Connecting Disk Drives To Your Controllers; Connecting Drives Directly To The Controller; Connecting Drives To A System Backplane; Connecting Solid State Drives (Ssds) - Adaptec ASR-6805Q User Manual

Connecting Disk Drives to Your Controllers

You can connect SAS disk drives, SATA disk drives, and SATA and SAS Solid State Drives (SSDs) to your
Adaptec RAID controller. (See
are no jumpers or switches to set before installation.
If you plan to build a bootable array, ensure that you install at least the minimum number disk drives
required to support the RAID level you want. See
Note: Although you can connect both SAS and SATA disk drives to your SAS controller,
we recommend that you do not combine SAS and SATA disk drives within the same
array. See What is SAS?
You have two connection options:
• To connect directly to the controller, see the following section.
• To connect to a backplane, see
To connect Solid State Drives to your controller, see

Connecting Drives Directly to the Controller

In a direct-attach connection, SAS or SATA disk drives are connected directly to a SAS card with SAS
cables. The number of direct-attached disk drives is limited to four per internal SAS connector. (For
more information about direct-attach connections, see
71.)
1. Install your internal SAS or SATA disk drives, following the instructions in your system's documentation.
2. Use internal SAS, mini-SAS, or mini-SAS HD cables to attach the disk drives to the controller, as
required.
3. When all internal disk drives have been installed and attached to the controller, close your computer
cabinet, reattach the power cord, then continue with

Connecting Drives to a System Backplane

In a backplane connection, disk drives and SAS cards are attached to and communicate with each other
through a system backplane.
The number of disk drives is limited to the number of slots available on the backplane. Some backplanes
have embedded SAS expanders and can support up to 128 end devices. (For more information about
backplane and expander connections, see
1. Connect one or more internal SAS or SATA disk drives to the backplane. (Refer to your system's
documentation for more information.)
2. Use an internal mini-SAS or mini-SAS HD cable to connect the controller to the backplane, as required.
3. When all internal disk drives have been installed and connected, close your computer cabinet,
reattach the power cord, then continue with

Connecting Solid State Drives (SSDs)

To connect a Solid State Drive to your controller, you can use a direct-attached connection or a backplane
connection, as required. If your server does not have a standard 2.5-inch drive tray, you must use a
bracket/SLED which enables the SSD to fit properly.
Note: For Adaptec maxCache applications or hybrid RAID arrays (comprised of hard
drives and SSDs) you can use any Solid State Drive on the compatibility list. See
www.adaptec.com/compatibility
supported on Adaptec Series Q controllers only.
In a direct-attach connection (described in the steps below), you connect SSDs directly to the controller
with SAS cables (mini-SAS to SATA). In a backplane connection, use the appropriate cable for your
backplane type (see Connecting Drives to a System Backplane
connections). For maxCache caching applications, you can connect a maximum of 16
maxCache-compatible SSDs to a controller. For RAID arrays, Adaptec controllers support a maximum
of 256 drives, including SSDs (for details, see
Proprietary and Confidential to PMC-Sierra, Inc.
Document No.: CDP-00277-02-A Rev. A, Issue:
Serial Attached SCSI RAID Controllers Installation and User's Guide
www.adaptec.com/compatibility
Choosing a RAID Level
on page 69 for more information.
Connecting Drives to a System Backplane
Connecting Solid State Drives (SSDs)
How are Disk Drives Identified in SAS?
How are Disk Drives Identified in SAS?
Connecting External Devices
for a list of compatible SSDs. Adaptec maxCache is
About Your RAID Controller
for a list of compatible drives.) There
on page 31 for more information.
on page 41.
Connecting External Devices
on page 71.)
on page 42.
on page 41 for more about backplane
on page 17).
on page 41.
on page
on page 42.
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