Lenovo ThinkStation P920, ThinkStation P720, ThinkStation P520, ThinkStation P520C Broadcom Storage Configuration [en, ar, bg, cs, da, de, el, es, es, fi, fr, he, hr, hu, it, ja, ko, nb, nl, pl, pt, pt, ro, ru, sh, sk, sl, sv, th, tr, uk, zc, zh]

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LENOVO THINKSTATION P920, P720, P520, & P520C

BROADCOM STORAGE CONFIGURATION

Contents

OVERVIEW

SECTION 1 – STORAGE CONTROLLER DETAILS

SECTION 2 – THINKSTATION P920 SUPPORT

SECTION 3 – THINKSTATION P720 SUPPORT

SECTION 4 – THINKSTATION P520 SUPPORT

SECTION 5 – THINKSTATION P520C SUPPORT

SECTION 6 – CONFIGURING RAID ARRAYS

SECTION 7 – DELETING RAID ARRAYS

SECTION 8 - GLOSSARY

SECTION 9 – DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY

Overview

The purpose of this document is to provide a high-level guidance for users on how to configure their SATA, SAS, and NVMe storage options using one of the optional Broadcom storage controllers in the ThinkStation P520c, P520, P720, and P920. These ThinkStation systems are capable of supporting up to eight SATA and SAS HDDs/SSDs up to 12Gb/s maximum theoretical throughput. It is important to note that SATA, SAS, and NVMe devices are supported with the Broadcom storage controller.

Section 1 – Storage Controller Details

Broadcom 9440-8i (SAS3408) I/O Controller (IOC) Adapter

Maximum Number of Drives 63 SAS/SATA

4 NVME Up to 32 Virtual Drives

Connection Method 2x Mini-SAS HD x4 SFF-8643 ports

HDD LED Cable1

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support RAID 0

Adapter Speed PCI Express 3.1 x8 lane

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

2.5” (U.2) NVME SSD

RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10

Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s.

To LED Header on motherboard

Connects to “J6” on the Broadcom adapter and “LED_SAS_HD1” on the motherboard.

To LED Header on motherboard

Broadcom 9460-16i (SAS3516) RAID-On-Chip (ROC) Adapter

Maximum Number of Drives 240 SAS/SATA

24 NVME Up to 32 Virtual Drives

Connection Method 4x Mini-SAS HD x4 SFF-8643 ports

HDD LED Cable2

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support RAID 0

Adapter Speed PCI Express 3.1 x8 lane

Options Supercap (cache backup battery pack)

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

2.5” (U.2) NVME SSD

RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 6

Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s.

- Cache Memory: 4GB 2133MHz DDR4 SDRAM

- RAID Supercap Holder Kit

Connects to “J6” on the Broadcom adapter and “LED_SAS_HD1” on the motherboard.

Section 2 – ThinkStation P920 Support

Level of Support Summary

Maximum Number of Drives 8

Connection Method Tool-less FLEX tray blind-mounted to a backplane (BCA).

BCA is standard.

Drive Locations Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray.

Hardware Required BCA-S3 or BCA-P4

Blind HDD FLEX Tray Assembly. Broadcom 9440-8i IOC or Broadcom 9460-16i ROC.

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support RAID 0

Drive Speed Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s.

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

2.5” (U.2) NVME SSD

RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 6 5

Actual data throughput will depend on the drive.

BCA-S comes standard in P920.

BCA-P is required for use of U.2 PCIe storage devices.

RAID 6 is only supported on the Broadcom 9460-16i ROC Adapter.

S/X 2

Power 1

S/X 1

BCA1 Control

Power 2

BCA2 Control

S/X 2

How to Utilize the Broadcom for SATA/SAS Hard Drives

In the P920 system, drives are always connected through the use of Blind Connect Assemblies (BCA). When using the optional Broadcom storage controller, up to four (4) drives can be connected to each BCA. This gives the P920 support for up to eight (8) drives with the Broadcom storage controller via two BCA’s.

All connections on the BCA’s are active ports for SATA/SAS using the Broadcom storage controller.

S/X 1 and S/X 2 get connected to S/X 1 and S/X 2 of the Broadcom adapter respectively.

BCA-S

BCA2 Control

BCA1 Control

Power 2

BCA-S

Power 1

LED Header

9440-8i IOC

9460-16i ROC

S/X 1 S/X 2

S/X 1

Blind Connect Assembly (BCA)

Section 3 – ThinkStation P720 Support

Level of Support Summary

Maximum Number of Drives 8

Connection Method Tool-less FLEX tray blind-mounted to a backplane (BCA).

Drive Locations Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray.

Hardware Required Broadcom 9440-8i IOC or Broadcom 9460-16i ROC

BCA-S or BCA-P Blind HDD FLEX Tray Assembly

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support RAID 0

Drive Speed Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s.

