Installation Guide

2
Thunderbolt overview
Thunderbolt is one of the fastest input/output (I/O) protocols for connecting peripheral devices to
your workstation. Your ThinkStation supports two different solutions for adding Thunderbolt 3
(P520, P520c, P720, P920) or Thunderbolt 4 (P350/P360 Tiny) ports: a two port front panel
accessible solution and a rear single port solution. This document contains a brief description of
Thunderbolt features, followed by detailed instructions for installing the Thunderbolt solutions in
your computer.
Thunderbolt is an I/O interface that provides high speed data transfer between your workstation
and peripheral devices. Thunderbolt can transfer data, monitor signals, and networking traffic
through a simple, industry standard port. Thunderbolt employs the mechanically symmetrical USB
Type-C connector, allowing for easy insertion regardless of plug orientation.
Through the use of the USB Type-C port, a Thunderbolt connection functions similar to a typical
USB port. Like previous versions of USB, Thunderbolt ports can be used to connect memory keys,
external hard drives, and other devices for the portable transfer of data. Unlike previous versions
of USB, however, Thunderbolt supports multiple protocols for transferring data and connecting
peripheral devices, including USB (all versions), Firewire, Ethernet, and Display Port (with HDMI,
DVI, and VGA support by extension).
Brief comparison of supported Thunderbolt 3 & 4 features
Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 4
Data Transfer
Up to 40Gbps
Ethernet
10 Gbps peer-to-peer support
DisplayPort
DP 1.2 support
Device Charging
100W bi-directional power capacity
Device
Interconnection
Daisy Chain up to 6 devices
Display support
1x 4K display
2x 4K displays
or
1x 8K display
PCIe data rate
16Gbps
32Gbps
Monitor Ports
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt + mDP