Lenovo SAS 2.5 Inch Hybrid Hard Drives for System x User Guide

Lenovo SAS 2.5 Inch Hybrid Hard Drives for System x User Guide

The IBM® SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid hard disk drives (HDDs) for System x® provide cost-effective performance
and density by combining a cache of NAND flash and conventional HDD media in a single industry standard small form factor (SFF) drive. These hybrid drives accelerate HDD performance for small and medium business and distributed large enterprise application environments, enabling higher I/O performance for most frequently used data while leveraging the capacity and cost of spinning media for primary storage.

Figure 1 shows the IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDD.

Figure 1. IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDD

Did you know?
While conventional hard disk drives can meet capacity requirements, HDD performance enhancements have remained relatively flat and confined to the rotational speed of the media. Hybrid HDDs offer accelerated performance by utilizing integrated NAND flash to cache data. The result is significantly improved performance over today’s conventional HDDs.

Rigorous testing of 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs by IBM through the IBM ServerProven® program assures a high degree of confidence in storage subsystem compatibility and reliability. Providing additional peace of mind, these drives are covered under IBM warranty.

Part number information

Table 1 lists the information for ordering part numbers and feature codes for the IBM SAS Hybrid HDDs.

Table 1. Ordering part numbers and feature codes

The part numbers include the following items:

• One Hybrid HDD with a hot-swap or simple-swap drive tray
• Warranty Flyer
• Important Notices document

Features

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs have the following features:

• Industry standard 2.5-inch form factor supports 2.5-inch drive bays on selected System x, IBM iDataPlex®, BladeCenter® and IBM Flex System™ servers.

• Combine a cache of NAND flash and conventional media to accelerate hard disk drive performance.

• Enable higher IO performance while leverage the capacity and cost of spinning media for primary storage.

• Bring transparent enhanced performance to data with high locality ( hot data).

• Transparently cache data at I/O block level.

• Improve performance of server internal storage in lower cost configurations, without a need to utilize SSDs and storage tiering.

• Performance features:
  128 MB DRAM data buffer
  16 GB Hybrid read cache
  8 MB Hybrid NVC-backed write cache
  Support up to 6 Gbps SAS interface speeds
  128 queue depth

• Reliability features:
  ECC maximum burst correction length of 530 bits
  S.M.A.R.T. (self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology) support
  Drive Self Test (DST)
  Background Media Scan (BMS)
  Idle Read After Write (IRAW)

Hybrid HDDs integrate three media types: HDD, DRAM, and NAND. HDD memory is used as a primary data storage for all data. DRAM memory is used for buffering all reads and caching all writes. NAND memory is divided into two parts: eMLC flash memory is used as a read cache for frequently used data; and SLC flash memory is used as a non-volatile storage for write cache in DRAM in case of a power failure.

Technical specifications

Table 2 presents technical specifications for the IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs.
Table 2. IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDD technical specifications

Supported servers

The compatibility information for the IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs and System x, iDataPlex, and NeXtScale servers is shown in Table 3 (Parts 1, 2, and 3).

Table 3. System x, iDataPlex, and NeXtScale compatibility (Part 1)

Table 3. System x, iDataPlex, and NeXtScale compatibility (Part 2)

Table 3. System x, iDataPlex, and NeXtScale compatibility (Part 3)

The compatibility information for the IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs and BladeCenter and Flex System servers is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. BladeCenter and Flex System compatibility

See the IBM ServerProven® website for the latest compatibility information for System x, BladeCenter, iDataPlex, and Flex System servers: http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Supported storage controllers

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs require a supported disk controller. Tables 5 and 6 list the System x, BladeCenter, and Flex System controllers that support these Hybrid HDDs installed in a supported server.

