Users Guide

● Hardware information:
○ PCIe SSD Extender card
○ PCIe SSD Backplane
If the system has a dedicated PCIe backplane, two FQDDs are displayed. One FQDD is for regular drives and the other is
for SSDs. If the backplane is shared (universal), only one FQDD is displayed.
● Software inventory includes only the firmware version for the PCIe SSD.
Inventorying and monitoring PCIe SSDs using web interface
To inventory and monitor PCIe SSD devices, in the iDRAC web interface, go to Overview > Storage > Physical Disks. The
Properties page is displayed. For PCIe SSDs, the Name column displays PCIe SSD. Expand to view the properties.
Inventorying and monitoring PCIe SSDs using RACADM
Use the racadm storage get controllers:<PcieSSD controller FQDD> command to inventory and monitor PCIe
SSDs.
To view all PCIe SSD drives:
racadm storage get pdisks
To view PCIe extender cards:
racadm storage get controllers
To view PCIe SSD backplane information:
racadm storage get enclosures
NOTE: For all the mentioned commands, PERC devices are also displayed.
For more information, see the iDRAC RACADM Command Line Reference Guide available at dell.com/idracmanuals.
Preparing to remove PCIe SSD
PCIe SSDs support orderly hot swap allowing you to add or remove a device without halting or rebooting the system in which
the devices are installed. To prevent data loss, you must use the Prepare to Remove operation before physically removing a
device.
Orderly hot swap is supported only when PCIe SSDs are installed in a supported system running a supported operating system.
To ensure that you have the correct configuration for your PCIe SSD, see the system-specific owner's manual.
The Prepare to Remove operation is not supported for PCIe SSDs on the VMware vSphere (ESXi) systems and HHHL PCIe SSD
devices.
NOTE:
Prepare to Remove operation is supported on systems with ESXi 6.0 with iDRAC Service Module version 2.1 or
higher.
The Prepare to Remove operation can be performed in real-time using iDRAC Service Module.
The Prepare to Remove operation stops any background activity and any ongoing I/O activity so that device can be removed
safely. It causes the status LEDs on the device to blink. You can safely remove the device from the system under the following
conditions after you initiate the Prepare to Remove operation:
● The PCIe SSD is blinking the safe to remove LED pattern.
● The PCIe SSD is no longer accessible by the system.
Before preparing the PCIe SSD for removal, ensure that:
● iDRAC Service Module is installed.
● Lifecycle Controller is enabled.
● You have Server Control and Login privileges.
Managing storage devices
215