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 External Devices installation external
devicesexternal devicescontrollers connecting external devicesdisk drives external
5.3.2
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
How are Disk Drives Identified in SAS? SAS disk drive identifiersdisk
drives SAS identifiersdisk drivesSAS disk drives
.)
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 External Devices installation external devicesexternal
devicescontrollers connecting external devicesdisk drives external
5.3.3
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 Microsemi 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
for a list of compatible SSDs. maxCache is supported on
Microsemi 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 Backplaneinstallation backplanebackplane connections
for more
about backplane connections). For maxCache caching applications, you can connect a maximum of 8
maxCache-compatible SSDs to a controller. For RAID arrays, Microsemi Adaptec controllers support a
maximum of 256 drives, including SSDs (for details, see
About Your RAID Controllercontrollers
figurescontrollers descriptions
).
1. Install the SSDs in your server. For servers with a standard 2.5-inch drive tray, install the SSD directly
into the tray. If your server does not have a standard 2.5-inch drive tray, use a bracket or adapter which
enables it to fit properly.
21
Microsemi Proprietary and Confidential. Installation and User's Guide Revision 5
Installing the Controller and Disk Drives
