Dell PowerVault ME5 Series Storage System Deployment Guide

Connect optional expansion enclosures

ME5 Series storage systems support 2U12, 2U24, and 5U84 expansion enclosures. 2U12 and 2U24 expansion enclosures can be intermixed, however 2U expansion enclosures cannot be intermixed with 5U84 expansion enclosures in the same storage system.

• ME5 Series 2U controller enclosures support up to ten 2U enclosures (including the controller enclosure), or a maximum of 240 disk drives.
• ME5 Series 5U controller enclosures support up to four 5U enclosures (including the controller enclosure), or a maximum of 336 disk drives.
• ME5 Series expansion enclosures are equipped with dual IOMs. These expansion enclosures cannot be cabled to a controller enclosure equipped with a single IOM.
• The enclosures support reverse SAS cabling for adding expansion enclosures. Reverse cabling provides continued access to other enclosures if any drive enclosure fails or is removed. Fault tolerance and performance requirements determine whether to optimize the configuration for high availability or high performance when cabling.