2.5-inch drive backplane cable routing
Use the section to understand the cable routing for the 2.5-inch drive backplane.
Connections between connectors; 1↔1, 2↔2, 3↔3, ... n↔n
The Cable PN or FRU PN can be found on the label attached to the cable.
When routing the cables, make sure that all cables are routed appropriately through the corresponding cable guides and cable clips.
The illustrations in this section use the HL PCIe riser as an example for PCIe riser 1 and 3, the routing is the same for the FL PCIe riser.
AnyBay backplanes are used as NVMe backplanes when no RAID/HBA adapters are installed.
AnyBay backplanes currently support NVMe drives only. Support for SAS/SATA drives or NVMe + SAS/SATA drives will be enabled via a firmware update in Q4 of 2025.
Power cable routing
 |
| From (Backplane) | To (System board assembly) | Cable |
|---|---|---|
1 BP1: PWR | 1 BP3 PWR | 6P+6S to 6P+6S (150 mm) |
2 BP2: PWR | 2 BP5 PWR | 6P+6S to 6P+6S (150 mm) |
3 BP3: PWR | 3 BP8 PWR | 6P+6S to 6P+6S (150 mm) |
NVMe cable routing
| BP 1 NVMe cable routing | BP 2 NVMe cable routing | BP 3 NVMe cable routing |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| From (Backplane) | To (System board assembly) | Cable |
|---|---|---|
| 1a BP1: NVMe 0-1 | 1a NVMe 10 | MCIO x8 to MCIO x8 (420 mm) |
| 1b BP1: NVMe 2-3 | 1b NVMe 9 | MCIO x8 to MCIO x8 (420 mm) |
| 1c BP1: NVMe 4-5 | 1c NVMe 1 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 1d BP1: NVMe 6-7 | 1d NVMe 2 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 2a BP2: NVMe 0-1 | 2a NVMe 3 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 2b BP2: NVMe 2-3 | 2b NVMe 4 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 2c BP2: NVMe 4-5 | 2c NVMe 5 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 2d BP2: NVMe 6-7 | 2d NVMe 6 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 3a BP3: NVMe 0-1 | 3a NVMe 7 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 3b BP3: NVMe 2-3 | 3b NVMe 8 | Swift x8 to MCIO x8 (150 mm) |
| 3c BP3: NVMe 4-5 | 3c NVMe 12 | MCIO x8 to MCIO x8 (420 mm) |
| 3d BP3: NVMe 6-7 | 3d NVMe 11 | MCIO x8 to MCIO x8 (420 mm) |
SAS/SATA cable routing (three risers)
Based on the location of the adapter, select the corresponding routing path for SAS/SATA cable from the following table.
| SAS/SATA cable routing to riser 3 | SAS/SATA cable routing to riser 2 | SAS/SATA cable routing to riser 1 |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| From (Backplane) | To (RAID/HBA adapter) | Cable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 BP1: SAS | 1
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |
| 2 BP2: SAS | 2
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |
| 3 BP3: SAS | 3
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |
SAS/SATA cable routing (four risers)
Based on the location of the adapter, select the corresponding routing path for SAS/SATA cable from the following table.
| SAS/SATA cable routing to riser A | SAS/SATA cable routing to riser B |
|---|---|
 |  |
| SAS/SATA cable routing to riser C | SAS/SATA cable routing to riser D |
 |  |
| From (Backplane) | To (RAID/HBA adapter) | Cable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 BP1: SAS | 1
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |
| 2 BP2: SAS | 2
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |
| 3 BP3: SAS | 3
| SlimSAS x8 to SlimSAS x8 (1020 mm) |