User's Manual

performance comparable to fiber optic cables. Copper cable connectors differ from fiber optic
small form-factor connectors (see Figure 7 (page 13)).
Figure 7 Copper Fibre Channel cable
Fibre Channel disk drives
The Fibre Channel disk drives are hot-pluggable and include the following features:
• Dual-ported 4-Gb/s Fibre Channel controller interface that allows up to 96 disk drives to be
supported per array controller enclosure
• Compact, direct-connect design for maximum storage density and increased reliability and
signal integrity
• Both online high-performance disk drives and FATA disk drives supported in a variety of
capacities and spindle speeds
• Better vibration damping for improved performance
Up to 12 disk drives can be installed in a disk enclosure.
Disk drive status indicators
Two status indicators display drive operational status. Figure 8 (page 13) identifies the disk drive
status indicators and Table 3 (page 13) describes them.
Figure 8 Disk status indicators
1. Bi-color (amber/blue)
2. Green
Table 3 Disk status indicator LED descriptions
DescriptionDrive LED
Bi-color (top)
• Slow flashing blue (0.5 Hz)—Used to locate drive.
• Solid amber—Drive fault.
Green (bottom)
• Flashing—Drive is spinning up or down and is not ready.
• Solid—Drive is ready to perform I/O operations.
• Flickering—Indicates drive activity.
Disk drive blank
To maintain the proper enclosure air flow, a disk drive or a disk drive blank must be installed in
each drive bay. The disk drive blank maintains proper airflow within the disk enclosure.
M6412 disk enclosures 13