Lenovo RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters User Manual

Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters

Product Guide

The Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters are an entry-level 12 Gb SAS/SATA family of internal RAID adapters that offer a cost-effective RAID solution for small to medium business customers. These cacheless adapters support RAID levels 0, 1 and 10, and include an extensive list of RAS and management features.
The Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter

Did you know?

Along with an extensive list of enterprise RAID capabilities, the RAID 540 adapters offer advanced drive diagnostic technologies. In the event of a physical drive failure, the drive is placed in a shielded state and the controller starts drive diagnostics to determine if the drive is indeed failed or can be restored. This saves time, money and server downtime associated with transient drive failures and unnecessary drive replacement.

ThinkSystem RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters > Lenovo Press

Part number information

The following table provides the ordering information for the adapters.
Table 1. Part numbers and feature codes

Technical specifications

The Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters has the following specifications:

• PCIe 4.0 x8 host interface
• 12 Gbps SAS/SATA RAID controllers, based on the Broadcom MegaRAID 9540 adapter family
• Cacheless (not upgradeable)
• Connectivity for up to 16 internal SAS or SATA drives, depending on the adapters:
  • RAID 540-8i: 8 internal drives
  • RAID 540-16i: 16 internal drives
• Support for intermixing SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs. Mixing SAS and SATA drives in the same array is not supported. Mixing of HDDs and SSDs in the same array is not supported.
• Support for intermixing of 12 Gbps and 6 Gbps drives.
• RAID level support: RAID 0, 1, 10
• Support for JBOD (non-RAID) drive state
• Support for up to 63 physical drives with SAS expander (where supported)
• Support for up to 32 virtual drives
• Support for logical drive sizes greater than 2 TB
• Fixed 64 KB stripe size
• Supports 512e, 512n and 4K sector formatted drives
• Supports UNMAP command for SAS SSDs (JBOD and RAID volumes)
• Supports TRIM command for SATA SSDs (JBOD)
• Compliant with Disk Data Format (DDF) configuration on disk (CoD).
• S.M.A.R.T. support.
• Configuration through
  • XClarity Provisioning Manager UEFI interface
  • XClarity Controller web interface
  • XClarity Administrator Configuration Patterns
  • StorCLI command-line interface
  • LSI Storage Authority (LSA) GUI interface
  • UEFI Human Interface Infrastructure (HII)

Note: Cache Cade is not supported by these adapters
The following table compares the specifications of the adapters.

Table 2. Specifications

To compare these adapters to others in the Think System portfolio, see the Think System RAID Adapter and HBA Reference:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1288-thinksystem-raid-adapter-and-hba-reference

Features

The Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters have the following standard features:

• Mega RAID Fast Path SSD performance acceleration
  Mega RAID Fast Path software provides high-performance I/O acceleration for SSD-based virtual drives by using a low latency I/O path to increase the maximum I/O per second (IOPS) capability of the controller. This feature boosts the performance of applications with a highly random data storage
  access pattern, such as transactional databases.

• Auto-resume on array rebuild or array reconstruction after the loss of system power
  Auto-resume uses non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) to save the rebuild progress during a host reboot or power failure to automatically resume from the last checkpoint. Auto-resume ensures that data integrity is maintained throughout the process. The card supports a number of features that can be implemented without rebooting the server. Applications, such as email and web server, benefit from avoiding downtime during the transition.

• Online Capacity Expansion
  Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) allows the capacity of a virtual disk to be expanded by adding new physical disks or making use of unused space on existing disks, without requiring a reboot.

• Online RAID Level Migration
  Online RAID Level Migration (RLM), which is also known as logical drive migration, can migrate a virtual disk from any RAID level to any other RAID level without requiring a reboot. System availability and application functionality remain unaffected.

• Fast initialization for quick array setup
  Fast initialization quickly writes zeros to the first and last sectors of the virtual drive. This feature allows you to immediately start writing data to the virtual drive while the initialization is running in the background.

• Consistency check for background data integrity
  Consistency check verifies that all stripes in a virtual disk with a redundant RAID level are consistent. The consistency check mirrors data when an inconsistent stripe is detected for RAID 1 and re-creates the parity from the peer disks for RAID 5 or RAID 6. Consistency checks can be scheduled to take place periodically.

• Extensive online configuration options and advanced monitoring and event notification
  Management tools provide convenience for the configuration of logical volumes and alerting when errors have occurred or are about to occur.

• Patrol read for media scanning and repairing
  Patrol read is a background sentry service that pro-actively discovers and corrects media defects (bad sectors) that arise normally as a disk drive ages. The service issues a series of verify commands, and if a bad block is discovered, the card’s firmware uses RAID algorithms to re-create the missing data and remap the sector to a good sector. The task is interruptible based on controller activity and host operations. The firmware also provides an interface where the patrol read task can be initiated, set up for continuous operation, and terminated from a management application. Patrol read can be activated by a manual command or automatically.

