How to upgrade a Dell T7820 to a U.2 Backplane

Рет қаралды 3,914

Жыл бұрын

In this video I show how I upgraded my Dell T7820 SATA backplane to a U.2 backplane. I'm doing this upgrade to enable support for 2 x #intel #Optane drives. I'll be using these #Dell #T7820 Workstations for my Next Generation #homelab where I'll need 4 x Intel Optane drives to support #VMware #vsan ESA.
Part Installed in this Video: (XN8TT) Dell Precision T7820 T5820 U.2 NVME Solid State Drive Backplane Kit found used on Ebay.
For more information around My Next Generation 8 Home Lab based on the Dell T7820 check out #blog at vmexplorer.com/blog-series/
#Optane
#IntelXeon
#Xeon
#vExpert
#VMware
#Cloud
#DataCenter

Пікірлер: 15

@VirtualizationHowto Жыл бұрын

Great walkthrough....the Precision workstations are a great option for home lab hardware, thanks for sharing!

@vmexplorer Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! I appreciate the support. I have a few more items to work out with my 3x T7820s but pretty soon I hope to release my plans for a 3 Node vSAN ESA cluster based on the T7820 with Optane Drives.

@JasonsLabVideos Жыл бұрын

Sweet..

@vmexplorer Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@suekuan1540 Ай бұрын

The flexbay caddies for m2 nvme has a tiny hole for locking the entire caddy? Obe ues a paper clip. Wire to unlock. Is this used or it was designed for other rack mount servers. The whole m2 caddy can be readily pulled out just like the remaining bottom 2 regular 2.5-3.5 sata flexbays?

@jasondehn532 7 ай бұрын

Nice video! Do you know if this backplane upgrade accepts SAS disks? Would it work in the lower bays as well? I'm struggling to find any real answers online. I'm trying to convert a 4x SATA setup to 4x SAS. I know I need an add'l HBA card but this backplane looks like the included cables would be too short for either bay to reach it. Also not sure if it HAS to be a Tri-mode (9440-8i) if I'm not going to use NVMe...

@vmexplorer 7 ай бұрын

Hey Jason, U.2 connector "should" work with SAS. However, I have never tested this out nor do I have plans to. Not sure what your use case is BUT it may be easier to use the 7820s 5.25" bay with a SAS carrier like this one. Best of luck! www.amazon.com/ICY-DOCK-Backplane-Comparable-Tray-less/dp/B00V5JHOXQ/

@colinramsden746 5 ай бұрын

I've just upgraded my 5820 with the U.2 backplane, as I've not got the U.2 disks yet, I've had to test with a couple of 12TB spinners. They were not detected by the OS and the caddy lights were flashing orange. Does the backplane need any drivers or do I need to make any BIOS changes? Another concern is that the backplane I purchased has one of the ports covered with a sticker that said 'do not plug in', hardware wise it looks identical to yours and I think the sticker is because the backplane came out of a non-Xeon system (I have the W-2195). Thank you

@vmexplorer 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment. I haven't researched the 5820 so I don't know if it will support u.2 disks. If you can't get them working you might just go with SSDs. Best of luck.

@colinramsden746 5 ай бұрын

@@vmexplorer I can confirm, now that I have received a pair of U.2 disks, they are detected. The U.2 connectors on the mainboard only support NVMe (not SATA or SAS). I can also confirm that having removed the 'do not plug in' yellow sticker from one of the ports that was covered, both ports work fine. This was a limitation for non-Xeon 5820's.

@gg-gn3re Жыл бұрын

Hello I want to connect a standard ATX PSU to this motherboard. Can you confirm the only two power connectors are the 24 pin and that 10 pin? Also the 10 pin looks like it's ground and 12volt only can you confirm that? It's 5x 12v (yellow) and 5x ground (black) any ideas if the 24 pin is proprietary as well can you give a better video/images of it? thanks

@vmexplorer Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment. I cannot confirm the power output on this device. You might you might try looking for this manual -- DELL PRECISION 5820 7820 TOWERS TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOK. I can't seem to locate it after a quick search but I found the the 7920 book. The 7920 appears to have power information about the 7820 around page 23-24. Good luck. www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/workstations/technical-support/Precision_7920_Tower_Technical_Guidebook.pdf

@gg-gn3re Жыл бұрын

@@vmexplorer I asked for the power input not output.. the books are very easy to find, but they are irrelevant since these are proprietary devices there is no info on them. If dell had any info on them I wouldn't have asked. Looking at your video and others it is obvious they are proprietary connectors (looking at the power supply output and the colors of the wires) It is more 12volt than 5volt like the ATX power supplies used normally. Anyway I have another request, can you trace the "case protection switch" to where it goes, or make another video with it and show where it goes? Is that the tiny red/black twisted wire at 2:51 - 3:30 on the right side attached to the big black box I think?