SCSI Interface CablesDell™ PowerEdge™ 6600 Systems Installation and Troubleshooting Guide
SCSI Configuration Information
Installing a RAID Controller Card
Your system features a hard-drive bay that contains up to eight 1-inch SCSI hard drives. Your system also features a peripheral bay that can be used for an additional four 1-inch SCSI hard drives or an internal tape drive. A CD drive and a diskette drive are mounted together on a tray that slides in and out of the front panel and connects to a connector inside the system. This connector is cabled to the peripheral riser card. This allows the diskette and CD drives to be serviced without removing system covers or connecting and disconnecting cables. This section contains instructions for replacing these devices.
If you are installing a SCSI tape drive in the peripheral bay, you must connect it to the I/O riser card. If you are installing SCSI hard drives in the peripheral bay, you must connect the interface cable from the peripheral bay's daughter card to a RAID controller card.
These interface connectors are keyed for correct insertion. Keying ensures that the pin-1 wire in the cable connects to pin 1 in the connectors on both ends.
When you disconnect an interface cable, take care to grasp the cable connector, rather than the cable itself, to avoid stress on the cable.
Although SCSI devices are installed in essentially the same way as other devices, their configuration requirements are different. To configure a SCSI device installed in the peripheral bay, follow the guidelines in the following subsections.
Each device attached to a SCSI host adapter must have a unique SCSI ID number from 0 to 15.
A SCSI tape drive is configured as SCSI ID 6 (the default ID number for a tape drive).
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NOTE: There is no requirement that SCSI ID numbers be assigned sequentially or that devices be attached to the cable according to ID number. |
SCSI logic requires that the two devices at opposite ends of the SCSI chain be terminated and that all devices in between be unterminated. The SCSI cable included in the upgrade kit has an active terminator installed at the end of the cable. Therefore, when configuring the devices in the peripheral bay, you should disable the device's termination.
The peripheral bay can be used for an additional four 1-inch SCSI hard drives or a tape drive.
Installing hard drives in the peripheral bay is identical to installing hard drives in the hard drive bay (see "SCSI Hard Drives" found later in this document).
Internal tape drives are connected directly to the I/O riser card.
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CAUTION: Before you perform this procedure, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its power source. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your System" in "Troubleshooting Your System." |
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NOTICE: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in your System Information document. |
Arrange the cables so that they will not catch on the system cover or block the airflow of the fans or cooling vents.
This subsection describes how to configure and install an external SCSI tape drive.
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NOTICE: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in your System Information document. |
Ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface on the back of the system, unpack the drive and controller card, and compare the jumper and switch settings with those in the drive documentation.
See "SCSI Configuration Information" for information on setting the drive's SCSI ID number and enabling termination (if required). Change any settings necessary for your system's configuration.
This subsection describes how to install and configure SCSI hard drives in the system's internal hard-drive bays.
The internal hard-drive bays provide space for up to eight 1-inch hard drives. These drives connect to a SCSI backplane board. A SCSI cable connects the SCSI backplane board to the RAID controller card.
Before attempting to remove or install a drive while the system is running, see the documentation for the RAID controller card to ensure that the card is configured correctly to support hot-pluggable drive removal and insertion.
SCSI hard drives are supplied in special drive carriers that fit in the hard-drive bays.
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NOTE: You should use only drives that have been tested and approved for use with the SCSI backplane board. |
You may need to use different programs than those provided with the operating system to partition and format SCSI hard drives. See "Installing and Configuring SCSI Drivers" in the User's Guide for information and instructions.
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NOTICE: Do not turn off or reboot your system while the drive is being formatted. Doing so can cause a drive failure. |
When you format a high-capacity SCSI hard drive, allow enough time for the formatting to be completed. Long format times for these drives are normal. A 9-GB hard drive, for example, can take up to 2.5 hours to format.
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NOTICE: Not all operating systems support hot-plug drive installation. See the documentation supplied with your operating system. |
Figure 7-1. Installing a SCSI Hard Drive
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NOTICE: Do not insert a hard-drive carrier and attempt to lock its handle next to a partially installed carrier. Doing so can damage the partially installed carrier's shield spring and make it unusable. Ensure that the adjacent drive carrier is fully installed. |
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NOTICE: Not all operating systems support hot-plug drive installation. See the documentation supplied with your operating system. |
If the drive has been online, the drive status indicator will blink green twice per second as the drive is powered down. When all indicators are off, the drive is ready for removal.
If you are permanently removing the hard drive, install a blank insert.
The CD and diskette drives are mounted together on a tray that slides in and out of the front panel and connects to an interposer board in the system.
Figure 7-2. Removing and Replacing the CD/Diskette Drive Tray
Follow these general guidelines when installing a RAID controller card. For specific instructions, see the documentation supplied with the controller card.
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CAUTION: Before you perform this procedure, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its power source. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your System" in "Troubleshooting Your System." |
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NOTICE: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in your System Information document. |
For instructions, see the documentation accompanying the card.
If you are connecting the card to internal drives, install the RAID controller card in expansion slot 2 or 3.
To identify the correct RAID controller card connector, see the documentation for the card.
Test a SCSI hard drive by running the SCSI Controllers test in the system diagnostics.
If you plan to boot the system from a hard drive, the drive must be attached to the primary (or boot) controller. The device that the system boots from is determined by the boot order specified in the System Setup program.
The System Setup program provides options that the system uses to scan for installed boot devices. Refer to your system's User's Guide for information about the System Setup program.