M.2 drive backplane

This topic provides cable routing information for the M.2 drive backplane.

Based on different drive types, the M.2 drive backplanes differ. Thus cables, connector layout and the cable routing are also different.

The server supports the following M.2 drive backplanes (enablement kits):

1	ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/NVMe 2-Bay Enablement Kit
2	ThinkSystem M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Enablement Kit
3	ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Enablement Kit
4	ThinkSystem M.2 RAID B540i-2i SATA/NVMe Enablement Kit

ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/NVMe 2-Bay Enablement Kit​

Figure 1. NVMe cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and signal connectors on the system board assembly

Figure 2. SATA cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and PCIe 8 connectors on the system board assembly

Figure 3. RAID cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power connector on the system board assembly, and riser 1 RAID adapter

ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Enablement Kit​

Figure 4. SATA/NVMe cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 power cable		1 M.2 power connector on the system board assembly
2 M.2 signal cable		2 PCIe connector 8 on the system board assembly

Figure 5. RAID cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 power cable		1 M.2 power connector on the system board assembly
2 M.2 signal cable		2 Riser 1 RAID adapter

ThinkSystem M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Enablement Kit​

Figure 6. Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and signal connectors on the system board assembly

ThinkSystem M.2 RAID B540i-2i SATA/NVMe Enablement Kit​

Figure 7. Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and signal connectors on the system board assembly

Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane (when 7mm backplane used)​

Figure 8. Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane (when 7mm backplane used)

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and PCIe 8 connectors on the system board assembly, and signal connector on 7mm backplane

Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane (in 12x3.5 SAS/SATA config)​

Figure 9. Cable routing for M.2 drive backplane (in 12x3.5 SAS/SATA config)

From		To
1 M.2 drive backplane: power and signal connectors		1 M.2 power and PCIe 8 connectors on the system board assembly, and SAS 2 connector on 12 x 3.5 SAS/SATA backplane