1211 Drive Backplanes

CS500 model 1211 disk drive backplanes.

The CS500 model 1211 chassis uses different backplanes to support different drive configurations.

For 2.5in drives, backplane options:

8 x 2.5in drive combo backplane with support for SAS/SATA/NVMe
24 x 2.5in chassis uses three 8 x 2.5in backplanes with jumper cables attaching the I2C connectors
2 x 2.5in drive rear mount SATA SSD backplane

For 3.5in drives, backplane options:

8 x 3.5in drive backplane with support for SAS/SATA
12 x 3.5in drive backplane

8 x 2.5in Drive SATA/SAS/NVMe Combo Backplane

Chassis configurations supporting 2.5in drives include one or more eight drive backplanes capable of supporting 12 Gb/s SAS, 6 Gb/s SATA drives, and NVMe drives.

The front side of the backplane includes 68-pin SFF-8639 drive interface connectors, each capable of supporting SAS, SATA, or NVMe drives. The connectors are numbered 0 through 7.

The backside of the backplane includes two multi-port mini-SAS HD connectors labeled SAS/SATA_0-3 and SAS/SATA_4-7, and eight PCIe OCuLink connectors, each labeled PCIeSSD#, where # = 0-7, one connector for each installed NVMe drive.

Figure: CS500 Model 1211 8 x 2.5in SATA/SAS/NVMe Backplane

I2C cable connectors: The backplane includes two 5-pin cable connectors (labeled I2C_IN and I2C_OUT) used as a management interface between the motherboard and the installed backplanes. In systems configured with multiple backplanes (24 drives), a short jumper cable is attached between backplanes, with connector A used on the first board and connector D used on the second board, extending the SMBus to each installed backplane.
Multi-port mini-SAS HD cable connectors: The backplane includes two multi-port mini-SAS HD cable connectors (labeled PORT 0-3 and PORT 4-7), each providing SGPIO and I/O signals for up to four SAS/SATA devices installed in the hot swap drive bay. Input cables can be routed from matching connectors on the motherboard (on-board SATA only), from installed add-in SAS/SATA RAID cards, or from an optionally installed SAS expander card for drive configurations of greater than eight hard drives.
Power harness connector: The backplane includes a 2x2 connector supplying power to the backplane. Power is routed to each installed backplane via a multi-connector power cable harness from the motherboard.
PCIe OCuLink Connectors: The backplane has support for up to eight (8) NVMe SFF SSDs. The backside of the backplane includes eight OCuLink cable connectors, one for each drive connector on the front side of the backplane. Each installed NVMe drive must have PCIe signals cabled to the appropriate backplane OCuLink connector from onboard OCuLink connectors or PCIe add-in cards.

2 x 2.5in Rear Accessory Drive Backplane

The 1211 service node supports an optional two 6-Gb/s hot swap SATA SSD drive bay accessory kit. The drive bay is mounted in the back of the chassis. Because of thermal limits in this area of the chassis, this drive bay option does not support hard disk drives.

By lowering the maximum supported ambient air temperature to 27°C, and limiting the system configuration to support 8 or 16 devices up front and no storage devices configured on the air duct, supported SATA SSDs must not exceed the following power and thermal limits:

1 or 2 SATA SSDs supporting up to 6.4W per device with a case temperature rating of 70°C
1 or 2 SATA SSDs supporting up to 3.6W per device with a case temperature rating of 60°C

The backplane includes several connectors and a jumper block as shown. Refer to Figure 6 for an internal cabling diagram of the backplane.

Figure: CS500 Model 1211 2 x 2.5in Backplane

I2C connector: The backplane includes a 1x5 pin I2C connector. This connector is cabled to a matching HSBP I2C connector on the motherboard and is used as a communication path to the onboard BMC.
SGPIO connector: The backplane includes a 1x5 pin Serial General Purpose Input/Output (SGPIO) connector. When the backplane is cabled to the on-board SATA ports, this connector is cabled to a matching SGPIO connector on the motherboard, and provides support for drive activity and fault LEDs.

8 x 3.5in Drive Backplane

This backplane supports up to 6 Gb/s SATA drives or up to 12 Gb/s SAS drives. Mounted on the front side of the backplane are eight 29-pin (SFF-8482) drive connectors. On the backside of the backplane are connectors for power, I2C management, and SAS/SATA data.

Figure: CS500 Model 1211 8 x 3.5in Backplane

Power harness connector: The backplane includes a 2x2 connector supplying power to the backplane. Power is routed to the backplane through a power cable harness from the motherboard.
Mini-SAS HD cable connectors: The backplane includes two multi-port mini-SAS cable connectors, each providing SGPIO and I/O signals for four SAS/SATA hard drives on the backplane. Cables can be routed from matching connectors on the motherboard, from add-in SAS/SATA RAID cards, or from an optionally installed SAS expander card. Each mini-SAS HD connector includes a silk-screen identifying which drives the connector supports: drives 0-3 and drives 4-7.
I2C cable connector: The backplane includes a 5-pin cable connector used as a management interface to the motherboard.

12 x 3.5in Drive Backplane

This backplane supports 6Gb/s SATA, 12Gb/s SAS, and up to two PCIe NVMe drives. Mounted on the front side of the backplane are ten 29-pin (SFF-8482) drive connectors supporting SAS/SATA drives only, and two 68-pin SFF-8639 drive connectors supporting SAS/SATA/NVMe drives. On the backside of the backplane are connectors for power, I2C management, SAS/SATA data, and PCIe NVMe.

The backplane includes two PCIe OCuLink cable connectors (labeled PCIe SSD0 and PCIe SSD1), each providing support for one NVMe drive.

Figure: CS500 Model 1211 12 x 3.5in Drive Backplane