Mixing Drive Types In Raid Groups; Storage Controller Cable Connectors And Backplanes - Cisco UCS C480 M5 Installation And Service Manual

Storage Controller Considerations

Mixing Drive Types in RAID Groups

The following table lists the technical capabilities for mixing hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state drive
(SSD) types in a RAID group. However, see the recommendations that follow for the best performance.
Table 12: Mixing Drive Types
Mix of Drive Types in RAID Group
SAS HDD + SATA HDD
SAS SSD + SATA SSD
HDD + SSD
Drive Type Mixing Best Practices
For the best performance follow these guidelines:
• Use either all SAS or all SATA drives in a RAID group.
• Use the same capacity for each drive in the RAID group.
• Never mix HDDs and SSDs in the same RAID group.

Storage Controller Cable Connectors and Backplanes

This section describes cabling for the storage controllers and backplanes.
Embedded SATA RAID
This software RAID option controls only two internal M.2 SATA SSDs. No cabling or other hardware is
required.
Cisco 12G Modular SAS RAID Controller With 4-GB Cache (UCSC-RAID-M5HD)
This hardware RAID option can control up to 24 front-loading SAS/SATA drives. The card plugs into a
dedicated, horizontal socket on the drive midplane. SAS/SATA cables are used to connect the controller to
the backplanes of the front drive modules.
1. Cable card connectors A1 and A2 to the two connectors on front drive module 1.
2. Cable card connectors B1 and B2 to the two connectors on front drive module 2.
3. Cable card connectors C1 and C2 to the two connectors on front drive module 3.
Cisco 12G Modular SAS RAID Controller With 2-GB Cache (UCSC-SAS9460-8i)
This hardware RAID option can control up to 8 internal SAS/SATA drives in the rear drive-bay module. The
primary slot for this card is PCIe slot 11. In single CPU-module systems, slot 11 is not supported, and so this
card installs to slot 10 in this case. It connects to the rear drive-bay module with two SAS/SATA cables.
Allowed?
Yes
Yes
No
Cisco UCS C480 M5 Server Installation and Service Guide
Mixing Drive Types in RAID Groups
135