Backplane installation rules and order
This section contains information on the backplane installation rules and order.
2.5-inch drive backplane
Note
- When one or more of the following components are installed in the system, the maximum number of supported backplanes is two (sixteen 2.5-inch drives).
- ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx 100GbE QSFP56 2-port PCIe Ethernet Adapter
- ThinkSystem Nvidia ConnectX-7 NDR200/HDR QSFP112 2-Port PCIe Gen5 x16 InfiniBand Adapter
- ThinkSystem Nvidia ConnectX-7 NDR400 OSFP 1-Port PCIe Gen5 Adapter
- ThinkSystem 96GB TruDDR5 6400MHz (2Rx4) 10x4 RDIMM
- ThinkSystem 128GB TruDDR5 6400MHz (2Rx4) RDIMM
- When ThinkSystem 256GB TruDDR5 6400MHz (4Rx4) 3DS RDIMM is installed in the system, the maximum number of supported backplanes is one (eight 2.5-inch drives).
- 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.
The server supports up to three 2.5-inch drive backplanes with the following corresponding drive backplane numbers.
Figure 1. 2.5-inch drive backplane numbering
| Backplane | Drive bay |
|---|---|
| 1 Backplane 1 | 0 to 7 |
| 2 Backplane 2 | 8 to 15 |
| 3 Backplane 3 | 16 to 23 |
Note
2.5-inch SAS/SATA drive backplanes support 2.5-inch SAS/SATA drives.
2.5-inch AnyBay drive backplanes support 2.5-inch NVMe drives.
| Installation priority | Backplane type | Backplane placement priority |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.5-inch AnyBay 8-bay drive backplane | 1, 3, 2 |
| 2 | 2.5-inch SAS/SATA 8-bay drive backplane | 1, 2, 3 |
| Backplanes | 2.5-inch drives | U.3 | Controller | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS/SATA | Anybay | NVMe | Anybay | ||
1 x SAS/SATA | 8 | 8i | |||
| 8 | 16i | ||||
2 x SAS/SATA | 16 | 16i | |||
3 x SAS/SATA | 24 | 8i + 16i | |||
1 x Anybay | 8 | Onboard NVMe | |||
| 8 | 8i (Tri-mode) | ||||
| 8 | 16i (Tri-mode) | ||||
1 x Anybay + 1 x SAS/SATA | 8 | 8 | Onboard NVMe + 16i | ||
1 x Anybay + 2 x SAS/SATA | 16 | 8 | Onboard NVMe + 8i + 16i | ||
2 x Anybay | 16 | Onboard NVMe | |||
| 16 | 16i (Tri-mode) | ||||
2 x Anybay + 1 x SAS/SATA | 8 | 16 | Onboard NVMe + 8i + 16i | ||
3 x Anybay | 24 | Onboard NVMe | |||
E3.S backplanes
The server supports up to eight E3.S backplanes with the following corresponding backplane numbers.
Figure 2. E3.S backplane numbering
| Backplane | E3.S 1T bay | E3.S 2T bay |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Backplane 1 | 0 to 3 | 1, 3 |
| 2 Backplane 2 | 4 to 7 | 5, 7 |
| 3 Backplane 3 | 8 to 11 | 9, 11 |
| 4 Backplane 4 | 12 to 15 | 13, 15 |
| 5 Backplane 5 | 16 to 19 | 17, 19 |
| 6 Backplane 6 | 20 to 23 | 21, 23 |
| 7 Backplane 7 | 24 to 27 | 25, 27 |
| 8 Backplane 8 | 28 to 31 | 29, 31 |
Note
- E3.S 1T bays support E3.S 1T drives
- E3.S 2T bays support E3.S 2T CMMs
| Installation priority | Backplane placement priority |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| 2 | 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Backplanes | E3.S 1T drives | E3.S 2T CMMs | Controller |
|---|---|---|---|
2 x EDSFF with E3.S 1T cage | 8 | Onboard NVMe | |
4 x EDSFF with E3.S 1T cage | 16 | Onboard NVMe | |
6 x EDSFF with E3.S 1T cage | 24 | Onboard NVMe | |
8 x EDSFF with E3.S 1T cage | 32 | Onboard NVMe | |
8 x EDSFF with E3.S 2T cage | 16 | Onboard NVMe |
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