Drive Bay Configuration 0,1,2,3,4 drive bays used  dual BCA-S with 4 blind

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 6 6

Actual data throughput will depend on the drive.

connect FLEX trays.

RAID 6 is only supported on the Broadcom 9460-16i ROC Adapter.

Manual Connect Option

Maximum Number of Drives 4

Connection Method LSI to HDD manual tray cable.

Drive Locations Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray.

One drive per FLEX tray.

Hardware Required Broadcom 9440-8i IOC or Broadcom 9460-16i ROC

LSI to HDD manual tray cable (see picture below) Manual HDD FLEX Tray Assembly

Drive Type Supported 3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

RAID Level Support RAID 0

RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 6 7

Drive Speed Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s.

Actual data throughput will depend on the drive.

To MB “HDD_PWR1”

To 9460/9440 “Port 0”

RAID 6 is only supported on the Broadcom 9460-16i ROC Adapter.

LSI to HDD manual tray cable

To HDD bay #3

To HDD bay #4

To HDD bay #2 To HDD bay #1

Power

BCA1 Control Power 1

BCA2 Control

S/X 2

S/X 1

How to Utilize the Broadcom for SATA/SAS Drives

There are two connection methods supported when utilizing the Broadcom storage controllers in the P720. Total drive support varies depending on the connection method with the Broadcom SATA/SAS/NVMe controller.

All connections on the BCA’s are active ports for SATA/SAS using the Broadcom storage controller.

Blind Connect Assembly (BCA) Option

Power

BCA Control

9440-8i IOC

9460-16i ROC

S/X 1

S/X 2 S/X 1 S/X 2

HDD bay #1

HDD bay #2

HDD bay #3

HDD bay #4

Optionally, in the P720 system, SATA/SAS drives can be connected to the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller via the manual connect method. This consists of using the LSI to HDD manual tray cable. Total drive support with the Broadcom SATA/SAS/NVMe controller using the manual connect method supports up to 4 drives.

HDD/SSD Manual Connect Option

HDD_PWR1

To HDD bay #1 To HDD bay #2

9440-8i IOC

To HDD bay #4 To HDD bay #3

9460-16i ROC

To MB “HDD_PWR1”

To “S/X 1”

S/X 1

S/X 2 S/X 1 S/X 2

Maximum Number of Drives

Connection Method

Drive Locations

Hardware Required

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support

Drive Speed

Section 4 – ThinkStation P520 Support

Level of Support Summary

LSI to HDD manual tray cable.

Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. One drive per FLEX tray.

Broadcom 9440-8i IOC or Broadcom 9460-16i ROC LSI to HDD manual tray cable (see picture below) Manual HDD FLEX Tray Assembly

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 68

Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s. Actual data throughput will depend on the drive.

To MB “HDD_PWR1”

To 9460/9440 “S/X”

RAID 6 is only supported on the Broadcom 9460-16i ROC Adapter.

LSI to HDD manual tray cable

To HDD bay #3

To HDD bay #4

To HDD bay #2 To HDD bay #1

S/X 2

HDD bay #1

HDD bay #2

HDD bay #3

HDD bay #4

How to Utilize the Broadcom for SATA/SAS Drives

In the P520 system, SATA/SAS drives are connected to the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller via the manual connect method. This consists of manually cabling both power and data to each drive individually. Total drive support with the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller supports up to 4 drives.

HDD_PWR1

9440-8i IOC

9460-16i ROC

S/X 1

S/X 1 S/X 2

ximum Number of Drives

Connection Method

Drive Locations

Flex Bay Options

Hardware Required

Drive Type Supported

RAID Level Support

Drive Speed

Section 5 – ThinkStation P520c Support

Level of Support Summary

Mini SAS HD to SATA/SAS cable, 4 drops, 750mm

2 Drives install into HDD Bays via FLEX Tray. 2 Drives install into FLEX Bays.9

5.25” Slim ODD and HDD cage

Broadcom 9440-8i IOC Mini SAS HD to SATA/SAS cable, 4 drops,

3.5” SATA HDD (7200rpm)

2.5” SATA SSD

2.5” SAS HDD

RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10

Maximum drive throughput is 12Gb/s. Actual data throughput will depend on the drive.

To 5.25” FLEX bay #2

To 5.25” FLEX bay #1

SATA HDD’s/SSDs in the FLEX bays need to utilize the 5.25” Slim ODD and HDD cage.

To HDD bay #2

To HDD bay #1

To MB “HDD_PWR

To 9440 “S/X”

How to Utilize the Broadcom for SATA/SAS Drives

In the P520c system, SATA/SAS drives are connected to the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller via the manual connect method. This consists of manually cabling both power and data to each drive individually. Total drive support with the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller supports up to 4 drives (2 drives in the HDD bays and 2 drives in the Flex bays).

