Adaptec 1420SA User Manual

Chapter 4: Installing the HostRAID Controller and Disk Drives

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3

When all internal disk drives have been installed and connected, close your computer 
cabinet, reconnect the power cord.

Installing the SAS HostRAID Controller to a SAS Expander

You can use a SAS expander to connect multiple disk drives to your SAS HostRAID controller 
(or to multiple SAS HostRAID controllers). Commands can be sent down one link and data 
returned on another in a separate connection to increase fault tolerance. Using a SAS expander 
and dual-port SAS drives and SATA drives with 2-port adapters, you can design redundant 
systems for maximum fault-tolerance. 

To install the HostRAID controller to a SAS expander:

1

Using the appropriate cable, connect the SAS HostRAID controller to the expander’s PHY 
connector.

2

Connect a cable from the expander’s PHY connector to a disk drive. 

Connecting Disk Drives to SATA HostRAID Controllers

1

Install your SATA disk drives, following the instructions in your system’s documentation. 
There are no jumpers or switches to set on the SATA controller or disk drives. 

2

Connect each disk drive to a SATA port on the controller using a recommended SATA 
cable. For cable information, see 

.

3

When all disk drives have been installed and connected, close your computer cabinet, and 
reconnect the power cord.

Checking Your Controller and Devices

Now that you have installed your controller and connected your disk drives, you can use the 
ARC utility to check your controller and devices, as described below:

1

Turn on your computer.

2

When the Adaptec banner appears, press Ctrl+A to enter the Adaptec RAID Configuration 
(ARC) utility.

3

If your drives have already been used in another system (even if not part of an array), select 
Disk Utilities and format the drive. Otherwise, skip to 

.

Disk drives on 
backplane

Controller connected 
to backplane with 
fan-out cable