IBM Power 720 Overview page 28

Additional considerations for SAS-bay-based SSDs (FC 1775, FC 1787, FC 1793,
FC 1794, FC 1890, FC 1909, FC 3586, and FC 3587):
SFF features FC ES0A, FC ES0B, FC 1775, FC 1787, FC 1793, FC 1794, FC 1890,
and FC 1909 are supported in the Power 720 and Power 740 system unit.
The 3.5-inch feature codes FC 3586 and FC 3587 are not supported in the Power 720
and Power 740 system unit.
SSDs and HDDs are not allowed to mirror each other.
SSDs are not supported by feature codes FC 5278, FC 5900, FC 5901, FC 5902, and
FC 5912.
When an SSD is placed in higher-function backplane (FC EJ01), no EXP12S
Expansion Drawer (FC 5886) or EXP24S SFF Gen2-bay Drawer (FC 5887) is
supported to connect to the external SAS port of the system.
When an SSD is placed in a EXP12S Expansion Drawer (FC 5886) or EXP24S SFF
Gen2-bay Drawer (FC 5887), the drawer is not allowed to connect to external SAS port
of the system.
A maximum of eight SSDs per EXP12S Expansion Drawer (FC 5886) is allowed. No
mixing of SSDs and HDDs is allowed in the EXP12S Expansion Drawer (FC 5886). A
maximum of one FC 5886 EXP12S drawer containing SSDs that are attached to a
single controller or pair of controllers is allowed. A EXP12S Expansion Drawer
(FC 5886) containing SSD drives cannot be connected to other FC 5886s. An FC 5886
that contains SSD drives cannot be attached to the external SAS port on the Power 720
or Power 740.
In a Power 720 or Power 740 with a split backplane (3 x 3), SSDs and HDDs can be
placed in either "split," but no mixing of SSDs and HDDs within a split is allowed. IBM i
does not support split backplane.
In a Power 720 or Power 740 without a split backplane, SSDs and HDDs may be mixed
in any combination. However, they cannot be in the same RAID array.
HDD/SSD Data Protection: If IBM i (FC 2145) is selected, one of the following items is
required:
– Disk mirroring (default), which requires feature code FC 0040, FC 0043, or FC 0308
– SAN boot (FC 0837)
– RAID, which requires feature code FC 5630
– Mixed Data Protection (FC 0296)
If you need more disks than are available with the internal disk bays, you can attach additional
external disk subsystems.
SCSI disks are not supported in the Power 720 and Power 740 disk bays. However, if you
want to use SCSI disks, you can attach existing SCSI disk subsystems.
For more detailed information about the available external disk subsystems, see 2.9,
"External I/O subsystems" on page 79.
The Power 720 and Power 740 have a slim media bay that can contain an optional DVD-RAM
(FC 5762) and a half-high bay that can contain a tape drive or removable disk drive.
14
IBM Power 720 and 740 Technical Overview and Introduction