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Cable routing for 2.5-inch drives

Use this section to understand how to route cables for 2.5-inch drives.

Following is the list of combinations of cable routing for 2.5-inch drives.

Important

  1. Make sure all the signal cables go through the cable guides.

    Figure 1. Cable guide locations


  2. Connect the direct NVMe signal cables to the NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray.
    Figure 2. Connecting NVMe cables to the processor and memory expansion tray


Before starting cable routing for 2.5-inch drives:

  1. Remove the fan cage assembly (see Remove the fan cage assembly).

  2. Remove the processor and memory expansion tray and the expansion tray air baffle (see Remove the processor and memory expansion tray).

Connecting power cable​

Connect power cables for drive backplanes as in the following illustration.

Figure 3. Location of power cable connectors on the system board


Table 1. Power cable connectors on the system board and the drive backplanes
1 Power cable connector on the system board3 Power cable connector on the drive backplane
2 Power cable connector on the system board4 Power cable connector on the drive backplane
Two types of drive backplanes are supported by this system:
  • 2.5-inch SATA/SAS 8-bay backplane (referred to as “8-bay backplane”)
  • 2.5-inch AnyBay 8-bay backplane (referred to as “AnyBay backplane”)

Connecting signal cables to one backplane​

When one backplane is installed, see the following illustrations for cable routing.

One 8-bay backplane​

Figure 4. Cable routing, 8-bay backplane


Table 2. Cables and adapters for routing
1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)2 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)

One AnyBay backplane​

Note
Install the processor and memory expansion tray before connecting the signal cables to NVMe connectors on the expansion tray (see Install the processor and memory expansion tray).
Figure 5. Cable routing, AnyBay backplane


Table 3. Cables and adapters for routing
1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)3 Direct NVMe signal cables for processor and memory expansion tray
2 NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray4 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)

Connecting signal cables to two backplanes​

When two backplanes are installed, see the following illustrations for cable routing.

8-bay backplane + 8-bay backplane​

Two options are available for this combination:

  1. With SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)

    Figure 6. Cable routing, 8-bay backplane + 8-bay backplane


    Table 4. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)3 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    2 SATA/SAS signal cables (900 mm) 

  2. With SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)

    Figure 7. Cable routing, 8-bay backplane + 8-bay backplane


    Table 5. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)3 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    2 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)4 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)

8-bay backplane + AnyBay backplane​

Note
  • When installing a 8-bay backplane and a AnyBay backplane, always install the 8-bay backplane to drive bay 0-7, and the AnyBay backplane to drive bay 8-15.
  • Install the processor and memory expansion tray before connecting the signal cables to NVMe connectors on the expansion tray (see Install the processor and memory expansion tray).

Two options are available for this combination:

  1. With SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)

    Figure 8. Cable routing, 8-bay backplane + AnyBay backplane


    Table 6. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)4 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    2 NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray5 SATA/SAS signal cables (900 mm)
    3 Direct NVMe signal cables for processor and memory expansion tray 

  2. With SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)

    Figure 9. Cable routing, 8-bay backplane + AnyBay backplane


    Table 7. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)4 Direct NVMe signal cables for processor and memory expansion tray
    2 NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray5 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    3 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)6 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)

AnyBay backplane + AnyBay backplane​

Two options are available for this combination:

Note
Install the processor and memory expansion tray before connecting the signal cables to NVMe connectors on the expansion tray (see Install the processor and memory expansion tray).

  1. With one SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)

    Figure 10. Cable routing, AnyBay backplane + AnyBay backplane


    Table 8. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 PCIe switch card5 SATA/SAS signal cables (900 mm)
    2 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (16i)6 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    3 NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray7 NVMe signal cables for PCIe switch card
    4 Direct NVMe signal cables for processor and memory expansion tray 

  2. With two SATA/SAS RAID adapters (8i)

    Figure 11. Cable routing, AnyBay backplane + AnyBay backplane


    Table 9. Cables and adapters for routing
    1 PCIe switch card5 Direct NVMe signal cables for processor and memory expansion tray
    2 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)6 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    3 NVMe connectors on the processor and memory expansion tray7 SATA/SAS signal cables (720 mm)
    4 SATA/SAS RAID adapter (8i)8 NVMe signal cables for PCIe switch card