Hi all,

I am upgrading my Dell C2100 FS12-TY system with the MEZZANINE 6GBPS SAS RAID CONTROLLER 85M9R. I am trying to get more information on my systems backplane, part number GCK3W that has the single SFF-8484 connector, but I am having a very hard time finding anything about this board! What is this thing?!

I know that there is another backplane (9NXC7 shown below) which has two mini SAS SFF-8087 connectors and is much more common, and another one (not shown) that is simply a one-to-one backplane.

Whats the story with the GCK3W? What are its specs? How is it different from the 9NXC7 shown above (besides the interface cable)? Will it work with the 85M9R SAS Controller for the C2100 motherboard? It seems (based on the connectors) like the 85M9R is designed to interface with the 9NXC7 backplane. I bought an SFF-8087 to SFF-8484 cable to connect my newly acquired 85M9R to the GCK3W, but now I am thinking this wont work because the 9NXC7 has a jumper to set it to work with the LSI or PERC device (I am using the PERC 6i device with the GCK3W currently). My backplane has no such jumper (that I can tell...NO DOCUMENTATION!...) and I am now thinking it will only work with the PERC 6i.

Can anyone shine some light on this? Should I swap the GCK3W for the 9NXC7?

For your viewing pleasure, I shall effectively tripple the number of pictures of this rare bird that I have been able find after many Google searches....