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Lenovo ThinkStation P920 Manual

Onboard/integrated intel storage configuration
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Onboard/Integrated Intel Storage Configuration
Lenovo ThinkStation P920, P720, P520, P520c

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Summary of Contents for Lenovo ThinkStation P920

  • Page 1 Onboard/Integrated Intel Storage Configuration Lenovo ThinkStation P920, P720, P520, P520c...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Overview ..........................3 Section 1 – ThinkStation P920 ................... 4 Section 2 – ThinkStation P720 ................... 6 Section 3 – ThinkStation P520 ................... 9 Section 4 – ThinkStation P520c ..................11 Section 5 – Configuring RAID Arrays ................13 Section 6 –...

  • Page 3: Overview

    Overview The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for users on how to configure their SATA storage options using the onboard integrated Intel SATA controller in the ThinkStation P520c, P520, P720, and P920. These ThinkStation systems are capable of supporting up to six SATA HDDs/SSDs at Gen3 (6Gb/s) maximum theoretical throughput.

  • Page 4: Section 1 - Thinkstation P920

    Section 1 – ThinkStation P920 Level of Support Summary Maximum Number of Drives Connection Method Tool-less FLEX tray blind-mounted to a backplane (BCA). BCA is standard. Drive Locations Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. Hardware Required BCA-S or BCA-P Blind HDD FLEX Tray Assembly 3.5”...
  • Page 5 How to Utilize the Onboard Intel SATA Controller In the P920 system, drives are always connected through a backplane called Blind Connect Assembly (BCA). When using the onboard Intel SATA controller, up to four drives can be connected to the first (bottom) BCA and up to two drives can be connected to the second (top) BCA.

  • Page 6: Section 2 - Thinkstation P720

    Section 2 – ThinkStation P720 Level of Support Summary “Default" - Manual HDD Connect Option Maximum Number of Drives Connection Method Manual plug for data and power using standard cabling methods. Drive Locations Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. Hardware Required SATA HDD cable(s) HDD Power cable...
  • Page 7 How to Utilize the Onboard Intel SATA Controller In the P720 system, SATA drives are connected to the onboard Intel SATA controller via a manual plug method. This consists of manually cabling both power and data to each drive individually. The P720 system can support up to 4 drives using the onboard Intel SATA controller.
  • Page 8 Optionally, in the P720 system, SATA drives can be connected to the onboard Intel SATA controller via BCA’s. This consists of the Blind Connect to SATA cable and dual BCA-S. The P720 system can support up to 4 drives using the onboard Intel SATA controller.

  • Page 9: Section 3 - Thinkstation P520

    Section 3 – ThinkStation P520 Level of Support Summary Maximum Number of Drives Connection Method Manual plug for data and power using standard cabling methods. BCA is not supported. Drive Locations 4 Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. Hardware Required SATA HDD cable(s) SATA HDD Power cable(s)
  • Page 10 How to Utilize the Onboard Intel SATA Controller In the P520 system, SATA drives are connected to the onboard Intel SATA controller via a manual plug method. This consists of manually cabling both power and data to each drive individually. The P520 system supports up to 4 drives using the onboard Intel SATA controller.

  • Page 11: Section 4 - Thinkstation P520C

    Section 4 – ThinkStation P520c Level of Support Summary Maximum Number of Drives Connection Method Manual plug for data and power using standard cabling methods. BCA is not supported. Drive Locations 2 Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. Hardware Required SATA HDD cable(s) HDD Power cable(s)
  • Page 12 How to Utilize the Onboard Intel SATA Controller In the P520c system, SATA drives are connected to the onboard Intel SATA controller via a manual plug method. This consists of manually cabling both power and data to each drive individually. The onboard Intel SATA controller supports up to 4 drives (2 drives in the HDD bays and 2 drives in the FLEX bays).

