Cabling Configurations - Dell PowerEdge C8000XD Hardware Owner's Manual

Cabling Configurations

The expander firmware update can be done via the inband SAS port by
connecting a mini-SAS cable(s) between the storage sled and compute sled.
You can choose from the following cabling options when updating the
expander firmware.
• 1 Expander A/B — Single-HBA/RAID host direct connection to a
12-drive sled
In this configuration, the host is connected to the storage sled's external
mini-SAS A1 and A2 connectors and the 12 hard-drives are unified and
controlled by expander chips A and B. See Figure 1-9.
This cabling option supports both HBA and RAID cards and allows you to
update firmware on both expander chips while using the same cable
connection.
• 2 Expander A/B — Dual-HBA host direct connection to a 12-drive sled
In this configuration, the host is connected to the storage sled's external
mini-SAS A1 and mini-SAS B1 connectors and the 12 hard-drives are
unified and controlled by expander chips A and B. See Figure 1-11.
This cabling option supports HBA cards only and allows you to manually
update the expander firmware on both expander chips one at a time. You
will need to switch the cables in the mini-SAS A1 and mini-SAS B1
connectors to update the second expander chip.
• 3 Expander A/B — Single-RAID host direct connection to a 24-drive sled
In this configuration, the host is connected to the storage sled's external
mini-SAS A1 and A2 connectors and the 24 hard-drives are split into two
groups with 12 hard-drives controlled by expander chip A and the other 12
hard-drives are controlled by expander chip B. See Figure 1-12.
This cabling option supports RAID cards only and allows you to update
firmware on both expander chips while using the same cable connection.
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Using the Expander Flash Utility