Connecting optional expansion enclosures to the control enclosure

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If you have installed expansion enclosures in the rack, you must connect them to the control enclosure.

About this task

This task applies if you are installing one or more expansion enclosures. Each control enclosure in the system can manage two chains of expansion enclosures; each chain can consist of a maximum of 5 2U expansion enclosures or 2 5U expansion enclosures. Therefore, each control enclosure can support up to 20U of expansion enclosures. A system that contains two control enclosures can support up to 40U of expansion enclosures.

Note: When connecting SAS cables between enclosures, you must follow a list of guidelines to ensure that your configuration is valid. Do not begin connecting the cables until you have read Figure 1.

Procedure

To install the cables, complete the following steps.

  1. Using the supplied SAS cables, connect the control enclosure to the expansion enclosure at rack position 1, as shown in Figure 1.
    1. Connect SAS port 1 of the upper node canister in the control enclosure to SAS port 1 of the left expansion canister in the first expansion enclosure.
    2. Connect SAS port 1 of the lower node canister in the control enclosure to SAS port 1 of the right expansion canister in the first expansion enclosure.
    Figure 1. Connecting the SAS cables
    Image of control and expansion enclosures connected by expansion enclosure attachment cables
  2. To add a second expansion enclosure chain to the control enclosure, use the supplied SAS cables to connect the control enclosure to the expansion enclosure at rack position 2. Refer to Figure 1 for an example.
    1. Connect SAS port 3 of the upper node canister in the control enclosure to SAS port 1 of the left expansion canister in the second expansion enclosure.
    2. Connect SAS port 3 of the lower node canister in the control enclosure to SAS port 1 of the right expansion canister in the second expansion enclosure.
  3. If additional expansion enclosures are installed, connect each one to the previous expansion enclosure in a chain. Use two Mini SAS HD to Mini SAS HD cables, as shown in Figure 1.
    Note: A control enclosure can support up to 20U of expansion enclosures in two chains: 10Uin the upper chain (above the control enclosure) and 10U in the lower chain.
  4. If additional control enclosures are installed, repeat this cabling procedure on each control enclosure and its expansion enclosures.

    When using more than one control enclosure, divide the total number of expansion enclosures among the control enclosures to enhance performance.