backplanes (which are attached through the planar to an onboard controller) with new 1-bay backplanes that
attach to an included flex cable to the M5115 controller. It also includes an air baffle, which also serves as an
attachment for the CacheVault unit.
MegaRAID CacheVault flash cache protection uses NAND flash memory powered by a supercapacitor to
protect data stored in the controller cache. This module eliminates the need for a lithium-ion battery
commonly used to protect DRAM cache memory on PCI RAID controllers. To avoid the possibility of data
loss or corruption during a power or server failure, CacheVault technology transfers the contents of the DRAM
cache to NAND flash memory using power from the supercapacitor. After the power is restored to the RAID
controller, the saved data is transferred from the NAND flash memory back to the DRAM cache, which can
then be flushed to disk.
Tip: The Enablement Kit is only required if 2.5-inch drives are to be used. If you plan to install four or eight
1.8-inch SSDs only, then this kit is not required.
ServeRAID M5100 Series Flex System Flash Kit v2 for x440 (47C8809) enables support for up to four 1.8-
inch SSDs. This kit replaces the standard two-bay backplane with a four-bay SSD backplane that attaches to
an included flex cable to the M5115 controller. Because only SSDs are supported, a CacheVault unit is not
required, and therefore this kit does not have a supercap. This v2 kit provides support for the latest high-
performance SSDs.
ServeRAID M5100 Series SSD Expansion Kit for Flex System x440 (46C9032) enables support for up to
four internal 1.8-inch SSDs. This kit includes two air baffles which can attach two 1.8-inch SSD attachment
locations and flex cables for attachment to up to four 1.8-inch SSDs.
Note: The above kits are specific for the x440 and cannot be used with the x240 or x220.
The following table shows the kits required for each combination of drives. For example, if you plan to install eight
1.8-inch SSDs, then you need the M5115 controller, the Flash Kit, and the SSD Expansion kit.
Table 8. ServeRAID M5115 hardware kits
Desired drive support
Components required
Maximum
number of
2.5-inch drives
Maximum
number of
1.8-inch
SSDs
ServeRAID
M5115
90Y4390
Enablement Kit
46C9030
Flash Kit
47C8809
SSD
Expansion Kit
46C9032
2
0
=>
Required
Required
0
4 (front)
=>
Required
Required
2
4 (internal)
=>
Required
Required
Required
0
8 (both)
=>
Required
Required
Required
The following figure shows how the ServeRAID M5115 and the Enablement Kit are installed in the server to support
two 2.5-inch drives with MegaRAID CacheVault flash cache protection (row 1 of previous table).
Flex System x440 Compute Node (7917)
14
