PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter (FC EL3B and FC EJ0M; CCIN 57B4)

Learn about the specifications and operating system requirements for the feature code (FC) EL3B and EJ0M adapter.

Overview

The PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter is a PCI Express (PCIe), generation 3, RAID SAS adapter that has a low-profile and short-form factor. The adapter is used in high-performance and high-density, serial attached SCSI (SAS) applications. It supports the attachment of SAS hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state devices (SSDs) by using four mini SAS high-density (HD) x4 connectors that allow the physical links to be used in various narrow and wide-port configurations. The adapter 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 the iprutils utility available from the IBM Linux Power Tools Repository and with the latest adapter firmware available from the Fix Central website .

The adapter is a 64 bit, 3.3 V, bootable SAS adapter that provides RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10 capability, and system level mirroring via the operating system. The adapter provides both single and dual RAID controller configurations. Dual controller configurations (dual storage IOA) must run RAID. JBOD (512 byte) functionality is supported only in a single controller configuration based on the operating system. Best performance is achieved when multiple RAID sets are configured and optimized under a pair of adapters in a high availability, multi-initiator RAID configuration (dual storage IOA) which allows for an Active-Active mode of operation.

The adapter supports a maximum of 96 attached disk devices that depends on the drive enclosure attached. A maximum of 48 devices can be solid-state devices (SSDs). Externally attached devices are designed to run at a maximum data rate of 6 Gbps for SAS disk devices. This adapter supports RAID and non-RAID DASD. Specific device attachment support rules apply. This adapter supports the multi-initiator and high availability (dual storage IOA) configurations in AIX®, IBM® i, and Linux® partitions. This adapter enables configuring the SAS drives as dedicated hot-spares with equal or higher capacity.
Important: See the SAS RAID controllers for AIX, SAS RAID controllers for IBM i, or SAS RAID controllers for Linux topics for more information and important considerations for multi-initiator and high availability or dual storage IOA configurations

Figure 1 shows the 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.

Figure 1. PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter
PCIe3 RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb LP Adapter

Specifications

Item
Description
Adapter FRU number
000MH910
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 but compatible to PCIe 2.0 or PCIe 1.0 slots.
Slot requirement
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, low-profile but packaged for full-height installations.
Cables
Specific X, YO, AA, or AT SAS cable features with new narrow HD connectors are used to attach to the other adapter or disk expansion drawers.
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
  • Four external mini SAS HD 4x connectors provide attachment of SAS device enclosures
  • SAS Serial SCSI Protocol (SSP) and Serial Management Protocol (SMP)
  • RAID 0, 5, 6, or 10 with hot-spare capability. System level mirroring through the operating system is also supported. JBOD functionality (512 byte) is supported in a single controller configuration only.
  • Concurrent firmware update
  • Support for multi-initiator and high availability or single controller configurations

Important requirements for adapter installation

If you are attaching a new or existing 5887, ESLL, or ELLS enclosure to an FC EL3B or EJ0M adapter, verify that the latest System Enclosure Services (SES) code is applied to the enclosure before attaching to the FC EL3B or EJ0M adapter. For details, see the IBM Prerequisites website.

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

If you are installing a new feature, ensure that you have the software that is required to support the new feature and you must determine any prerequisites that must be met for this feature and the attached devices. For information about operating system and partition requirements, see one of the following topics:
The EJ0M adapter requires the following drivers:
  • AIX: devices.pci.14104A0 device driver package