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March 14th, 2023 08:00
connecting a U.2 removable drive to a R7525 PowerEdge
Hello everyone, I am looking for a way to connect a fast and hotpluggeable U.2-SSD-drive to an R7525 with Server2019std.
---- QUESTIONS----
is it possible to use the free NVMe sockets on the mainboard for a U.2 hard disk?
which connector standard do I need for these onboard NVMe sockets?
do these sockets also support HotPlug for U.2 drives?
where can i get power from the R7525 mainboard for a SATA power connector (+5V and +12V)?
----Explanation----
RDX has just become way too slow with its USB3, as it still only connects SATA 3 drives. However, there are over 7.5 million small files to back up on the server every day (full backup). I don't want to discuss about backup concepts at this point ;o)
My choice fell on a U.2 SSD hard drive, because it can work natively at 12 GBit/s.
From the company Icy Dock I got a 3.5" cage which accepts for U.2 hard drives (ICY DOCK MB021VP-B). I would place this in the front in an empty area (where no backplane is attached). The 3.5" cage has a SFF-8654 connector (female), and it gets its power from a standard SATA power connector.
For removable media, I have a Samsung 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD in an U.2 enclosure (Icy Box IB-M2U04).
My first attempt was to connect the cage to a Delock PCI card (PartNo. 89923) using an SFF-8654 (on both sides) cable. On a desktop computer, this config already worked fine. Unfortunately, Windows Server 2019 did not recognize the Delock PCI card in the R7525's PCI slot at all; also there are no drivers to download.
However, upon closer inspection of the server mainboard, I noticed a few free NVMe sockets on the mainboard (for the R7525, these are sockets 12, 13, 39, and 40). A suitable cable could then be routed from these to the removable disk cage.
What is still missing is the power for the disk cage. I only saw the proprietary graphics card power connectors on the mainboard - and the already occupied power connector for the hard disk backplane.
The configuration of the R7525 is such that it has 16 slots for 2.5" hard disks on the front. A backplane is mounted for 2/3 of them. There are no other 3.5" mounting options, nor are there any SATA ports. The server also doesn't have a DVD drive.
I would be very happy about any suggestions or solutions!
Best regards,
ellDerly
ellDerly
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March 14th, 2023 09:00
Additional question: does the Dell R7525 handle PCIe bifurcation? I found another NVMe controller card that might work for my idea - but it needs the PCIe-bus to handle bifurcation: "DeLOCK PCI Express 4.0 x16 Card to 4 x SFF-8639 NVMe, Controller".
Thanks!
DELL-Chris H
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March 14th, 2023 12:00
EllDerly,
The r7525 does support hotpluggable u.2 drives, as seen in the guide here, with steps on page 5.
Also, the R7525 does indeed support PCIe slot bifurcation, which can be enabled in the BIOS under Integrated Devices, as seen at the bottom of the page here.
Let me know if this helps.
ellDerly
3 Posts
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March 16th, 2023 07:00
hello chris,
thanks for your help and hints!
you're right, of course: u.2 drives that are screwed onto a dell hard disc cage can just be plugged into the existing backplane. however, that's not quite what i was going for. maybe i should clarify my question:
what i want to attach to the server is a non-dell drive bay (https://www.icydock.de/goods.php?id=330), which is designed for daily changing of one u.2 harddisk (14 pieces in total). furthermore, the requirement is that it should be able to be operated by unskilled persons - i don't think the existing dell hard disc cages are suitable for this.
the drive bay has a SFF-8654 connector. the idea or question was, if i can plug this SFF-8654 to the free NVMe connectors of the server mainboard (marked as sockets 12, 13, 39, and 40) using a suitable cable.
and if so: what are the names of the connectors that fit into these NVMe ports on the server mainboard? and of course: where do i get the power for the drive bay?
thanks again and best regards,
ellDerly