PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter (FC EJ0M; CCIN 57B4)

Learn about the specifications and operating system requirements for the feature code (FC) EJ0M adapter.

Overview

The PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter is a PCI Express (PCIe), generation 3, RAID SAS adapter that has a low-profile and short-form factor. The adapter is used in high-performance and high-density, serial attached SCSI (SAS) applications. It supports the attachment of SAS hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state devices (SSDs) by using four mini SAS high-density (HD) x4 connectors that allow the physical links to be used in various narrow and wide-port configurations. The adapter does not have write cache. Figure 1 shows the PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter.

The adapter is a 64 bit, 3.3 V, bootable SAS adapter that provides RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10 capability, and system level mirroring via the operating system. The adapter provides both single and dual RAID controller configurations. Dual controller configurations (dual storage IOA) must run RAID. JBOD (512 byte) functionality is supported only in a single controller configuration based on the operating system. Best performance is achieved when multiple RAID sets are configured and optimized under a pair of adapters in a high availability, multi-initiator RAID configuration (dual storage IOA) which allows for an Active-Active mode of operation.

The adapter supports a maximum of 96 attached disk devices that depends on the drive enclosure attached. A maximum of 48 devices can be solid-state devices (SSDs). Externally attached devices are designed to run at a maximum data rate of 6 Gbps for SAS disk devices. This adapter supports RAID and non-RAID DASD. Specific device attachment support rules apply. This adapter supports the multi-initiator and high availability (dual storage IOA) configurations in AIX®, IBM® i, and Linux partitions. This adapter enables configuring the SAS drives as dedicated hot-spares with equal or higher capacity.

Important: See the SAS RAID controllers for AIX, SAS RAID controllers for IBM i, or SAS RAID controllers for Linux topics for more information and important considerations for multi-initiator and high availability or dual storage IOA configurations

Figure 1 shows the adapter. The connector plug (A) is installed in an empty port and prevents damage to that port whenever a cable for the adjacent port connectors is plugged-in or removed.

Figure 1. PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter

Specifications

Item

Description

Adapter FRU number

000MH910 (Designed to comply with RoHS requirement)

Connector plug part number

00FW784 (The connector plug is installed in an empty port and prevents damage to that port whenever a cable for the adjacent port connectors is plugged-in or removed.)

I/O bus architecture

PCIe 3.0 but compatible to PCIe 2.0 or PCIe 1.0 slots.

Slot requirement

One available PCIe x8 slot per adapter.

Cables

Specific X, YO, AA, or AT SAS cable features with new narrow HD connectors are used to attach to the other adapter or disk expansion drawers.

SAS device attachment requires specific cables that are provided with the subsystem or device features that are being attached. Special cabling is required for multi-initiator and high availability configurations. See Serial attached SCSI cable planning.

Voltage

3.3 V

Form factor

Short, low-profile but packaged for full-height installations.

Maximum number

For details about the maximum number of adapters that are supported, see PCIe adapter placement rules and slot priorities and select the system you are working on.

Attributes

Four external mini SAS HD 4x connectors provide attachment of SAS device enclosures
SAS Serial SCSI Protocol (SSP) and Serial Management Protocol (SMP)
RAID 0, 5, 6, or 10 with hot-spare capability. System level mirroring through the operating system is also supported. JBOD functionality (512 byte) is supported in a single controller configuration only.
Concurrent firmware update
Support for multi-initiator and high availability or single controller configurations

Operating system or partition requirements

If you are installing a new feature, ensure that you have the software that is required to support the new feature and that you determine whether any prerequisites must be met for this feature and attaching devices. To check for the prerequisites, see IBM Prerequisite website.

The adapter is supported on the following versions of the operating systems:

AIX
- AIX 7.1, or later
- AIX 6.1, Technology Level 6, or later
Linux
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 7, or later, with current maintenance updates available from Red Hat.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 6.4, or later, with current maintenance updates available from Red Hat.
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, Service Pack 3, or later, with current maintenance updates available from SUSE.
- The latest version of the device driver or iprutils can be downloaded from the IBM Service and Productivity Tools website.
IBM i
- IBM i Version 7.2 or later
- IBM i Version 7.1, or later

Supported on Firmware level 7.8, or later.

This adapter requires the following drivers:

AIX: devices.pci.14104A0 device driver package

Other important requirements for adapter installation

If you are attaching a new or existing FC 5887 to an FC EJ0M adapter, verify that the latest System Enclosure Services (SES) code is applied to the FC 5887 before attaching to the FC EJ0M adapter, see the IBM Prerequisites website.
If you are migrating existing SAS disk enclosures and devices from existing previous PCIe SAS adapters to PCIe2 or PCIe3 SAS adapters, an automatic sector conversion takes place for use with the new adapters. For information about the migrating procedures, see Upgrading the adapter in the POWER7® IBM Knowledge Center.

Last updated: Thu, June 27, 2019