Related linksRemoving the cooling shroudInstalling the cooling shroudHard drivesYour system supports enterprise class hard drives. Enterprise class drives are designed for 24x7 operating environment. Selecting thecorrect drive class enables the critical areas of quality, functionality, performance, and reliability to be optimized for the targetimplementation.Choosing the right drive type depends on the usage pattern. Due to industry advances, in some cases, the larger capacity driveshave been changed to a larger sector size. The larger sector size can have impacts on operating systems and applications. For moreinformation about these hard drives, see the 512e and 4Kn Disk Formats whitepaper and 4K Sector HDD FAQ document atDell.com/poweredgemanuals.CAUTION: Before attempting to remove or install a hard drive while the system is running, see the documentation for thestorage controller card to ensure that the host adapter is configured correctly to support hot swappable hard driveremoval and insertion.CAUTION: Do not turn off or restart your system while the hard drive is being formatted. Doing so can cause a hard drivefailure.Use only hard drives that have been tested and approved for use with the hard drive backplane.When you format a hard drive, allow enough time for the formatting to be completed. Be aware that high-capacity hard drives cantake a long time to format.Supported hard drive configurationsDepending on the configuration, your system supports one of the following:Four hard drivesystemsUp to four 3.5-inch hot-swappable SATA hard drives, or SATA solid state drives (SSDs)Up to four 3.5-inch cabled hard drivesSix hard drivesystemsUp to four 3.5-inch cabled hard drives and two optional 1.8-inch SSDs in the optical drive slotEight hard drivesystemsUp to eight 2.5-inch, hot-swappable hard drives/SSDsNOTE: SAS/SATA hard drives cannot be mixed in a system.The hot-swappable hard drives connect to the system board through the hard drive backplane. Hot-swappable hard drives aresupplied in hot-swappable hard drive carriers that fit in the hard drive slots.Removing a 2.5-inch hard drive blankPrerequisitesCAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting andsimple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and supportteam. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safetyinstructions that are shipped with your product.CAUTION: To maintain proper system cooling, all empty hard drive slots must have hard drive blanks installed.1. Follow the safety guidelines listed in the Safety instructions section.66
