User's Manual

Physical Disks or Physical Devices 189

Physical Disks or Physical Devices

Physical disks or physical devices reside within an enclosure or are attached to

the controller. On a RAID controller, physical disks or devices are used to

create virtual disks.

Guidelines to Replace a Physical Disk or

Physical Device

A replacement disk may not always be the same model as the physical disks or

devices in the storage enclosure. Use the following guidelines when replacing

a disk:

• A drive within an array may be replaced with a drive of equal or greater

capacity.

• Consider the bus speed while replacing a drive. Dell supports replacing

drives with equal or greater bus speeds within the same array. You can use

both 3-GB and 6-GB drives in the same array. It is not recommended to

replace a 6-GB drive with a 3-GB drive. Although it is fully functional, the

performance could be impacted. Dell supports replacing 3-GB drives with

6-GB drives. This occurs more frequently as legacy parts are depleted and

warranty service is required.

• Also consider the RPM while replacing a drive. Dell supports replacing

drives with equal or greater spindle speeds within the same array. You can

use both 10000 RPM and 15000 RPM drives in the same enclosure. It is

not recommended to replace a 15000 RPM drive with a 10000 RPM drive.

Although it is fully functional, the performance could be impacted. Dell

supports replacing 10000 RPM drives with 15000 RPM drives. This

scenario occurs while replacing parts from service inventory due to part

unavailability.

• Dell supports SAS and SATA drives on the same backplane but not within

the same Virtual Disk.

• Dell supports Solid State Disks and Hard Disk Drives on the same

backplane but not within the same Virtual Disk.