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Installing drives

The types of drives that the server supports are described in this section.

The following notes describe the type of drives that the server supports and other information that you must consider when you install a drive. For a list of supported drives, see Lenovo ServerProven website.

  • Locate the documentation that comes with the drive and follow those instructions in addition to the instructions in this chapter.
  • The server supports one optional ultra-slim SATA CD-RW/DVD-ROM optical drive.
  • The server can support up to 16 2.5-inch drives, up to 32 1.8-inch drives, or a combination of both 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch hot-swap drives, when you use the supported SAS/SATA backplane configurations and/or required RAID Option Adapter additions. The server supports 2.5-inch hot-swap SAS or hot-swap SATA hard disk drives, 2.5-inch hot-swap SATA solid state drives, and 1.8-inch hot-swap SATA solid state drives (see Supported SAS/SATA drive backplane configurations for more information).
  • You can mix 2.5-inch hot-swap SAS and SATA hard disk drives, 2.5-inch hot-swap SATA solid-state drives, and 1.8-inch hot-swap SATA solid-state drives in the same server as long as you use the same type of drives within the same array.
  • When you are upgrading drive backplane configurations, you must install all 1.8-inch solid state drive backplanes to the right of all 2.5-inch hard disk drive or 2.5-inch solid state drive backplanes. All 2.5-inch backplanes must be installed to the left of all 1.8-inch backplanes. See Drive IDs for drive ID assignment information and Supported SAS/SATA drive backplane configurations for information about the combination of supported drive backplane configurations.
  • The 8x2.5-inch hot-swap drive backplane with controller expander must be installed in backplane bays 3 and 4. See Connecting the SAS cables for more information about cabling the SAS cables.
  • The electromagnetic interference (EMI) integrity and cooling of the server are protected by having all bays and PCIe slots covered or occupied. When you install a drive, save the EMC shield and filler panel from the bay in the event that you later remove the device.