User`s guide

Chapter 5: Installing the Controller and Disk Drives ● 39
2 Use internal SAS or mini-SAS cables to attach the disk drives to the controller, as shown in
the following example.
Note:
SAS fan-out cables are also available with an additional sideband (SFF-8448) cable
that caries SGPIO signals for enclosure management. This additional sideband cable is not
used with direct-attached disk drives.
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 on page 42.
Connecting 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 page 71.)
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 SAS cable to connect the controller to the backplane, as shown in the
examples on page 40.
SAS/SATA
disk drives or
SATA SSDs
Single-port connector
internal x4 mini-SAS connectors
mini-SAS to SATA fan-out cable