ML110 Gen10 swap LFF drive cage for SFF

[flathat]

I have an ML110 Gen10 ( SKU# P03685 ) with an LFF drive cage and SATA HDDs.  I would prefer to use SFF SSD drives.  Is it possible to swap in  HPE ML110 Gen10 8SFF Drive Backplane Cage Kit SKU #874007-B21 and use drives such as:

• HPE 480GB SATA 6G Mixed Use SFF (2.5in) SC 3yr Wty Multi Vendor SSD ( SKU# P18432-B21 )
  or
• HPE 480GB SATA 6G Mixed Use SFF (2.5in) SC 3yr Wty Digitally Signed Firmware SSD ( SKU# P07922-B21 )

If it isn't can you explain why?

[ShruthiSK]

Hi, 

As per the ML110 Gen10 server quickspecs, the mentioned SFF drive backplane and the mentioned SFF SSDs are supported. 

Quickspecs: https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=a00021851enw

Regards,

Shruthi 

[flathat]

Thanks, ShruthiK.  I'm going to try it.  Will post results here.

[daniver]

hello,

did you succed with the mentioned swap?

I'm in the exact same scenario now. 

Also, I guess it'is necessary another mini-sas cable? Since the 8SFF cage requires 2 of them.
I can't seem to find a product ID.

[flathat]

I'm sorry for the late reply.

Swapping in the SFF cage went very well. I only put two drives in it. I didn't
run into a need for a second cable.

Eric Lee
Co-owner
The Tech Support Co-op
Toronto, ON Canada
elee@techsupport.coop
1-844-267-3767
Direct: 416-532-8301

[GKNOLA]

I know this is a delayed response but in case you haven't found it

Four-bay LFF/eight-bay SFF hot-plug drive Mini-SAS cable 878327-001

[daniver]

Thanks both of you. Sorry for my late reply as well.

I've managed to buy a drive cage, not from the official store since it was not available, but from amazon (I don't know if I can post the link here).

The pakage arrived today. I've mounted it and all seems perfect so far. Once powered up the server, it seems the cage is not recognized, even with just 1 SSD mounted, there is no sign of it in the BIOS under storage info.

Everything is in place: 8-pin power cable, even 2 mini-sas cables (2 were included in the pakage) connected to the 2 ports on the mainboard.

Something odd I've noticed: the external pakage reports part number "874007-B21", wich should be the correct one, it was even the one listed on the amazon article. BUT the cage itselfs has a ticket on the side with the following info:

P/N: 674844-002, HDD CAGE, 8SFF, HOT PLUG, 4U GEN8 ENHANCED

It this a wrong cage, designed for a GEN8 and not for GEN10 thus not working nor even powering up the disks?
In this case I'm gonna have to send it back and hopefully find another reseller not taking ages... I have to put this in production shortly.

I'm attaching a couple of photos.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[GKNOLA]

The cabling instructions are very explicit and can be found on page 188 of the

HPE Proliant ML110 Gen 10 Server Maintenance and Service Guide

(if you haven't done it, you should download a copy and treat it a a bible)

The diagram shows color coded connectors for illuustration purposes only to be sure that you see which terination points each cable goes to.

Looking at your pictures and matching them to the manual. turn the backplane picture 180 degrees so that the connectors are on the left. Then the upper connector should go to SATA Port 1 and the lower connector should go to SATA Port 2.

I'm curious, why did you populate the drives in positions 6, 7 and 8 rather than 1, 2 and 3?

Provantage (provantage.com) is an authorized HPE reseller and is very good about providing parts and information. Their pricing is competitive. (Disclaimer: I have no relationship with them other than that of a customer)

[daniver]

Hello,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did check out the mentioned guide, and the cabling was done correctly just as you described.

At the time of the photo the cage was empy, no drives connected. That leads me to another concern of mine, but maybe I'm not too handy with HPE hardware:
Those 3 black inserted are just SFF drive blanks (P/N 670033-001), which makes this cage a 8SFF non-hot plug model if I'm not wrong.

As per official documentation, the ML110 Gen10 does not have this option, only a 8SFF HOT-PLUG: the vendor sent a me the wrong model, that's why it's not even showing up in the BIOS info?

I'm attaching a photo with one 2.5" SSD drive connected on slot 3, just as an example.

Thanks for the website advice, I've found this one, with (in theory) the correct Manufacturer Part Number 874007-B21:

https://www.provantage.com/hpe-874007-b21~7HPE931U.htm

The only problem would be I'm not in the US, I'd need s shipment to Europe.

[GKNOLA]

The Drive Blank is the correct part (page 8 of the service manual). The blanks are just to make sure that the installed drives get proper airflow and cooling.

I haven't used HPE SSD's so I have no first hand experience but they all spec as Hot Swap

I have a cabling question for you. Are the SATA data cables installed correctly? They have a label which specifies which connector goes to the motherboard and which one to the cage backplane.