Dell 10WMN PowerEdge / PowerConnect / PowerVault / EqualLogic Server Hardware / Parts

The Dell 10WMN is a PERC 3 four-channel SCSI RAID controller with 128 MB of cache, in the full length card format used in the PowerEdge 6400.

Four channels is the distinguishing feature. Each channel drives its own SCSI bus, so a controller like this could address several external enclosures as well as the internal backplane, and spread a RAID set across separate buses rather than sharing bandwidth on one. That was how large direct-attached arrays were built before SAS and external SAN storage took over the role.

Two things are worth checking before fitting one. The cache is battery-backed on cards of this type and the battery is invariably dead after this many years, so write-back caching should not be relied on until it is replaced or the policy is set to write-through. And the RAID metadata is written by the controller in its own format, so a replacement card needs to be the same model and ideally the same firmware if it is to import an existing array rather than see unconfigured disks. Tech-Star is UK-based and ships worldwide. Contact our sales team to confirm the card and firmware level.