Back to Contents Page

Installing a Drive in the Peripheral Bay

Dell™ PowerEdge™ 2550 Systems Installation and Troubleshooting Guide

  Before You Begin

  Installing a Device That Uses the System's Integrated SCSI Controller

  Installing a Tape Drive That Uses a Controller Card

  Connecting an External Tape Drive

The open peripheral bay at the front of your system can accommodate a user-accessible, half-height 5.25-inch device, such as a tape drive. This peripheral bay is contained in a removable peripheral cage. The top of the peripheral cage accommodates a standard 3.5-inch diskette drive and CD-ROM drive. These two drives connect to the system board via an interposer board mounted on top of the peripheral bay. See Figure 9-1 for a general view of the various drives and cables associated with the peripheral bay.

NOTE: You can also install a fifth hard-disk drive in the peripheral bay using an upgrade kit available from Dell.

Figure 9-1. Peripheral Bay Hardware

Before You Begin

This section describes how to install the following options:

NOTE: If you are installing a SCSI hard-disk drive, see "Installing Hard-Disk Drives."

To remove or install drives in the peripheral bay, you must open the system doors.

WARNING: Before you perform the procedures in this section, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its electrical outlet. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your Computer" in "Checking Inside the System."

Interface Cables

If you install a SCSI device, you will connect it to the secondary SCSI interface connector (SCSIB [Channel B]) on the system board (see Figure 9-1) or to a SCSI host adapter on an expansion card.

These interface connectors are keyed for correct insertion. Keying ensures that the pin-1 wire on both ends of the cable goes to the pin-1 ends of the connectors.

When you disconnect an interface cable, take care to grasp the cable connector, rather than the cable itself, to avoid stress on the cable.

SCSI Configuration Information

Although SCSI devices are installed essentially the same way as other devices, their configuration requirements are different. To configure a SCSI device installed in the peripheral bay, follow the guidelines in the following subsections.

SCSI ID Numbers

Each device attached to a SCSI host adapter must have a unique SCSI ID number from 1 to 7.

When SCSI devices are shipped from Dell, the default SCSI ID numbers are assigned as follows:

NOTE: There is no requirement that SCSI ID numbers be assigned sequentially or that devices be attached to the cable in order by ID number.

Device Termination

SCSI logic requires that the two devices at opposite ends of the SCSI chain be terminated and that all devices in between be unterminated. The SCSI cable included in the upgrade kit has an active terminator installed at the end of the cable. Therefore, you should disable the termination on all SCSI devices you attach to this cable.

Installing a Device That Uses the System's Integrated SCSI Controller

To install a peripheral device (such as a tape drive) that uses the system's integrated SCSI controller, perform the following steps.

WARNING: Before you perform the procedures in this section, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its electrical outlet. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your Computer" in "Checking Inside the System."
  1. Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Prepare the drive for installation.

WARNING: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in the System Information document.

Ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface on the back of the system, unpack the drive, and compare the jumper and switch settings with those in the drive documentation. (See "SCSI Configuration Information" for information on setting the drive's SCSI ID number and enabling termination, if required.) Change any settings necessary for this system's configuration.

If the drive does not already have drive rails attached, attach a drive rail to each side of the drive with a screw in each of the lower slotted screw holes on the drive rail.

  1. Open the system doors (see "Opening the System Doors" in "Checking Inside the System").

  2. Disconnect all cables connected to the interposer board on top of the peripheral bay (see Figure 9-2 and Figure 9-3).

These cables include the system board interface cable, cooling fan wiring harness, interposer board power cable, and control panel cable.

Figure 9-2. Connectors on the Interposer Board

  1. Loosen the thumbscrew at the back corner of the peripheral cage (see Figure 9-3).

Figure 9-3. Installing a Drive in the Peripheral Cage

  1. Slide the peripheral cage toward the back of the system approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch), and then lift the peripheral cage upward and set it aside.

  2. Remove the plastic insert from the front of the peripheral cage.

From the inside of the chassis, push outward on the center of the insert to release the insert from the chassis.

  1. Slide the new drive into the peripheral cage until it snaps securely into place.

If necessary, you can adjust the drive's alignment by repositioning one or both rails.

  1. Lower the peripheral cage back into the chassis, and then slide the cage forward into position.

Be careful to not trap power or interface cables underneath the cage when reinstalling it.

  1. Secure the peripheral cage by tightening the thumbscrew at the back corner of the cage.

  2. Connect the tape drive or other peripheral SCSI device to the SCSI cable provided with the device. Attach the other end of the SCSI cable to the SCSI interface connector SCSIB (Channel B) on the system board.