  • Page 13: Section 5 - Configuring Raid Arrays

    1. Install the drives for the RAID array into the system. See the above sections to determine the correct hardware and placement of the storage devices. 2. Power on the system and press the ‘F1’ function key at the ‘Lenovo’ splash screen indicated below to enter BIOS.
  • Page 14 3. Select the “Devices” menu along the left column and “PCH SATA Configuration” menu along the right column at the screen indicated below. 4. Select the “Configure SATA as” menu option drop-down menu box and select “RAID” as indicated below.
  • Page 15 5. Select F10 key to “Save and Exit” the BIOS setup menu. 6. As the system reboots, reenter BIOS using the same method as before. Select the “Advanced” menu along the left column and select the “Intel® VROC SATA Controller” menu along the right column at the screen indicated below.
  • Page 16 On older BIOS versions, this option may display as “Intel® RSTe SATA Controller”. For more information, please see this table in the Overview section. The process for creating SATA RAID is identical, so continue following along the next steps. 7. Select the “Create RAID Volume” menu option.
  • Page 17 8. Select the “RAID Level” drop-down menu box and select the RAID type. 9. Select the disks to use in the RAID array by selecting the drop-down box next to each disk and select ‘X’ to select the disk to use in the RAID array creation.
  • Page 18 10. Scroll down to the bottom of the window and select “Create Volume”. 11. The RAID array will then show up under the “RAID Volumes:” section as indicated in the screenshot below.
  • Page 19 12. Once finished with creating the RAID array(s), press ‘F10’ to ‘Save and ‘Exit’ BIOS.

  • Page 20: Section 6 - Deleting Raid Arrays

    Follow the instructions below to delete an existing RAID array using the onboard Intel SATA controller. 1. Power on the system and press the ‘F1’ function key at the ‘Lenovo’ splash screen indicated below to enter BIOS. 2. Select the “Setup” menu option at the screen indicated below.
  • Page 21 3. Select the “Advanced” menu along the left column and select the “Intel® VROC SATA Controller” menu along the right column at the screen indicated below. On older BIOS versions, this option may display as “Intel® RSTe SATA Controller”. 4. To delete the RAID volume, select the RAID volume and select “Delete”.
  • Page 22 5. Select “Yes” to confirm deletion. This step will permanently wipe all data on the drive. 6. Once finished, press F10 to save changes and exit BIOS.

  • Page 23: Section 7 - Glossary

    Section 7 - Glossary Blind Connect Assembly (BCA) BCA-S: Blind Connect Assembly consisting of four 8482-SFF ports (supporting SAS and SATA drives). The assembly also contains the following cable connections: One 4-pin power connector that connects to the motherboard. One mini-SAS HD connector labeled “S/X” that connects to either the onboard Intel controller or the Broadcom controller...
  • Page 24 BCA-P: Blind Connect Assembly consisting of two 8639-SFF (U.2) ports (supporting PCIe, SAS, or SATA drives) and two 8482-SFF ports (supporting SAS or SATA drives). The assembly also contains the following cable connections: One 4-pin power connector that connects to the motherboard. Two mini-SAS HD connectors that connect to the Broadcom adapter (for PCIe connections).
  • Page 25 Connector Type Drives Supported SATA 8639-SFF (U.2) PCIe port SAS (only with Broadcom controller) NVMe (U.2 only) SATA 8482-SFF port SAS (only with Broadcom controller) FLEX Tray Blind Connect FLEX Tray : Tool-less tray that can hold up to two drives and utilizes a “pull-bar”...
  • Page 26 Blind Connect to SATA cable Blind Connect to SATA cable used to support SATA drives on Intel Onboard Controller via BCA-S for P720.
  • Page 27 Manual HDD Connect Cables Manual HDD connect cables are used to support SATA drives using Intel onboard SATA controller.

  • Page 28: Section 8 - Document Revision History

    Section 8 – Document Revision History Version Date Author Changes/Updates 7/26/2023 Chris C. Updated information and visuals 10/25/2018 Jason Moebs Updated Blind Connect to SATA cable in Glossary Section. 10/24/2018 Jason Moebs Update Glossary Section. 10/10/2018 Jason Moebs Updates throughout. 10/10/2018 Jason Moebs Initial launch release.

This manual is also suitable for:

Thinkstation p720Thinkstation p520Thinkstation p520c

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