HDD_PWR

FLEX bay 1

9440-8i IOC

HDD bay 1

HDD bay 2

S/X 1 S/X 2

FLEX bay 2

Section 6 – Configuring RAID Arrays

Follow the instructions below to create a basic RAID array using the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller.

1. Install the drives for the RAID array into the system. See the above sections to determine the correct hardware and placement of the storage devices.

2. Power on the system and press the ‘F1’ function key at the ‘Lenovo’ splash screen indicated below to enter BIOS.

3. Select the “Setup” menu option at the screen indicated below.

4. Select the “Advanced” menu (left) and “AVAGO MegaRAID< > Configuration Utility” menu (right) at the screen indicated below.

5. Select the “Main Menu” option.

6. Select “Configuration Management”.

7. Select “Make Unconfigured Good”.

8. Select the disks to use in the RAID array that are not listed as “Unconfigured Good” and select “OK”.

9. Select the checkbox next to “Confirm” and select “Yes”.

10. Select “OK”.

11. Select “Create Virtual Drive”.

12. Select the drop-down menu next to “Select RAID Level” and select the RAID array type to configure.

13. Select on the “Select Drives” option.

14. Select the drop-down menu next to “Select Media Type” and select “Both” to show all drives configured on the Broadcom card.

15. Select each drive to use as part of the RAID array and select “Apply Changes”.

16. Select “OK”.

17. Select “Save Configuration”.

18. Select the checkbox next to “Confirm” and select “Yes”.

19. Select “OK”.

20. RAID array successfully created screen should look something like this.

21. To view the created RAID array(s), select “Virtual Drive Management”.

22. Select the virtual drive group to view properties.

23. Once finished with creating the RAID array(s), press function ‘F10’ to ‘Save and ‘Exit’ BIOS.

Section 7 – Deleting RAID Arrays

Follow the instructions below to delete an existing RAID array using the Broadcom SATA/SAS controller.

1. Power on the system and press the ‘F1’ function key at the ‘Lenovo’ splash screen indicated below to enter BIOS.

2. Select the “Setup” menu option at the screen indicated below.

3. Select the “Advanced” menu (left) and “AVAGO MegaRAID< > Configuration Utility” menu (right) at the screen indicated below.

4. Select the “Main Menu” option.

5. Select “Virtual Drive Management”.

24. Select the virtual drive group to view properties.

25. In the virtual drive group properties window, select the dropdown menu next to “Operation” to perform a specific operation on the drive group. One of the options is to delete the virtual drive group.

Section 8 - Glossary

Blind Connect Assembly (BCA)

BCA-S: Blind Connect Assembly consisting of four 8482-SFF ports (supporting SAS and SATA drives). The assembly also contains the following cable connections:

- One 4-pin power connector that connects to the motherboard.

- One mini-SAS HD connector labeled “S/X” that connects to either the onboard Intel controller or the Broadcom controller

BCA control

mini-SAS HD connector “S/X”

4-pin power connector

8482-SFF port

BCA-P: Blind Connect Assembly consisting of two 8639-SFF (U.2) ports (supporting PCIe, SAS, or SATA drives) and two 8482-SFF ports (supporting SAS or SATA drives). The assembly also contains the following cable connections:

- One 4-pin power connector that connects to the motherboard.

- Two mini-SAS HD connectors that connect to the Broadcom adapter (for PCIe connections).

- One mini-SAS HD connector labeled “S/X” that connects to either the onboard Intel controller or the Broadcom controller.

mini-SAS HD connector “S/X” 4-pin power connector BCA control

8639-SFF PCIe

8482-SFF port

mini-SAS HD connector “P1” and “P2”

Connector Type

Drives Supported

SATA

SAS (only with

Broadcom

controller)

NVMe (U.2 only)

SATA

SAS (only with

Broadcom

controller)

FLEX Tray

8639-SFF (U.2) PCIe port

8482-SFF port

Blind Connect FLEX Tray : Tool-less tray that can hold up to two drives and utilizes a “pull-bar” style handle to connect drive(s) to the BCA

Manual Connect FLEX Tray : Tool-less tray that can hold up to two drives. These trays utilize hinged pulls that open and allow for cable access and manual cable connections.

Section 9 – Document Revision History

Version Date Author Changes/Updates

1.4 3/6/2019 Jason Moebs Updates throughout.

1.3 3/4/2019 Jason Moebs Updates throughout.

1.2 2/28/2019 Jason Moebs Updates throughout.

1.1 2/4/2019 Jason Moebs Updates throughout.

1.0 10/10/2018 Jason Moebs Initial launch release.

Lenovo ThinkStation P920, ThinkStation P720, ThinkStation P520, ThinkStation P520C Broadcom Storage Configuration [en, ar, bg, cs, da, de, el, es, es, fi, fr, he, hr, hu, it, ja, ko, nb, nl, pl, pt, pt, ro, ru, sh, sk, sl, sv, th, tr, uk, zc, zh]

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