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Server motherboards, SAS backplanes, and the I²C/HSBP cable

RSump1
New Contributor III
1,037 Views

Hello everyone,
Besides supplying the SAS backplane with firmware updates, which I'll assume is through the motherboard firmware updates, is there any other reason to have the backplane connected to the motherboard through the I²C/HSBP connector?

Thanks
Ray

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8 Replies
JoseH_Intel
Moderator
1,028 Views

Hello RSump1,


Thank you for joining the community


The purpose of the I2C HSBP cable is for management mainly. If you keep it disconnected you will be missing the its signal and won't be able to see it in the BMC management console not receive the IPMI traps. Yo can look for more details in this document: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/server-products/server-boards/S2600WF_TPS.pdf#page=96 


Hope it helps


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios


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RSump1
New Contributor III
1,023 Views

Hello Jose,
Thank you for the reference to the document, though I'm sure I am missing something. With the cable not connected, I know I will not get any firmware updates to the backplane, but other than that, will I miss out on any functionality? Will the backplane still function correctly? Will I still be able to hotswap a drive if necessary?

Thanks
Ray

 

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
1,013 Views

Hello RSump1


The overall functionality of the hot swapable backplane will be the same with the I2C cable disconnected, it is just that you will loose management capabilities. It will allow you to hot swap any HDD if needed of course.


Regards


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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RSump1
New Contributor III
1,009 Views

Thank you for your reply Jose, last question concerning the cable, besides "transmitting" firmware updates to the backplane when a motherboard firmware update is done, what other management functions will I miss out on?

Thanks!

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
1,003 Views

Hello RSump1


By leaving the I2C cable disconnected you will loose the capability to see the backplane health status on the BMC management console. Besides that I have to confirm if the back plane status will be missing in the RAID management software like the Intel Raid Web Console 3.


Regards


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios


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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
984 Views

Hello RSump1,


Let me add this info to our previous conversation. The BMC generates SEL events by monitoring registers on the HSBP microcontroller for a drive presence, fault, and RAID rebuild progress. It's recommended to have the I2C, so the you can verify any events in the BMC/RWC3.


For further details, it would be important to know if you have a hardware RAID controller, ESRT2, model of the chassis, or server system, and type of RAID and disks.


Regards


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios


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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
974 Views

Hello Hello RSump1,


I am just following up to double-check if you found the provided information useful. If you have further questions please don't hesitate to ask. If you consider the issue to be completed please let us know so we can proceed to mark this ticket as resolved. I will try to reach you back on next Monday 28th if still not hearing from you by then.


Regards


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios


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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
966 Views

Hello Hello RSump1,


We will proceed to mark this thread as closed. If you have further issues or questions just go ahead and submit a new topic.


Regards


Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios


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