1 About This GuideThis Installation and User's Guide explains how to install your Adaptec® by PMC™ RAID controller. Italso describes the utilities included in your controller kit, and provides a basic overview of Serial AttachedSCSI (SAS) and Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) technology.These Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI RAID (ASR) controller models are described in this guide:• ASR-6405, ASR-6405E, ASR-6405T• ASR-6445• ASR-6805, ASR-6805Q, ASR-6805E, ASR-6805E R5, ASR-6805T, ASR-6805TQ• ASR-7805, ASR-7805Q• ASR-71605, ASR-71605E, ASR-71605Q• ASR-71685• ASR-72405What You Need to Know Before You BeginYou should be familiar with computer hardware, data storage, RAID technology, and SAS and Serial ATA(SATA) technology. (For more information about SAS technology, see Introduction to SAS on page 69.)You should also be familiar with direct-attached storage (DAS) concepts and technology.Note: Because this guide covers multiple Adaptec RAID products, some of the featuresand functions described may not be available for your controller. For more information,see About Your RAID Controller on page 17.Terminology Used in this GuideBecause you can use your Adaptec RAID controller to manage data storage in a variety of configurations,the generic term “storage space” is used to refer to controller(s) and disk drives being managed withAdaptec maxView Storage Manager™ (called simply maxView Storage Manager in the remainder of thisguide) or the other utilities described in this guide.Many of the terms and concepts referred to in this guide are known to computer users by multiplenames. This guide uses these terms:• Controller (also known as adapter, board, or card)• Disk drive (also known as hard disk, hard drive, or hard disk drive)• Solid State Drive (also known as SSD or non-rotating storage media)• Enclosure (also known as a RAID enclosure, storage enclosure, or disk drive enclosure)• Array (also known as a container, logical device, or logical drive)Note: maxView Storage Manager refers to arrays as logical drives. Your RAIDcontroller creates arrays, which your operating system (and maxView StorageManager) recognizes as logical drives. For more information, refer to the maxViewStorage Manager User’s Guide on the Adaptec Installation DVD.How to Find More InformationYou can find more information about your Adaptec RAID controller and the software and utilities includedwith it by referring to these documents:• Readme.txt—Includes updated product information and known issues; located on the AdaptecInstallation DVD.• maxView Storage Manager User’s Guide—Describes how to install and use the maxView StorageManager software (see About maxView Storage Manager on page 64) to manage your direct attachedstorage; located on the Adaptec Installation DVD.14Proprietary and Confidential to PMC-Sierra, Inc.Document No.: CDP-00277-02-A Rev. A, Issue:Serial Attached SCSI RAID Controllers Installation and User's Guide