  3. Reconnect the power cable, cooling fan wiring harness, and interposer board interface cable to the interposer board.

  4. Plug the DC power cable connector into the 4-pin power input connector on the back of the SCSI device.

  5. Check all cable connections that may have been loosened during this procedure. Arrange cables so that they will not catch on the system doors or block the airflow of the fans or cooling vents.

  6. Close the system doors.

  7. Reconnect the system and peripherals to their electrical outlets, and turn them on.

  8. Test the device. To test a tape drive, see the documentation for the tape drive software to perform a tape drive backup and verification test.

Installing a Tape Drive That Uses a Controller Card

Tape drives that require their own separate controller cards are shipped with the controller card and an interface cable.

To install the drive in the peripheral bay, perform the following steps.

WARNING: Before you perform the procedures in this section, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its AC power source. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your Computer" in "Checking Inside the System."
  1. Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Prepare the controller card and drive for installation.

WARNING: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in the System Information document.

Ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface on the back of the system, unpack the drive and controller card, and compare the jumper and switch settings with those in the drive documentation. (See "SCSI Configuration Information" for information on setting the drive's SCSI ID number and enabling termination, if required.) Change any settings necessary for this system's configuration.

  1. If the drive does not already have drive rails attached, attach a drive rail to each side of the drive with a screw in each of the lower slotted screw holes on the drive rail.

  2. Open the system doors (see "Opening the System Doors" in "Checking Inside the System").

  3. Disconnect all cables connected to the interposer board on top of the peripherals bay (see Figure 9-2 and Figure 9-3).

These cables include the interposer board interface cable, cooling fan wiring harness, and power cable.

  1. Loosen the thumbscrew at the back corner of the peripheral cage (see Figure 9-3).

  2. Slide the peripheral cage toward the back of the system approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch), and then lift the peripheral cage upward and set it aside.

  3. Remove the plastic insert from the front of the peripheral cage.

From the inside of the chassis, push outward on the center of the insert to release the insert from the chassis.

  1. Slide the new drive into the peripheral cage until it snaps securely into place.

If necessary, you can adjust the drive's alignment by repositioning one or both rails.

  1. Lower the peripheral cage back into the chassis, and then slide the cage forward into position.

Be careful to not trap power or interface cables underneath the cage when reinstalling it.

  1. Secure the peripheral cage by tightening the thumbscrew at the back corner of the cage.

  2. Reconnect the power cable, cooling fan wiring harness, and interposer board interface cable to the interposer board.

  3. Plug the DC power cable connector into the 4-pin power input connector on the back of the drive.

  4. Install the controller card in an expansion slot. See "Installing System Board Options" for information on installing the card.

  5. Attach the interface cable that came with the drive kit to the interface connector on the back of the drive.

  6. Connect the interface cable to the controller connector on the controller card.

See the controller card's documentation to identify the controller connector on the card.

  1. Connect the SCSI device to the SCSI cable provided with the device, and attach the other end of the SCSI cable to interface connector SCSIB (Channel B) on the system board.

  2. Check all cable connections that may have been loosened during this procedure. Arrange cables so that they will not catch on the system doors or block the airflow of the fans or cooling vents.

  3. Close the system doors.

  4. Reconnect the system and peripherals to their electrical outlets, and turn them on.

  5. Perform a tape backup and verification test with the drive as instructed in the tape-drive software documentation that came with the drive.

Connecting an External Tape Drive

To connect a stand-alone tape drive to the system using a controller card and shielded interface/DC power cable, perform the following steps.

WARNING: Before you perform the procedures in this section, you must turn off the system and disconnect it from its AC power source. For more information, see "Safety First—For You and Your Computer" in "Checking Inside the System."
  1. Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Prepare the tape drive and controller card for installation.

Ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface on the back of the system, unpack the tape drive and controller card, and configure them for the system according to the instructions in the documentation that came with the tape drive.

WARNING: See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the safety instructions in the System Information document.
  1. Open the system doors (see "Opening the System Doors" in "Checking Inside the System").

  2. Install the controller card in an expansion slot. See "Installing System Board Options" for information on installing the card.

  3. Close the system doors.

  4. Connect the tape drive's interface/DC power cable to the external connector on the controller card, and secure the connection by tightening the screws on the connector.

  5. Reconnect the system and peripherals to their electrical outlets, and turn them on.

  6. Perform a tape backup and verification test with the drive as instructed in the software documentation that came with the drive.

Back to Contents Page