PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter (FC EL3B; CCIN 57B4)

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 disk and SAS tape 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. SAS tape attachment is only supported in a single adapter configuration and cannot be mixed with SAS disk on the same adapter. 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.

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. Specific AE1 or YE1 SAS cable features are required for SAS Tape attachment. 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
• Removable media device (SAS Tape) are supported in a single controller configuration only and cannot be combined with disk devices attached to the same adapter. Removable media is not supported in multi-initiator and high availability (dual storage IOA) configurations
• 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.