PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb (FC EL3V; CCIN 57D7)
Learn about the specifications and operating system requirements for the PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb (CCIN 57D7) that is integrated with the storage backplane (feature code (FC) EL3T) in the 8247-21L or 8247-22L. Adding of another PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb (FC EL3V) enables the storage backplane to be configured as a split storage backplane in the 8247-21L or 8247-22L.
Overview
The PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb is an internal PCI Express generation-3 (PCIe3), serial-attached SCSI (SAS) Random Array of Independent Disks (RAID) adapter that is integrated in the 8247-21L or 8247-22L. The PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb is a composite feature of the storage backplane FC EL3T. The adapter contains the SAS RAID controller and SAS Expander ports. The PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb is preinstalled in the dedicated internal PCIe3, x8 slot P1-C14 in the 8247-21L or 8247-22L
The PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb does not have a non-volatile write cache. However, Linux customers can take advantage of a volatile adapter write cache of up to 1 Gb (compressed) for improved performance. This support is available with the 2.4.10 version of iprutils available from the IBM Linux Power Tools Repository and with the latest adapter firmware available from the Fix Central website
This configuration of the storage backplane in the 8247-21L or 8247-22L with one PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb supports 12 numbers of 6.35 cm (2.5 inches) , small form-factor (SFF) hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs). FC EL3T also supports a slim DVD bay. The PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb supports the drives to be used as just-a-bunch of disks (JBOD) or as a RAID. The supported RAID is RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10. Two mini-SAS HD cables connect the PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb to the two SAS ports on the storage backplane. This configuration with one PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb does not split the disks in the storage backplane.
To enable the split storage backplane, another PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb (FC EL3V) must be installed in the other dedicated internal PCIe3, x8 slot P1-C15. The same backplane as in FC EL3T is used in the split storage backplane configuration. The two mini-SAS HD cables connect each of the PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb to the two SAS ports on the storage backplane. The 12 drives are then split into two sets of six drives (HDDs or SSDs), each controlled by one PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb. The split storage backplane configuration supports the drives to be used as just-a-bunch of disks (JBOD) or as a RAID. The supported RAID is RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10. The second PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb in slot P1-C15 controls the slim DVD bay. The split storage backplane does not support the mixing of HDDs and SSDs in the same RAID.
Systems running the Linux operating system support both adapters RAID controllers that are owned by the same or different partitions. The controllers provide RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10 configurations for systems that are running the Linux operating system. Linux also provide mirroring (logical volume manager (LVM)) capabilities.
Figure 1 shows the PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6Gb.
Specifications
- Item
- Description
- Adapter CCIN number
- 57D7
- I/O bus architecture
- PCIe3 x8
- Slot requirement
- Internal PCIe3 slot with x16 connector and x8 bus signaling per adapter.
- Base configuration: Adapter is preinstalled in slot P1-C14.
- Split storage backplane configuration: Second adapter is installed in slot P1-C15.
- Cables
- Two mini-SAS HD cables that are supplied with the adapter.
- Voltage
- 12 V
Operating system or partition requirements
- Linux
- Bare Metal Systems (Indicated by FC EC16)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 7.2, little-endian, or later
- Ubuntu Server 16.04, or later
- Ubuntu Server 14.04.3, or later
- IBM PowerKVM 3.1 Systems (Indicated by FC EC40) or PowerKVM 2.1 (Indicated by FC EC20)
- Virtualized resources to Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, and Ubuntu Server
- Other environments
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 7, or later
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 6.5, or later, with current maintenance updates available from Red Hat.
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, or later
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, Service Pack 3, or later, with current maintenance updates available from SUSE.
- Ubuntu Server 16.04, or later
- Ubuntu Server 14.04.3, or later
- For support details, see the Linux Alert website.
