PCIe3 12 GB Cache RAID + SAS Adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8 (FC EJ14; CCIN 57B1)

Overview

The PCIe3 4-port 12 GB Cache RAID + SAS Adapter is a PCI Express (PCIe) generation 3, x8, single-wide, full-height, short form-factor adapter that provides high-performance capabilities and supports the attachment of SAS hard disk drive (HDD) and SAS solid-state drive (SDD). A pair of FC EJ14 adapters are required to provide additional performance, mirrored write cache data and adapter redundancy. If the FC EJ14 pairing is broken, then the write cache is disabled. Integrated flash memory with super capacitors provides protection of the write cache without batteries in case of power failure. FC EJ14 effectively provides up to 12 GB of write cache that uses compression of 4 GB of physical cache.

The adapter provides four Mini-SAS HD (high density) narrow connectors for the attachment of SAS drives in the ESLL storage enclosure (IBM® EXP12SX SAS Storage Enclosure), the ESLS storage enclosure (IBM EXP24SX SAS Storage Enclosure), or the 5887 disk drive enclosure (IBM EXP24S SFF Gen2-bay Drawer) as shown in Figure 1. Specific SAS cables with HD narrow connectors are used to attach to the storage enclosure or disk drive enclosure. To provide the highest bandwidth, two AA SAS cables with HD narrow connectors are used to attach the two paired FC EJ14 adapters on the third and fourth adapter ports (T2, T3) to communicate status and cache content information between the two adapters. Both AA SAS cables are required unless 3 or 4 ports are being used to attach the SAS drives. When all connectors are attaching SAS drives, the communication between the adapter pair is performed through the SAS fabric by way of the disk enclosures and cabling. A maximum of 96 SAS devices are supported using four ESLS storage enclosures or 5887 disk drive enclosures . The SAS devices can be all HDDs or can have up to 48 SSD + 48 HDDs (HDDs must be on the 3rd and 4th ports). They can have a maximum of 72 SSDs with no HDDs and must have an AA cable on the top port. If there are over 48 SSDs, then no HDDs can be attached.

The adapter provides RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 5T2, RAID 6T2, RAID 10T2, and OS mirroring (LVM) for the AIX®, Linux®, and VIOS operating systems. Under the IBM i operating system, the adapter provides RAID 5, RAID 6, OS mirroring, and data spreading. RAID 10 is supported by IBM i Version 7.2 or later.

Figure 1 shows the PCIe3 12 GB Cache RAID + SAS quad-port 6 Gb adapter. The connector plug (A) is installed in an empty port and prevents damage to that port whenever a cable for the adjacent port connectors is plugged-in or removed.

Specifications

Item

Description

Adapter FRU number

01DH742

Connector plug part number

00FW784 (The connector plug is installed in an empty port and prevents damage to that port whenever a cable for the adjacent port connectors is plugged-in or removed)

I/O bus architecture

PCIe 3.0 (compatible with 2.0 and 1.0)

Slot requirement

One PCIe x8 slot per adapter

Adapters are installed in pairs

For higher availability, place adapters in separate enclosures where supported

For details about slot priorities, maximums, and placement rules, see PCIe adapter placement rules and slot priorities and select the system you are working on.

Voltage

3.3 V

Form factor

Short, full-height

Cables

Specific X or YO SAS cable features with new narrow HD connectors are used to attach to the ESLL storage enclosure, ESLS storage enclosure, or 5887 disk drive enclosure.

Internal SAS device attachment on a 9040-MR9 system requires specific AZ cables that are provided with the subsystem or device features that are being attached. Special cabling is required for multi-initiator and high availability configurations. For more information, see Serial attached SCSI cable planning.

Attributes provided

Full high PCIe3 four port x8 adapter with up to 12 GB write cache

Important requirements for adapter installation

An automatic sector conversion takes place for use with the new adapter when migrating existing SAS disk enclosures and devices from existing previous PCIe SAS adapters to PCIe3 SAS adapters. For more information about the migration procedures, see Upgrading a SAS RAID storage adapter.

Operating system or partition requirements