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Install the 8 x 2.5" drive backplane and drive cage

Use this information to install 2.5-inch 8-bay drive backplane and drive cage.

About this task

Attention

  • Read Installation Guidelines and Safety inspection checklist to ensure that you work safely.

  • Power off the server and peripheral devices and disconnect the power cords and all external cables. See Power off the server.

  • Prevent exposure to static electricity, which might lead to system halt and loss of data, by keeping static-sensitive components in their static-protective packages until installation, and handling these devices with an electrostatic-discharge wrist strap or other grounding system.

  • The rear drive cage is supported on some server models with thermal requirements. See Thermal rules to ensure that the server is under permitted ambient temperature and the correct heat sink and system fans are used. If needed, replace your heat sink or system fan first.

Procedure

  1. Touch the static-protective package that contains the new part to any unpainted surface on the outside of the server. Then, take the new part out of the package and place it on a static-protective surface.
  2. Connect cables to the drive backplane. See Internal cable routing.
  3. Install the drive backplane into the rear drive cage.
    Figure 1. Installing the 8 x 2.5-inch rear drive backplane
    Installing the 8 x 2.5-inch rear drive backplane
    1. Align the pins of the backplane with the holes at both sides of the drive cage.
    2. Lower the backplane into the drive cage so that the pins of the backplane pass through the holes on the drive cage, and press the backplane into position.
  4. Install the rear drive cage.
    Figure 2. Installing the 8 x 2.5-inch rear drive cage
    Installing the 8 x 2.5-inch rear drive cage
    1. Align the rear drive cage with the chassis, and lower the drive cage into the chassis. Move the rear drive cage forward until it clicks into position.
    2. Twist and release the blue plunger to secure the drive cage in place.
  5. Connect cables from the drive backplanes to the system board or RAID/HBA adapters. See Internal cable routing.

After you finish

  1. Reinstall the drives or drive fillers into the rear drive cage. See Install a hot-swap drive.

  2. Complete the parts replacement. See Complete the parts replacement.

Demo video

Watch the procedure on YouTube