Replacing RA7x Disk Drives
3.1 Installing and Removing an RA7x Disk Drive
3.1 Installing and Removing an RA7x Disk Drive
The RA70 disk drive is physically different from RA71, RA72, and RA73 disk
drives. The main physical difference between these drives (RA70 and RA71
through RA73), concerning installation, is the design of the shoe plate. The
procedures for installing and removing the disk drives (RA70 and RA71 through
RA73) are virtually the same.
CAUTIONs
• The SA7x enclosure is designed to have disk drives installed in a
certain sequence for proper airflow, especially if the enclosure is not
fully configured. Digital recommends installing the first drive in one
of the two rear positions in the cabinet, the second drive in the other
rear position, the third drive in one of the two front positions, and the
fourth drive in the other front position.
• The SA7x enclosure accommodates a single RA7x disk drive. However,
if only one drive is installed in the enclosure, a drive position filler
is required to route cooling air and prevent overheating. If you are
adding a second drive to an enclosure and the drive position filler is
already installed, you must remove it. See Section 3.2 for instructions
for installing and removing a drive position filler.
• Disk drives and enclosures must be environmentally stabilized in
their protective barrier bags at the installation site. Failure to
environmentally stabilize the equipment may result in damage to the
drive media or electronic components. For more information about
environmental stabilization, see Appendix A.
Notes
• When an RA7x disk drive is installed in an SA7x enclosure, it is not
possible to set the drive unit number using the dip switches on the
drive itself. Unit numbers for all RA7x disk drives are set from the
SA7x operator control panel (OCP) as explained in Chapter 4.
• Before installing an RA71/RA72 disk drive, verify that the capacity
indicator switch on the drive is set correctly. See the
RA7x Disk Drive
Service Manual
for more information.
3–2 Replacing RA7x Disk Drives
