support.dell.com Cluster SE300 and SL300 Platform Guide 1-5
Adding Peripherals Required for PowerEdge 2450
Cluster Nodes
WARNING: Hardware installation should be performed only by trained
service technicians. Before working inside the computer system, see the
safety instructions in your PowerEdge System Information document to
avoid a situation that could cause serious injury or death.
The following list provides PCI slot assignment information for the system’s buses,
RAID controllers, NICs, and DRAC.
• PCI buses
— PCI bus 1: PCI slots 1 through 3 are 32-bit, 33-MHz.
• RAID controllers
— RAID controllers can be installed in any available PCI slot.
— If you use multiple RAID controllers and there are slots available, Dell recom-
mends installing the RAID controllers on separate PCI buses to balance the
load on the system.
• NICs
— NICs can be installed in any available PCI slot. Dell recommends that Giganet
cLAN adapters be installed in PCI slots 1 or 2.
— Dell recommends that Giganet cLAN adapters be installed in 64-bit slots.
• DRAC
— If you are currently using a DRAC or plan to use one in the future, install it in
PCI slot 2.
NOTES: If you plan to use a DRAC, one PCI slot is available for a PERC 3/DC RAID
controller for shared storage.
To make sure that the SCSI or RAID controller attached to the boot drives initializes
first, you might have to change the scan order of the PCI bus, if the BIOS supports
this option, or change the order of the RAID, NIC, and DRAC. Performing these tasks
ensures that the Windows operating system numbers the boot drives in the proper
sequence.