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- Description
- Specifications
IBM #ECE3 is a 3.0 meter SAS AA12 cable with two Mini-SAS HD (high density) connectors, designed for high-speed links of up to 12 Gb throughput. It is a straight cable, in contrast with X or YO cables, and it is used on the IBM Power machine types 9009, 9105, 8286, 9223 and 9080.
The cable has two distinct uses. In Elastic Storage Server (ESS) solutions that have a 5147-024 I/O drawer, it attaches the 5147-024 to its controller. On POWER servers with #5887, #EL1S, #ESLS, #ESLL, #ELLS or #ELLL I/O drawers driven by paired PCIe controllers with write cache, such as #EJ0L or #EJ14, it connects the top connectors of the paired controllers. That connection is a high-performance path for all dual-controller communication, including mirroring of the write cache and status awareness of each card.
On POWER servers, X or YO cables are always used to attach the #5887, #EL1S, #ESLS, #ESLL, #ELLS and #ELLL I/O drawers to the controllers. Straight cables such as #ECE3 are not allowed to attach directly to those I/O drawers. Two AA cables are always required between a pair of PCIe3 SAS adapters with write cache when one or two I/O drawers are attached, and one AA cable when three are attached. With four drawers, or when an AA cable fails or is disconnected, the information it carried travels over the cables attached to the I/O drawers and shares their bandwidth. AA cables are not used with SAS adapters that have no write cache.
Several cable length feature codes exist, so the length that best matches the distance between the two adapters is the one to choose. The 6 Gb version of this cable is feature #5915, and #5915 and #ECE3 can be mixed on the same PCIe3 adapter pair.
The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 9999, with an initial order maximum of 250. No operating system level is required. The feature can be placed on an initial order or added as an MES, it is a customer set-up unit (CSU), and no return parts apply on an MES. For POWER systems it needs available Mini-SAS HD connectors on the paired SAS controllers with write cache; for ESS solutions it needs the matching I/O drawer and controller.
| Feature code | ECE3 |
| Designation | 3.0M SAS AA12 Cable |
| Machine types | 9009, 9105, 8286, 9223, 9080 |
| Length | 3.0 m |
| Connectors | Two Mini-SAS HD |
| Throughput | Up to 12 Gb |
| Cable type | Straight (AA) |
| 6 Gb version | Feature #5915 |
| Minimum / maximum | 0 / 9999 (initial order maximum 250) |
| OS level required | None |
| Order type | Initial order or MES |
| Customer set-up unit (CSU) | Yes |
| Return parts on MES | No |