IBM System x3250 M5 Product Manual page 30

The ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller has the following specifications:
Eight external 6 Gbps SAS/SATA ports

Two external x4 mini-SAS connectors (SFF-8088)

Support for RAID levels 0, 1, and 10

Support for RAID levels 5 and 50 with optional M5100 Series RAID 5 upgrades

Support for RAID 6 and 60 with the optional M5100 Series RAID 6 Upgrade

Support for 512 MB battery-backed cache or 512 MB or 1 GB flash-backed cache

Up to 6 Gbps throughput per port

PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface

Based on the LSI SAS2208 6 Gbps ROC controller

Support for connectivity to the EXP2512 and EXP2524 storage expansion enclosures

For more information, see the IBM Redbooks® Product Guide ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller
for IBM System x:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0858.html?Open
The ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller supports connectivity to the IBM System Storage external
expansion enclosures that are listed in the following table. Up to nine expansion enclosures can be
daisy-chained per one M5120 external port. For better performance, distribute expansion enclosures
evenly across both M5120 ports.
Table 19. IBM System Storage external expansion enclosures
Part number Description
174712X IBM System Storage EXP2512 Express
174724X IBM System Storage EXP2524 Express
The external SAS cables that are listed in the following table support connectivity between external
expansion enclosures and the ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller.
Table 20. External SAS cables for external storage expansion enclosures
Part number Description
39R6531 IBM 3 m SAS Cable
39R6529 IBM 1 m SAS Cable
IBM System x3250 M5
Maximum quantity supported per
one M5120
18
9
Maximum quantity supported per
one enclosure
1
1
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