Datasheet

Peripheral and Hard Drive Sub-System Intel® Server System SR2500AL
Revision – 1.00
Intel order number D31980-004
46
5.4 Mid-plane Options
New to this generation of high density server platform is the concept of the mid-plane. The mid-
plane is the interconnect between the server board and both the hot-swap backplane and
control panel. It is also used to determine which hard drive technology is to be supported. Two
different Mid-plane options are available for this platform 1) a passive mid-plane capable of
supporting SATA ports from the server board or SAS using ports from an add-in card; 2) an
active SAS / SAS RAID mid-plane. This section will describe the hard drive interface support of
each of the mid-plane boards.
5.4.1 Passive Mid-plane
The passive mid-plane is used as an interconnect, routing drive control signals from either the
on-board SATA ports of the baseboard or SAS/SATA ports from an add-in card to the hot-swap
backplane. The hard drive controller signals are cabled to the mid-plane which then routes the
signals to the hot-swap backplane through two edge connectors that plug directly into it. See
Table 22. Mid-plane-to-Backplane Card Edge Connector #1 Pin-out and Table 23. Mid-plane-to-
Backplane Card Edge Connector #2 Pin-out.
AF000047
E
A
J
B
C
F
G
I
H
D
Figure 32. Passive Mid-plane Board
A Power Connector F Fan 4 Connector
B Fan 6 Connector G Fan 3 Connector
C Fan 5 Connector H Fan 1 Connector
D SAS/SATA Connectors I Fan 2 Connector
E Bridge Board Connector J Backplane Connector