• Global and dedicated hot spare with revertible hot spare support
  A hot spare rebuilds data from all virtual disks within the disk group in which it is configured. You can define a physical disk as a hot spare to replace a failed drive. Hot spares can be configured as either global or dedicated. A global hot spare allows any physical drive to be designated as a hot spare. A dedicated hot spare allows the user to assign a hot spare drive to a particular array of the same drive type.

• Drive roaming
  Drive roaming occurs when the physical disks are changed to different ports on the same controller. When the drives are placed on different channels, the controller detects the RAID configuration from the configuration data on the drives.

• Mega RAID Safe Store support for self-encrypting drive (SED) services
  Mega RAID Safe Store encryption services offer instant secure erase and local key management for self-encrypting drives. This technology represents a step forward in securing data on a disk drive from any unauthorized access or modification resulting from theft, loss, or repurposing of drives. Instant secure erase permanently removes data when repurposing or decommissioning SEDs. SafeStore local key management provides the necessary management and protection of SEDs by using a simple pass phrase, security key identifier, and security key file that can be set and applied to all SEDs that are assigned to a RAID adapter. This feature removes the complexity of managing each SED’s unique encryption key, and it essentially relieves the administrator of most of the daily tasks of securing data.

• XClarity Provisioning Manager for pre-boot array configuration and management
  Provisioning Manager is the ThinkSystem UEFI-based application that includes a RAID setup wizard to help you configure drive groups and virtual disks before installing or booting the operating system.

• XClarity Controller web interface for remote storage management
  XClarity Controller (XCC) is the systems management processor integrated in all ThinkSystem servers. The XCC web interface allows you to perform storage inventory, create and edit virtual disks, view events, import a new controller configuration, and perform firmware updates on the adapter.

• Hardware Secure Boot
  The onboard controller incorporates advanced security by only permitting authenticated firmware to execute on the adapter. The controller’s internal Boot ROM establishes an initial Root of Trust (RoT) and then authenticates and builds a Chain of Trust (CoT) with succeeding firmware images using the RoT, meaning only authorized firmware is executed on the adapter. Lenovo provides the firmware signed by Broadcom, making the use of hardware secure boot transparent to customers, while providing confidence in the security of the solution.

Note: Mega RAID Cache Cade and Mega RAID Storage Manager are not supported.
The Think System RAID 540-16i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter is shown in the following figure.

Figure 2. Think System RAID 540-16i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter

Server support

The following tables list the ThinkSystem servers that are compatible.
Table 3. Server support (Part 1 of 2)

Table 4. Server support (Part 2 of 2)

Operating system support

The RAID 540 adapters support the following operating systems:

• Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78834
• Think System RAID 540-16i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78835

Tip: These tables are automatically generated based on data from Lenovo Server Proven.

Table 5. Operating system support for Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78834 (Part 1 of 3)

Table 6. Operating system support for Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78834 (Part 2 of 3)

Table 7. Operating system support for Think System RAID 540-8i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78834 (Part 3 of 3)

Table 8. Operating system support for Think System RAID 540-16i PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapter, 4Y37A78835

Warranty

The Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters carry a 1-year limited warranty. When installed in a supported Think System server, the adapter assumes the server’s base warranty and any warranty upgrades.

Operating environment

The ThinkSystem RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters are supported in the following environment:

• Operating:
  • Temperature: 10°C to 55°C (50°F to 131°F)
  • Relative humidity: 20% to 90% (non-condensing)
• Storage
  • Temperature with package: -40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F)
  • Relative humidity: 5% to 95% (non-condensing)

Agency approvals

The Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters have the following agency approvals:

• USA (FCC 47 CFR part 15 Subpart B, class B)
• Canada (ICES -003, Class B)
• Taiwan (CNS 13438)
• Japan (VCCI V-3)
• Australia/New Zealand (AS/NZS CISPR 22)
• Korea (RRA no 2013-24 & 25)
• Europe (EN55022/EN55024)
• Safety: EN/IEC/ UL 60950; RoHS; WEEE

Related publications and links

For more information, see the following documents:

• Lenovo ThinkSystem product publications:
  http://thinksystem.lenovofiles.com/help/index.jsp

• ServerProven hardware compatibility:
  http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/serverproven

• Lenovo RAID Management Tools and Resources:
  https://lenovopress.com/lp0579-lenovo-raid-management-tools-and-resources

• Lenovo RAID Introduction
  https://lenovopress.com/lp0578-lenovo-raid-introduction

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:

• RAID Adapters

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:

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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, LP1552, was created or updated on February 15, 2022.
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Think System RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters

References

• Lenovo ThinkSystem Documentation
• Welcome | ServerProven
• Lenovo RAID Introduction > Lenovo Press
• Lenovo RAID Management Tools and Resources (withdrawn product) > Lenovo Press
• Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID Adapter and HBA Reference > Lenovo Press
• ThinkSystem RAID 540 PCIe Gen4 12Gb Adapters Product Guide > Lenovo Press
• RAID Adapters > Lenovo Press
• Copyright and Trademark Information | Lenovo US | Lenovo US
• Welcome | ServerProven

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