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Supported RAID adapters

Use this information for an overview of the RAID adapters that are supported on the server.

The following table lists the supported RAID adapters. For more information about enabling Features on Demand software RAID, see Enabling Features on Demand RAID software. For more information on installing these adapters, see Storage book and Installing an adapter.
Table 1. Supported RAID adapters and where you can install the adapters..

Three-column table that lists the supported adapters, where to install the adapters, and notes about the adapters

RAID adaptersWhere to install the adapterNotes
ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller for System xThis adapter can be installed in the PCIe slots on the standard I/O book, the half-length I/O book, or the full-length I/O book. These I/O books are accessible from the rear of the server.
Note
If you are using a flash power module with this adapter, the flash power module must be installed in the standard I/O book air baffle.
  • Internal RAID adapter.
  • Eight external 6 Gbps SAS/SATA ports
  • Two external mini-SAS connectors
  • Provides base RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50 (this adapter comes with a cache card installed):
    • With the ServeRAID M5100 Series RAID 6 Upgrade for System x (Features On Demand software RAID) enabled on this adapter, you also get RAID level 6 and 60 support.
  • You can also install the following RAID cache cards on this adapter for RAID levels 5 and 50 support:
    • ServeRAID M5100 Series 512 MB Cache/RAID 5 Upgrade for System x
    • ServeRAID M5100 Series 512 MB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for System x
    • ServeRAID M5100 Series 1 GB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for System x
    Note
    When any one of these three cache cards is installed on this adapter, you can enable the ServeRAID M5100 Series RAID 6 Upgrade for System x (Features On Demand software RAID) to get RAID levels 6 and 60 support. Optionally, the ServeRAID M5100 Series SSD Caching Enabler for System x (Features On Demand software RAID) can be enabled on this adapter to accelerate solid-state drive RAID devices and reduce processing overhead that is associated with caching.
  • A RAID cache card must be installed on this adapter to run the MegaRAID firmware.
  • The adapter supports external cabling.
  • The battery or flash power module must always be mounted in the standard I/O book air baffle.
ServeRAID M5210 SAS/SATA Controller for System xThis adapter can only be installed in the PCIe slots on the storage book. The storage book is accessible from the front of the server.
  • 12 Gb SAS/SATA Internal RAID adapter
  • PCIe Gen 3 x8
  • Provides RAID levels 0, 1, and 10 support
  • 72 bit memory interface for DDR3 memory at 1866 MT/s

For information about the supported Ethernet adapters, see Supported ML2 (Ethernet) adapters. For information about the supported RAID cache cards, see Supported RAID cache cards. For information about the supported host bus adapters, see Supported host bus adapters. For information about the supported Features on Demand software RAID, see Supported Features on Demand software.