Figure 21 Securing the front of the enclosure
Cabling the DPE to a DAE
If you have one or more DAEs, cable the DAEs to the DPE back-end ports so that the
storage is available in the system.
Ensure that the DAE is located close enough to route and connect to the DPE using
the two-meter DPE-to-DAE interconnect cables. Five-meter and ten-meter
interconnect cables are available when connecting enclosures across multiple racks.
Note
General DAE back-end bus configuration rules:
1. Maximum number of enclosures per bus is 10.
2. Maximum number of drive slots per bus is 250, up to specific system limitations
for drive slots.
3. For best performance, it is recommended that you evenly distribute DAEs across
the available back-end buses.
Consider the maximum number of drives that can be installed in the storage system
model. DAEs can be added to the system while the operating system is active, and up
to the DAE and drive slot limit for the storage system. DAEs or drive slots that are
over the system limit cannot operate in the system.
The storage processors connect to the DAEs with mini-SAS HD cables. The cables
connect LCCs in the DAEs of a storage platform in a daisy-chain topology. The mini-
SAS HD ports on the storage processors in the DPE are labeled 0 and 1. Mini-SAS HD
port 0 is connected internally to the SAS expander that connects the drives on the
front of the DPE.
Each DAE supports two redundant connections to the DPE: LCC A and LCC B.
It is recommended that you connect the first optional DAE to the mini-SAS HD output
port 1 of each storage processor. This connection creates back-end bus 1 (BE1) and
designates this DAE as enclosure 0 of this bus. The address of this enclosure is BE1
Enclosure 0. In a two back-end bus system, it is recommended that you connect the
second optional DAE to the mini-SAS HD port 0 of each storage processor.
DAE load balancing
If your system has several optional DAEs, you can daisy-chain them within that bus.
However, it is recommended that you balance each bus. In other words, optimize your
environment by using every available bus, and spread the number of enclosures and
Installation Procedures
Cabling the DPE to a DAE
35