Front-Loading NVME SSD Requirements and Restrictions
Observe these requirements:
• The server must have two CPUs. PCIe riser 2 is not available in a single-CPU system. PCIe riser 2 has
connectors for the cable that connects to the front-panel drive backplane.
• PCIe cable CBL-NVME-C220FF. This is the cable that carries the PCIe signal from the front-panel drive
backplane to PCIe riser 2. This cable is for all versions of this server.
• Hot-plug support must be enabled in the system BIOS. If you ordered the system with NVMe drives,
hot-plug support is enabled at the factory.
• The NVMe-optimized, SFF 10-drive version, APIC-SERVER-M3 and APIC-SERVER-L3, support
NVMe drives only. This version of the server comes with an NVMe-switch card factory-installed in the
internal mRAID riser for support of NVMe drives in slots 3 - 10. The NVMe drives in slots 1 and 2 are
supported by PCIe riser 2. The NVMe switch card is not orderable separately.
Observe these restrictions:
• NVMe SFF 2.5-inch SSDs support booting only in UEFI mode. Legacy boot is not supported.
• You cannot control NVMe PCIe SSDs with a SAS RAID controller because NVMe SSDs interface with
the server via the PCIe bus.
• UEFI boot is supported in all supported operating systems. Hot-insertion and hot-removal are supported
in all supported operating systems except VMWare ESXi.
Enabling Hot-Plug Support in the System BIOS
Hot-plug (OS-informed hot-insertion and hot-removal) is disabled in the system BIOS by default.
• If the system was ordered with NVMe PCIe SSDs, the setting was enabled at the factory. No action is
required.
• If you are adding NVMe PCIe SSDs after-factory, you must enable hot-plug support in the BIOS. See
the following procedures.
Enabling Hot-Plug Support Using the BIOS Setup Utility
Step 1 Enter the BIOS setup utility by pressing the F2 key when prompted during bootup.
Step 2 Navigate to Advanced > PCI Subsystem Settings > NVMe SSD Hot-Plug Support.
Step 3 Set the value to Enabled.
Step 4 Save your changes and exit the utility.
Enabling Hot-Plug Support Using the Cisco IMC GUI
Step 1 Use a browser to log in to the Cisco IMC GUI for the server.
Step 2 Navigate to Compute > BIOS > Advanced > PCI Configuration.
Step 3 Set NVME SSD Hot-Plug Support to Enabled.
Cisco APIC M3/L3 Server Installation and Service Guide
37
Maintaining the Server
Front-Loading NVME SSD Requirements and Restrictions
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