hp QX448 Front Accessible NVMe Storage User Manual
- June 16, 2024
- HP
Table of Contents
hp QX448 Front Accessible NVMe Storage
Introduction
The HP Front NVMe solution provides users with secure, high-performance front removable M.2 storage. New on Z by HP G5 workstations, this solution elegantly combines hardware and software functionality to provide easy-to-use, hot- swappable drive management. HP software allows users to conveniently eject drives and monitor diagnostic information.
Hardware
Overview
The HP Front NVMe solution, designed in partnership with CRU, fits in the front 5.25” bay on supported HP workstations to offer the user high performance front removable NVMe storage. There are two versions of this module: QX448 and QX428. The QX448/428 is a receiving frame installed in the front 5.25” bay of the system. This frame supports the CRU SHIPS modules which hold the M.2 NVMe drives. A notable benefit of this solution is that it enables front removable storage for the user without using a PCIe slot.
Hardware Interconnect
The QX448/428 takes advantage of PCIe Gen4 to offer high IO performance to the
removable drives. Each removable drive is connected to the main system board
with a x4 PCIe Gen4 connection. System boards supporting QX448/428 will have
dedicated connectors on the mainboard for this front NVMe solution. The
QX448/428 frame connects to dedicated SlimSAS connectors on the mainboard
using high speed SlimSAS cables.
Misc Hardware Features
The QX448/428 has two LEDs per drive to display status and diagnostic
information to the user. The software section below details what all is
reported on the front LEDS. There is also a central lock on the unit which
allows the user to lock all drives in the frame with the provided key.
QX448 vs QX428
HP G5 workstations supporting front NVMe will support either the QX448 or the
QX428, not both. The only functional difference between the modules is the
number of drives supported: QX448 supports four drives and the QX428 supports
two drives. The system’s support for either QX448 or QX428 is determined by
the number of dedicated connectors on the system’s mainboard.
Figure 1: Z by HP G5 workstation QX448/428 support plan
Figure 2: QX448 vs QX428 Feature comparison
| QX448 | QX428 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Drives Supported | 4 | 2 |
| PCIe Support | PCIe Gen 4.0 | PCIe Gen 4.0 |
| Front Lock with 2 Keys | Yes | Yes |
| Drive Power LED | Yes | Yes |
| Drive Status LED | Yes | Yes |
| Number of Data Cables | Two 8i SlimSAS cables | One 8i SlimSAS cables |
Note: Prior QX428/448 versions purchased before 02/05/2024 only support up to PCIe Gen 3.
Software Solution
Overview of FANS (Front-Accessible NVMe Storage)
FANS is an HP-unique software layer that sits on top of the QX448 and QX428
hardware. Primarily targeting Media & Entertainment, Government, and Law
Enforcement, it’s designed to facilitate the rapid ejection and general
monitoring of drives. FANS software comes preinstalled on all HP G5 desktop
workstations, and will also be available for customers to install themselves
via Softpaq.
Features
- Drive Ejection: Each drive inserted in the carrier is represented by the FANS user interface. Each drive will appear in a card that mirrors the slot it is installed in on the front of the carrier, allowing the user to easily differentiate the drives. On each of these cards is an eject button. Clicking the eject button will trigger a Windows ejection event, meaning the drive will be safe to remove. These cards also display information on the drives themselves. There is a circle on each card that represents the Status LED on the front of the unit. Any status change will be reflected in both this circle and the Status LED.
- RAID Monitoring: For any RAID setup that includes a front NVMe drive, the FANS software will display and monitor all drives (internal and front NVMe) included in the RAID array. The supported RAIDs for monitoring are on Windows (Storage Spaces and VROC) and Ubuntu (LVM RAID and MD RAID). The RAID array is represented in a visual card, similar to the drive cards. If internal drives are included in the RAID along with a front NVMe drive, the FANS interface will simply state that the device is internal instead of displaying the status of internal drives. Any RAID faults will trigger user notification and will display an error on the RAID card. The FANS software is purely observational and provides no RAID Management capabilities.
- SMART Monitoring: FANS will also trigger an error notification if a SMART error is received. SMART errors are warnings that drives send out when they are about to fail. Any high-level SMART event will also be displayed on the drive card. The user can see this by hovering over the status LED.
- Task Bar Notifications: FANS will alert the user via taskbar notifications whenever a significant event is detected, as long as the user has not turned this off through the settings.
- Settings Modification: Users will be able to customize the type of alerts they receive, and how they receive them. Users can opt out of notifications from the FANS user interface.
LED Behavior
The QX448/QX428 modules have two LEDs per drive: a Power LED and a Status LED.
The Power LED will blink when the drive is being accessed by the system. The
behavior of the Status LED can be seen below in Figure 3.
Figure 3: QX448/QX428 LED Behavior
| LED Name | Color | State | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status LED | Green | Ready to Use | The drive/RAID is operating normally |
| Status LED | White | Ejected | The LED turns white when a drive has been |
ejected from Windows, but not removed.
Status LED| Red| Fault Detected| The drive/RAID has encountered a
failure/fault. The user will need to address the issue.
Power LED| White| Drive Has Been Inserted| We have no control over the
power LED, but it is always on when a drive has been inserted
Resources, contacts, or additional links
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© Copyright 2023 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are outlined in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Apple, Mac, macOS, and MacBook are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
4AA8-2802ENW ,November 2023.
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