Dell PowerEdge Express Flash NVMe PCIe SSD Adapter User’s Guide
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. Copyright © 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Contents 1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................5 PCIe interface.....................................................................................................................................................................5 NVMe PCIe SSD adapter features................................................................................................................................
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology errors.........................................................................................21 Ungraceful system shutdown or power loss................................................................................................................. 21 General errors....................................................................................................................................................................
1 Overview The PowerEdge Express Flash Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid State Device (SSD) Adapter is a high-performance storage device designed for solutions requiring low latency, high I/O operations per second (IOPS), and enterprise class storage reliability and serviceability. The NVMe PCIe SSDs offer a Multi-Level Cell (MLC) or Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND flash technology with a high-speed PCIe 3.0 compliant interface. The high-speed PCIe 3.
Remaining rated write endurance NAND SSDs have a finite number of program erase cycles. The NVMe PCIe SSD is warranted to a maximum amount of data written to the device in total bytes written. The NVMe PCIe SSD self monitors for these limits, and software management applications notify you when you reach these limits.
2 Technical specifications NOTE: The specifications provided are for information purposes only and do not constitute an extension of Dell's warranty for this product. Table 1.
Un-formatted capacity 1.6 TB, 3.2 TB, and 6.4 TB User-addressable sectors 1.6 TB: 3,125,627,568 LBAs 3.2 TB: 6,251,233,968 LBAs 6.4 TB: 12,502,446,768 LBAs Bytes per sector 512 Bytes Rated Write Endurance (TBW) for SM1715 family 1.6 TB: 29.2 PB (10 DWPD) 3.2 TB: 58.4 PB (10 DWPD) Rated Write Endurance (TBW) for PM1725 and PM1725a families 1.6 GB: 14.6 PB (5 DWPD) 3.2 TB: 29.2 PB (5 DWPD) 6.4 TB: 58.4 PB (5 DWPD) Environment Operating temperature 0°C to 55°C Shock 1500 G/0.
3 Getting started with NVMe PCIe SSD The NVMe PCIe SSD adapters you ordered with your system are ready for use. For more information, see Configuring NVMe PCIe SSD adapter in different operating systems, or see Configuring and managing your NVMe PCIe SSD adapter. Configuring NVMe PCIe SSD adapter in different operating systems In Windows-based systems, the NVMe PCIe SSDs have a controller entity and a device entity. The controller entity is displayed under the Storage controller menu in the Device Manager.
4 Replacing and configuring hardware for NVMe PCIe SSD adapter CAUTION: All work must be performed at an electrostatic discharge (ESD)-safe workstation to meet the EIA-625-requirements for handling electrostatic discharge sensitive devices. All actions must be performed following the latest revisions of the IPCA-610 ESD recommended practices. CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
Installing NVMe PCIe SSD adapter in system CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that came with the product.
5 Driver installation For the current list of operating systems supported by NVMe PCIe SSD, see Supported operating systems for NVMe PCIe SSD .
1 Insert the media containing the latest driver that you downloaded from Dell.com/support/drivers. 2 Double-click the executable and follow the on-screen instructions to install the NVMe PCIe SSD driver using DUP. NOTE: Dell provides the DUP to update drivers on systems running 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016 operating systems. DUP is an executable application that updates drivers for specific devices.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and 12 drivers are provided in the Kernel Module Package (KMP) format while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 drivers are provided in the Kernel Module Loader (KMOD) format. KMODs are Red Hat Packet Manager (RPM)s and are driver packaging methods that contain kernel modules, instituted to better handle kernel update situations.
b c d e 4 Enter your user name and password. Navigate to the troubleshooting options. Enable the ESXi shell. Enable SSH. Install the NVMe PCIe SSD driver on the ESXi host. a b Navigate to the datastore volume or file directory that contains the NVMe PCIe SSD driver, and run the following command: esxcli software vib install /. Reboot the ESXi host.
6 Configuring and managing your NVMe PCIe SSD adapter The storage management applications discussed in the following topics enable you to manage and configure the NVMe PCIe SSD Adapter. These applications also allow you to control and monitor multiple NVMe PCIe SSDs, and provide online maintenance.
Name Displays the name of the NVMe PCIe SSD. The name includes the slot ID in which the NVMe PCIe SSD Adapter is installed. State Displays the current state of the NVMe PCIe SSD Adapter. Bus Protocol Displays the technology that the NVMe PCIe SSD Adapter is using. Device Name In Windows: \\.\PhysicalDriveX. In Linux: /dev/nvmeXn1. Media Displays the media type of the physical SSD. Remaining Rated Write Endurance Displays the warranted wear out level of the NVMe PCIe SSD (in percentage).
Performing cryptographic erase task for NVMe PCIe SSD CAUTION: Performing a cryptographic erase on an NVMe PCIe SSD results in permanent loss of all data on the NVMe PCIe SSD. NOTE: During cryptographic erase, the host is not able to access the NVMe PCIe SSD. 1 Expand the Storage tree object to display the storage component objects. a On Linux platforms, unmount any file systems mounted on the device. 2 Expand the PCIe SSD Subsystem object. 3 Select the PCIe SSD in slot X.
Entering the HII configuration utility To enter the HII configuration utility: 1 Turn on the system. 2 Press F2 during system startup to enter the system setup. 3 Navigate to the Device Settings option. 4 Select the desired NVMe PCIe SSD to view its HII configuration page. Each device includes an entry such as: PCIe SSD in Slot X: Dell NVMe PCIe SSD Configuration Data.
To export the NVMe PCIe SSD log from the HII configuration utility, do the following: 1 Navigate to the Export Log menu of the HII configuration utility. 2 Select the file system device to which the log will be exported. 3 Select the directory into which you want to save the log. 4 Enter the file name under which you want to save the log in the File Name text box. For example, NVMe.log. 5 Click Export and follow the instructions to complete.
7 Troubleshooting NOTE: To get help for your NVMe PCIe SSD, see Contacting Dell. Topics: • Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology errors • Ungraceful system shutdown or power loss • General errors Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology errors The NVMe PCIe SSD solution is always monitored for errors by its internal software. If an error occurs, it is detected and recorded in an internal log.
Software RAID array created by using PCIe SSDs is not detected after SLES 11 is rebooted Cause The boot.md service is not started during RAID creation. The boot.md service must be enabled for the init process to start the MD-RAID device. Solution Run the command # chkconfig boot.md to verify if the boot.md service is on or off. This command should start the boot.md service. If it does not, run the command# chkconfig boot.md on to enable it.
Linux messages log may report the following entries on a write attempt to an NVMe PCIe SSD: • Buffer I/O error on device nvmeXn1, logical block Y (where X is the number corresponding to the device and Y is the logical block) • nvmeXn1: unable to read partition table (where X is the number corresponding to the device) Cause NVMe PCIe SSDs have a finite number of write cycles. When an NVMe PCIe SSD exhausts the number of writes, it goes into Write Protect (Read Only) mode.
Windows event ID 11 error reported in Windows event log Description Event ID 11 Error is reported in the Windows event log during each system boot. Cause This issue exists in the in-box Windows NVMe driver. Solution Install the latest NVMe driver available on Dell.com/support. System is unable to inventory or manage NVMe PCIe SSDs from HII utility Description NVMe PCIe SSDs are not discovered in the HII utility.
8 Getting help Contacting Dell Dell provides several online and telephone based support and service options. If you do not have an active internet connection, you can find contact information about your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical assistance, or customer service issues: 1 Go to Dell.com/support.
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