Preparing to install your 5887 disk drive enclosure

Learn about the prerequisites for installing your 5887 disk drive enclosure and determine whether you can install the enclosure concurrently

To prepare to set up your enclosure, complete the following steps:

1. Review the following information:
   The SAS disk drive enclosure can hold up to 24 disk drives. The enclosure can be split logically into one, two, or four independent groups. The SAS disk drive enclosure is supported by the following operating systems:

   • AIX®
   • IBM® i
   • Linux
   • VIOS
2. Determine the level of software that you need to support the enclosure. For instructions, see the IBM Prerequisite website.
3. Ensure that you have the following items before you start your installation:
   • Phillips screwdrivers
   • Flat-head screwdriver
   • Rack with two Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) units of contiguous space.
     Note: If you do not have a rack that is installed, install the rack. For instructions, see Installing the rack.
4. Determine whether you can add your 5887 disk drive enclosure concurrently by reviewing the following information. You can add your expansion units concurrently (with the system powered on and partitions active) if you have one of the following configurations:
   • Your system is managed by an IBM Hardware Management Console (HMC).
   • Your system is not managed by an HMC, but has only one partition, and that partition is running the IBM i operating system.
     Note: If you do not have one of these configurations, you must power off the system to add enclosures.