Flash PCIe and SAS cables – Models 985, 85E all-flash (single-phase power)

Flash PCIe cables

1. Flash PCIe cables and connectors are identified with a colored band matching the DA pair and two different color codes:
   • A colored band, corresponding to the color code of the DA pair, is found on each end of the cable near the connector. These color codes are shown in Figure 1.
   • The connector is color-coded to help prevent cross-cabling at the microbay adapter card or I/O enclosure PCIe and PCN card end. Connectors on cables attaching to Rx-Mxx-C1-T7 have white labels with black text, and connectors on cables attaching to Rx-Mxx-C2-T7 have black labels with white text. An example of this showing both cables attaching to a microbay adapter card pair is shown in Figure 2. This alternating color scheme is the same for all Flash PCIe cables, and is independent of the DA pair color code. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the Flash PCIe cable connection ends.
2. The black and white label at each end has a physical location code showing the "FROM" and "TO" end.
   • • If the cable connects to an I/O enclosure device adapter card connector, the physical location code is similar to this example: R1-XI1-P1-C7-T5. Refer to I/O enclosure location codes (Models 98x) (not 983).
     • If the cable connects to a microbay adapter card, the physical location code is similar to this example: R1-M02-C1-T7. Refer to Storage enclosure location codes (Models 98x, SAS flash enclosure, 24 drive slots, 2.5 inches).

Flash SAS cables

1. SAS cables and connectors are identified with two different color codes and a location designator:
   1. A colored band, corresponding to the color code of the DA pair, is found on each end of the cable near the connector. These color codes are shown in Figure 1.
   2. The connector itself is color coded to help prevent cross-cabling at the SAS expander card or device adapter card (DA) end. The connectors always appear in the following order:

      white (T1), green (T2), black (T3), and blue (T4)

      as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. This color code is specific to each SAS expander card or DA, and is independent of the DA pair color code.
   3. A black or white label at each end of the cable shows a location designator (for example, 16A1). Both ends of the cable have the same location designator and DA pair color code. However, the connector at each end of the same cable usually does NOT have the same color code.
   4. The following alternating color scheme is the same for all Flash SAS cables, and is independent of the DA pair color code.
      • Connectors on cables that attach to Rx-Mxx-C1-Tx have white labels with black text
      • Connectors on cables that attach to Rx-Mxx-C2-Tx have black labels with white text
      • Connectors on cables that attach to Rx-Mxx-C1-Tx have white labels with black text
      • Connectors on cables that attach to Rx-Mxx-C2-Tx have black labels with white text

   An example of SAS cables and connectors that shows both ends of two SAS cables to an enclosure is shown in Figure 5.

2. Location designators are in the form CTP, where:

   C

   Is the device adapter pair (16-23).

   T

   Is the port pair on the device adapter (A, B, a, b) (uppercase for left device adapter in pair, lowercase for right device adapter in pair).

   P

   Is the logical position of the downstream SAS expander card.

   Example: 16a1 is the link between device adapter R1-M02-C2-T1 and R1-F01-P1-C1-T2.

   16

   Device adapter pair 16

   a

   First port pair on right adapter of device adapter pair (lowercase a)

   1

   First SAS expander card

   The colored connector band plugged into R1-M02-C2-T1 (16a1) is white, while the colored connector band plugged into R1-F01-P1-C1-T2 (16a1) is green.
3. The black and white label at each end may have a physical location code in addition to the location designator.
   • If the cable connects to a microbay device adapter card connector, the physical location code is similar to this example: R1-M04-C1-T1. Refer to I/O enclosure location codes (Models 98x) (not 983).
   • If the cable connects to a storage enclosure SAS expander card, the physical location code is similar to this example: R1-F03-P1-C1-T1. Refer to Storage enclosure location codes (Models 98x, SAS flash enclosure, 24 drive slots, 2.5 inches).

Flash PCIe and SAS cabling tables