A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR OPTIMIZING DELL™ MD1000 SAS SOLUTIONS  VER A00 
PAGE 9    5/06/2005 
For the latest information on support for specific physical disks, see the Dell Storage web site at: 
http://www.us.dell.com/storage/ 
3
rd
 Party Hardware support 
To help provide the best possible customer experience, Dell supports only hardware purchased 
direct from Dell for the PowerVault MD1000 and PERC 5/E controller.  Dell-developed server and 
storage solutions include many thousands of person-hours of engineering testing and validation to 
help ensure the highest product quality. For example, physical disks purchased direct from Dell 
may include features not generally available to the rest of the industry.  As such, Dell supports only 
Dell tested and qualified hardware. Hardware purchased direct from Dell carries the full Dell 
system limited warranty
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 and helps ensure full compatibility. Materials purchased from 3
rd
 party 
vendors for use in Dell systems are not covered under Dell’s limited warranty and may not deliver 
an acceptable customer experience. 
Server Support 
The PowerVault MD1000 storage enclosure and PERC 5/E solution are supported on the 
PowerEdge 1850, 2850, 6800, and 6850 servers. 
 
4.  PowerVault MD1000 Storage Enclosure Details 
Enclosure Modes  
The enclosure can be set to either unified or split mode through the use of a two-position switch 
located on the front panel of the enclosure. The enclosure can be configured into the selected 
mode only at power up. Any changes to the mode switch made while the enclosure is powered on 
will not take effect until the enclosure is powered off and back on again.  
 
Note: Any time you power on the PowerVault MD1000 storage enclosure, ensure the mode switch 
is set in the desired position. If the position of the switch changes inadvertently, data loss could 
occur as the controller may recognize an inaccurate number of attached physical disks versus the 
previous mode. In order to cycle power on your MD1000, all attached servers, must be turned off. 
 
 
Unified Topology  
In unified mode, a single server has access to all fifteen physical disks in the PowerVault MD1000 
storage enclosure through a single SAS cable. The unified mode can also provide a single server 
access to a maximum of forty five physical disks by daisy-chaining up to three enclosures from a 
single host port. The main advantage of unified mode is that it provides a high degree of physical 
disk scalability. 
 
 
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   For a copy of our guarantees or limited warranties, please write Dell USA L.P., Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round 
Rock, TX 78682. For more information, visit www.dell.com/warranty.