AMCC 9000 User Manual

Before You Begin

9

3ware RAID controllers include two types of LED status 
connectors:

„

Overall indicator, which lights when any drive is active.

„

Individual LED indicators, for each drive. (Not supported on 
chassis that have a common ground.)

If you are building a system from scratch, you may want to consider 
using a chassis or drive carrier that is compatible with the 3ware 
RAID controller activity LEDs, such as the AMCC RDC-400 drive 
carrier, available through AMCC. Please check the 3ware web site 
(www.3ware.com) for chassis and drive carrier compatibility list. 

For more information, see “Additional Details About the LED 
Status Connectors” on page 13.

Most chassis have a single drive activity cable that you can connect 
to the overall activity indicator on the 3ware 9000 controller. For 
the location of the overall drive activity connector, see the figure for 
the appropriate controller in the installation sections starting on 
page 12, and refer to Table 1, “LED Indicator Pin Positions,” on 
page 14.

„

 If you are planning to use RAID 1, 5, 

10, or 50, you may want to consider installing drives into hot-
swappable enclosures, so that they can be easily removed in the 
event of a drive failure. 

„

If the drives are not already installed 

in your computer, you can choose to install them either before 
or after connecting the interface cables to them.