Hello,
I want to add hard drives to my SR2600 to use it as stand alone ESX host.
The Server has Server Board S5520UR, the passive Mid plane and ASR2500SIXDRV for 6th HDD.
Currently it is equiped with an Adaptec 5405 Controller and 4 HDD.
The 4 cables from the Adaptec Controller are connected to SATA_SAS 0 - 3 on the Mid plane.
My plan is to replace the Adaptec Controller with an 8-port PCIe RAID Controller and fully equip all 6 HDD bays.
On a web site http://www.techbuy.com.au/newproducts/2006/10/2/ (search for the term passive) i found that when using the passive Mid plane the ASR2500SIXDRV cannot be connected from the Back plane but from SATA port 5 on the Main Board.
The Server Manual page 35 stated: "The passive midplane is a simple pass-through from the backplane to the SATA connectors on the server board or SAS/SATA connectors on an add-in Card"
To maximize confusion the sticker on the inside of the upper lid of the Server says: "Note: SATA connectors 5, 6 and 7 are note used."
Does anyone know what is correct? Can I connect 6 hard drive with the passive mid plane?
Aside from that. Would it be better to look for an active Mid plane, RAID Activation key and DIMM?
Regards,
Hermann