Intel S5000PSL User Guide - Page 32

SAS Server Board In addition to the SATA features described above, SAS models of the server board (product code S5000PSLSAS or S5000PSLSASR) also have a dual-mode 4-port Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controller that supports both SAS and SATA hard disk drives. This controller is capable of data transfer rates of up to 3.0 Gbps per port.The SAS controller supports up to 120 physical drives when expanders are used. The BIOS Setup utility includes options on the Advanced | Mass Storage setup page to enable or disable the SAS option ROM and the SAS controller. Both of these options must be enabled to use RAID. • When the SAS controller is enabled, the two black SATA ports on the server board continue to function as SATA ports. The four blue ports can be used as either SAS or SATA ports. When the SAS controller is disabled in the BIOS Setup utility, SATA ports 0 and 1 (the two black ports) function as SATA ports and all other SAS / SATA ports are disabled. • When the SAS option ROM is enabled in the BIOS Setup utility, Intel® Embedded Server RAID Technology II is available. This enables SAS RAID modes 0, 1, or 10 for the four blue ports on the server board. With the SAS controller the user can mix SAS and SATA drives. The RAID mode of the SAS controller supports up to eight physical SAS/SATA drives and eight logical drives. The SAS mode of ESRT II supports up to eight SATA / SAS hard drives and supports only one expander backplane per chassis. If the SAS option ROM is disabled in the BIOS Setup utility, but the SAS controller is enabled, the four blue ports on the server board continue to function as either SAS or SATA ports and the two black ports on the server board continue to function as SATAonly ports. However, RAID support is not available. If RAID 5 is desired, the optional Intel® RAID Activation Key AXXRAKSW5 can be installed. To enable RAID 5, this activation key is placed on the SAS_Key connector that is located at the left side of the server board. For information on how to install the Intel® RAID Activation Key AXXRAKSW5 accessory to enable RAID 5, see the documentation that is included with the accessory kit. See Figure 2 on page 6 for connection locations. Two SGPIO connectors are available on SAS models of the server board, one for the SAS controller and one for the SATA controller. SAS enclosure management is provided through the SES2 connector on the server board when a cable is attached between the SES2 connector and the non-expander backplane. When an expander backplane is installed, enclosure management support is inband and this cable is not used. Notes: • For help with navigating the BIOS Setup utility, see the Intel® Server Board S5000PSL Technical Product Specification. 14 Intel® Server Board S5000PSL