Dell PowerStore Hardware Information Guide for PowerStore 1000, 1200, 3000, 3200, 5000, 5200, 7000, 9000, and 9200

The 2U, 25-drive base enclosure consists of the following components:

• Slots for 25 2.5-inch drives
• Midplane
• Nodes
• Power supply modules
• EMI shielding

Drives

Each drive resides in a drive carrier. The drive carriers are metal and plastic assemblies that provide smooth, reliable contact with the enclosure slot guides and mid-plane connectors. Each carrier has a handle with a latch and spring clips. The latch holds the drive in place to ensure proper connection with the mid-plane. Drive activity and fault LEDs are on the front of the enclosure.

There are three supported drive types:

• NVMe NVRAM
• NVMe SSD
• NVMe SCM

You can visually distinguish between drive types by their different latch and handle mechanisms and by the labels on each drive.

Slots 0 through 20 can be populated with NVMe SSD and NVMe SCM drives. You can mix NVMe SSD and NVMe SCM drives in the same base enclosure. If you mix drive types, the system uses the NVMe SCM drives for metadata tiering.

NVMe NVRAM drives are used for system caching and can only be installed in the last four slots (21 through 24) of the base enclosure. In configurations that only use two NVMe NVRAM drives, slots 21 and 22 must remain empty.

Midplane

The midplane separates the front-facing drives from the rear-facing nodes. It distributes power and signals to all components in the enclosure. The nodes and drives plug directly into the midplane.

Node

Each base enclosure contains two nodes. The node is the intelligent component providing the compute capability of the base enclosure.

Node power supply module

Each node contains a power supply module that connects the system to an exterior power source. If one power supply fails, redundant power supplies can keep the entire base enclosure running. The power supplies include LEDs to indicate component status. A latch on the module locks it into place to ensure proper connection.

EMI shielding

EMI compliance requires a properly installed electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield in front of the base enclosure drives. When installed in cabinets that include a front door, the base enclosure includes a simple EMI shield. Other installations require a front bezel that has a locking latch and integrated EMI shield. Remove the bezel or shield to remove and install the drives.