Hard Drives; Before You Begin; Removing A Drive Blank - Dell POWEREDGE 1950 Hardware Owner's Manual

Hard Drives

This subsection describes how to install and configure SAS or SATA hard drives in the system's internal
hard-drive bays. Your system features the option of two 3.5-inch (SAS/SATA) internal hard-drive bays or four
2.5-inch (SAS only) internal hard-drive bays that accommodate up to either two or four hard drives. All drives
connect to the system board through one of two optional backplane boards.
NOTE:
Depending on the hard drive configuration you ordered, your hard drive(s) may come with a drive
interposer that allows your SATA drive to attach to the SAS connector on the backplane.

Before You Begin

Hard drives are supplied in special hot-pluggable drive carriers that fit in the hard-drive bays. Depending on
your configuration, you received one of the following two drive carrier types:
• SATA drive carrier — Usable only with a SATA hard drive.
• SATAu drive carrier — Usable with either a SAS hard drive or a SATA hard drive with a universal
interposer card. The interposer card provides enhanced functionality that makes the SATA hard drive
usable in some storage systems.
NOTICE:
Before you attempt to remove or install a drive while the system is running, see the documentation for
the optional SAS RAID daughter card to ensure that the host adapter is configured correctly to support hot-
pluggable drive removal and insertion.
NOTE:
It is recommended that you use only drives that have been tested and approved for use with the SAS
backplane board.
You may need to use different programs than those provided with the operating system to partition and format
SAS or SATA hard drives.
NOTICE:
Do not turn off or reboot your system while the drive is being formatted. Doing so can cause a drive
failure.
When you format a high-capacity hard drive, allow enough time for the formatting to be completed. Long
format times for these drives are normal. A 9-GB hard drive, for example, can take up to 2.5 hours to format.

Removing a Drive Blank

NOTICE:
To maintain proper system cooling, all empty hard-drive bays must have drive blanks installed. If you
remove a hard-drive carrier from the system and do not reinstall it, you must replace the carrier with a drive blank.
The process for removing a drive blank depends on whether your system is configured with 3.5-inch or 2.5-
inch hard drives.
For 3.5-inch hard drive configurations:
1 Remove the front bezel, if attached. See "Removing and Replacing the Front Bezel" on page 45.
2 Insert your finger under the shrouded end of the blank and press in on the latch to eject the blank outward
from the bay.
3 Pry the ends of the blank outward until the blank is free.
Installing System Components
75