server systems. These cards are designed to provide additional expansion options, connectivity, and RAID capabilities for enterprise-level servers, enabling them to handle demanding workloads efficiently. PERC Daughter Cards come in a variety of configurations, offering a wide range of features for users who require advanced storage solutions. This category contains a selection of daughter cards designed to meet the needs of different server setups, with varying capabilities for connectivity, speed, and storage management.

PERC

A Daughter Card PERC is an expansion card attached to a base controller that provides additional RAID and storage functionality. It acts as an extension of the main PERC card, offering additional ports for drives, support for higher-capacity storage arrays, or advanced RAID features like redundancy, data protection, and hot-swapping. The term “daughter card” refers to its role as an auxiliary component connected to a primary card, working in tandem to manage storage resources across multiple drives in a server system.

Key Features

• Enhanced RAID Support: Daughter Cards typically extend the capabilities of the base RAID controller, supporting RAID levels such as 0, 1, 5, 10, and more advanced configurations like RAID 50 and RAID 60.
• Scalability: These cards allow for the addition of more drives to a RAID array, enabling users to scale their storage capacity without replacing the entire controller.
• Data Protection: With features like disk mirroring and parity, Daughter Card PERCs ensure the safety of critical data by providing redundancy and minimizing the risk of data loss due to drive failure.
• Improved Performance: By offloading storage-related tasks from the server’s main CPU, these cards can significantly boost overall system performance, especially in high-demand environments.
• Hot Swap and Hot Spare Capabilities: Many PERC Daughter Cards support hot swapping of drives, meaning they can be replaced or added without powering down the server, leading to minimal downtime.

Types of Daughter Card PERC

Standard PERC Daughter Cards

Standard Daughter Cards PERC are the most common type of expansion cards used in servers. These cards are designed to provide basic RAID functionality, typically supporting RAID levels 0, 1, and 10. Standard PERC Daughter Cards are suitable for small to medium-sized enterprises or situations where advanced RAID features like RAID 5 or 6 are not required. They provide a cost-effective solution for users who need reliable storage performance without excessive complexity.

Advanced PERC Daughter Cards

Advanced Daughter Cards PERC, also referred to as “high-end” or “enterprise” cards, offer advanced features, including support for RAID 5, 6, 50, 60, and additional storage management features such as SSD caching, disk encryption, and enhanced data security. These cards are typically used in large-scale server deployments where high availability, high throughput, and fault tolerance are critical. They are perfect for environments like data centers, cloud services, and enterprise-level applications where performance and uptime are top priorities.

Enhanced Storage Performance with Advanced PERC Cards

Advanced PERC Daughter Cards provide users with higher throughput, better load balancing, and improved fault tolerance. These cards come with dedicated processors that offload RAID and storage-related tasks from the main server CPU. By doing so, they ensure that server resources are better allocated to other tasks, enhancing overall performance.

Choose Daughter Card PERC for Your Server

Improved Storage Flexibility

One of the primary reasons to opt for Daughter Card PERC is the flexibility it provides. These cards allow users to extend the storage capacity of their servers by adding additional drives without having to replace or upgrade the entire RAID controller. This is particularly useful for growing businesses that need to scale their storage capabilities as their data needs increase.

High Availability and Data Protection

Another key advantage of using Daughter Card PERC is the enhanced data protection it offers. These cards support various RAID levels, ensuring that your data is mirrored, striped, or parity-protected. In the event of a drive failure, the system can recover automatically, reducing downtime and minimizing the risk of data loss. For mission-critical applications, high availability is essential, and Daughter Card PERCs deliver that level of reliability.

Compatibility

Supported Server Models

Daughter Card PERCs are compatible with a wide range of server models, particularly Dell PowerEdge servers. These cards are designed to work seamlessly with various versions of PowerEdge servers, providing flexible storage expansion and enhanced RAID functionality. Whether you are using an older model or a more recent release, there is likely a compatible Daughter Card PERC that can meet your storage requirements.

Integration with Storage Arrays

Daughter Card PERCs are also capable of integrating with external storage arrays, allowing users to extend their storage capacities beyond the internal hard drives. This can be crucial in large-scale environments where thousands of terabytes of storage are required. By adding a Daughter Card PERC, you can easily connect and manage multiple storage arrays, streamlining the storage management process.

Operating System Compatibility

Daughter Card PERCs are compatible with various operating systems, including Linux, Windows Server, and VMware. This ensures that the cards can be integrated into a broad spectrum of environments, regardless of the platform being used. Proper OS support is critical for ensuring that users can fully leverage the features and capabilities of the Daughter Card PERC in their specific system setup.

Configuring Daughter Card PERC

Software Configuration

After installation, configuring the Daughter Card PERC often requires setting up the RAID arrays using the associated management software. Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is a popular tool for configuring and monitoring RAID controllers, including Daughter Card PERCs. This software allows users to create, manage, and monitor their RAID volumes with ease, ensuring the card functions correctly and delivers optimal storage performance.

RAID Management and Monitoring

RAID management software provides users with the tools to monitor the health of their storage arrays, detect potential issues, and configure additional settings like caching, redundancy, and disk spares. By leveraging these tools, users can ensure that their RAID setup is optimized for performance and redundancy.