IBM Power 570 and IBM Power 595 (POWER6 ... - IBM Redbooks

There are six disk bays in each 9117-MMA processor enclosure (see Figure 2-13). Using a
split backplane option allows AIX or Linux to use these as two sets of three disk bays instead
of one set of six bays. Each set of disk bays is run by a different controller (one embedded
and one in a PCI slot). The extra granularity can be very useful for supporting small partitions
or mirroring disk controllers.
Enhanced Power 570 Split Backplane Support
Ext SAS Cable
#3679 or similar
PCI-e
SAS Card
• #5909 Alternate SAS Controller for 3 OF 6 Internal SAS
• For AIX or Linux
Figure 2-13 9117-MMA split backplane
#5909
• Single slot implementation vs. two slot implementation
• Split 6 SAS disk slots in CEC into 3+3 slots
– PCIe card handles 3 slots, imbedded controller handles 3 slots
Connects Into
DASD Backplane
SAS controller #5909 offers a single-slot split SAS backplane capability by combining an
internal cable and a SAS controller in a single slot in the CEC enclosure. (Feature codes
#5900, #3650, #3651, and #3679 continue to function as before but require two slots to
perform this function. Feature #3650 allows for control of three of the six internal SAS DASD,
while feature #3651 allows for control of six of the internal SAS DASD. Either of these features
take up one PCI Express slot in the system. Additionally, SAS cable #3679 is required to
connect either 3650 or 3651 to the PCI-X DDR SAS adapter #5900).
#5902 PCI-X DDR Dual - X4 3Gb SAS RAID Adapter for AIX or Linux:
► Two #5902 provide high performance, PROTECTED SAS disk controller solution for up to
four #5886 EXP 12S Disk Drawers (up to 48 disk)
► Two #5902 mirror their 175 MB write cache data and mirror RAID parity footprints between
the adapters for superior availability.
► With proper cabling, multiple wide ports are used to provide redundant paths to each dual
port SAS disk System I/O drawer
► Supported on POWER6 processor-based servers only
The same embedded controller that runs the disk drives also runs the SAS tape slot and the
slimline DVD drive in the system unit.
For a supported 9117-MMA configuration, disk drives must be protected by either mirroring or
RAID.
Chapter 2. IBM Power 570 Model 9117-MMA 83