Table 5. RAID controllers for System x and iDataPlex servers supported with hybrid HDDs (Part 1)

Table 5. RAID controllers for System x and iDataPlex servers supported with hybrid HDDs (Part 2)

Table 5. RAID controllers for System x and iDataPlex servers supported with hybrid HDDs (Part 3)

Table 6. RAID controllers for BladeCenter and Flex System servers supported with Hybrid HDDs

See the IBM ServerProven website for the latest information about the adapters supported by each System x server type: http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Supported operating systems

Hybrid HDDs operate transparently to users, applications, databases, and operating systems. The
controllers that support Hybrid HDDs are supported by the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Datacenter x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Datacenter x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Standard x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Standard x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Web x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Web x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Foundation
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition
• Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Premium Edition
• Microsoft Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server x64 Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server Edition with Xen
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server with Xen x64 Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server x64 Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 AS for AMD64/EM64T
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 AS for x86
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for x86
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Xen for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Xen for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Xen for x86
• VMware vSphere 5.1
• VMware vSphere 5.0
• VMware ESX 4.1
• VMware ESXi 4.1
• VMware ESX 4.0
• VMware ESXi 4.0

See the IBM ServerProven website for the latest information about the specific supported versions and service packs: http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/. Click System x, then Storage controllers & SSD adapters to see the support matrix. Click the check mark that is associated with the System x server in question to see the details about operating system support.

Warranty

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs carry a one-year, customer-replaceable unit (CRU) limited warranty. When installed in a supported IBM server, these drives assume your system’s base warranty and any IBM ServicePac® upgrade.

Physical specifications

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs have the following physical specifications.
Dimensions and weight (approximate):

• Height: 15 mm (0.6 in.)
• Width: 70 mm (2.8 in.)
• Depth: 100 mm (3.9 in.)
• Weight: 219 g (0.5 lb)

Shipping dimensions and weight (approximate):

• Height: 63 mm (2.5 in.)
• Width: 133 mm (5.2 in.)
• Depth: 174 mm (6.9 in.)
• Weight: 579 g (1.3 lb)

Operating environment

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs are supported in the following environment:

• Temperature: 5 – 60 °C (41 – 158°F) at -61 m to 3,048 m (-200 ft to 10,000 ft)
• Relative humidity: 5 – 90% (noncondensing)
• Maximum altitude: 2,133 m (7,000 ft)

Agency approvals

The IBM SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs have the following agency approvals:

• UL
• CSA
• TUV
• CE Mark
• C-Tick Mark
• IEC
• Taiwan (BSMI Certification)
• Korea EMI

Related publications

For more information, see the following documents:

• IBM US Announcement Letter – IBM 15,000 rpm SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs for System x
  http://ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi- bin/ssialias?infotype=dd&subtype=ca&&htmlfid=897/ENUS113-156

• IBM US Announcement Letter – IBM 10,000 rpm SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid HDDs for System x
  http://ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi- bin/ssialias?infotype=dd&subtype=ca&&htmlfid=897/ENUS113-102

• IBM Redbooks® publication: IBM ServeRAID Adapter Quick Reference
  http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0054.html?Open
  System x Configuration and Options Guide
  http://www.ibm.com/systems/xbc/cog/

• IBM ServerProven
  http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:
Drives

Notices

Lenovo may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in all countries. Consult your local Lenovo representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to a Lenovo product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that Lenovo product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any Lenovo intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other product, program, or service. Lenovo may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

Lenovo (United States), Inc.
8001 Development Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
U.S.A.
Attention: Lenovo Director of Licensing

LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION ”AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.

The products described in this document are not intended for use in implantation or other life support applications where malfunction may result in injury or death to persons. The information contained in this document does not affect or change Lenovo product specifications or warranties. Nothing in this document shall operate as an express or implied license or indemnity under the intellectual property rights of Lenovo or third parties. All information contained in this document was obtained in specific environments and is presented as an illustration. The result obtained in other operating environments may vary. Lenovo may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

Any references in this publication to non-Lenovo Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this Lenovo product, and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the result obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.

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This document, TIPS1028, was created or updated on December 26, 2013.
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https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.
The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
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BladeCenter®
Flex System
NeXtScale
ServeRAID
ServerProven®
System x®
iDataPlex®

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References

• Enterprise Business Server Solutions | IBM
• IT Infrastructure | IBM
• Drives > Lenovo Press
• SAS 2.5-inch Hybrid Hard Drives for System x Product Guide (withdrawn product) > Lenovo Press
• Copyright and Trademark Information | Lenovo US | Lenovo US

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