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Dell PowerEdge R730xd Owner's Manual

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Removing the hard drive backplane

Prerequisites

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are shipped with your product.
CAUTION: To prevent damage to the drives and backplane, you must remove the hard drives from the system before removing the backplane.
CAUTION: You must note the number of each hard drive and temporarily label them before removal so that you can replace them in the same locations.
  1. Follow the safety guidelines listed in the Safety instructions section.
  2. Follow the procedure listed in the Before working inside your system section.
  3. Remove the cooling shroud.
  4. Remove the cooling fan assembly.
  5. Remove all hard drives.

Steps

  1. Disconnect the SAS/SATA data, signal, and power cable(s) from the backplane.
  2. Press the release tabs and lift the backplane upward and slide it toward the back of the chassis.
    NOTE: To prevent damage to the control panel flex cable, unlatch the blocking tab on the connector before removing the flex cable. Do not bend the flex cable at the connector. To unlatch the blocking tab for the x12 backplane, pull the locking tab up. For the x18 and x2 backplanes, rotate the locking tab 90 degrees clockwise.
    Figure 1. Removing the 2.5 inch (x24) SAS/SATA backplane
    This figure shows removing the 2.5 inch (x24) SAS/SATA backplane.
    1. release tab (2)
    2. left ear control panel cable
    3. backplane power cable
    4. hard drive backplane expander
    5. backplane signal cable
    6. hard drive backplane assembly
    7. backplane power cable
    8. mini SAS cable connector (2)
    9. SAS cable (3)
    10. control panel cable
    11. USB cable
    12. right ear control panel flex cable
    13. hard drive backplane connectors (24)
    Figure 2. Cabling diagram—2.5 Inch (x24) SAS/SATA backplane (option 1)
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (2.5 inch (x24) SAS/SATA Backplane—option 1).
    1. hard drive backplane expander
    2. backplane signal connector 0
    3. backplane signal connector 1
    4. system board
    5. integrated storage controller card
    6. hard drive backplane
    Figure 3. Cabling diagram—2.5 Inch (x24) SAS/SATA backplane (option 2)
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (2.5 inch (x24) SAS/SATA Backplane—option 2).
    1. hard drive backplane expander
    2. hard drive backplane
    3. backplane signal connector 1
    4. system board
    5. integrated storage controller card
    6. SAS A1 connector
    7. SAS B1 connector
    Figure 4. Cabling diagram—2.5 Inch (x24) SAS/SATA backplane (option 3)
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (2.5 inch (x24) SAS/SATA Backplane— option 3).
    1. hard drive backplane expander
    2. hard drive backplane
    3. system board
    4. backplane signal connector 0
    5. backplane signal connector 1
    6. SSD/PCIe SSD controller card
    7. integrated storage controller card
    Figure 5. Removing the 3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane
    This figure shows removing the 3.5-inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane.
    1. release tab (2)
    2. SAS cable A2
    3. SAS cable A1
    4. left ear control panel cable
    5. backplane signal cable
    6. backplane power cable (2)
    7. SAS cable A0/B0
    8. USB cable
    9. control panel cable
    10. right ear control panel flex cable
    11. hard drive backplane
    12. hard drive backplane connector (12)
    Figure 6. Cabling diagram—3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane (option 1)
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane—option 1).
    1. hard drive backplane
    2. system board
    3. backplane signal connector 0
    4. backplane signal connector 1
    5. integrated storage controller card
    Figure 7. Cabling diagram—3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane (option 2)
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane—option 2).
    1. hard drive backplane
    2. system board
    3. backplane signal connector 0
    4. backplane signal connector 1
    5. hard drive mid plane
    6. integrated storage controller card
    7. backplane signal connector 2
    Figure 8. Removing the 1.8 Inch (x18) SAS/SATA backplane
    This image shows removing the 1.8 Inch (x18) SAS/SATA backplane.
    1. release pin
    2. left ear control panel cable
    3. SAS A2 cable
    4. backplane signal cable
    5. control panel cable
    6. backplane power cable
    7. USB cable
    8. mini SAS connector (2)
    9. SAS cable (2)
    10. right ear control panel flex cable
    11. hard drive backplane assembly
    12. hard drive backplane expander
    13. control panel connector
    14. backplane power connector
    15. SAS A2 connector
    16. hard drive backplane connector (18)
    Figure 9. Cabling diagram—1.8 Inch (x18) SAS/SATA backplane
    This figure shows cabling between hard drive backplane and system board (1.8 inch (x18) SAS/SATA Backplane).
    1. hard drive backplane expander
    2. system board
    3. backplane signal connector 0
    4. backplane signal connector 1
    5. integrated storage controller card
    6. hard drive backplane

Next steps

  1. Install the hard drive backplane.
  2. Follow the procedure listed in the After working inside your system section.

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