R720 backplane swap

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Propaganda

Active Member
Dec 6, 2017
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I am working on swapping an R720 8xLFF BP with an R730 8xLFF BP. Looks like all I will need to do is make a custom cable combining the 2x 8pin power connectors on the R720 into the 10pin R730 power cable.

Anyone ever done anything similar? Attached is my pinout documentation I worked out from the boards I have.
 

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nickf1227

Active Member
Sep 23, 2015
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I would be afraid the BMC will freak out and not see the drives properly. If you are planning on running an HBA it probably won't matter,but you may have to press a key on a reboot
 

Propaganda

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Dec 6, 2017
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I will not be using the mini integrated slot for raid. I will be using an hba330 pcie.
 

Propaganda

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Dec 6, 2017
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I want to use 12G SAS drives in this chassis and right angle 8087->8643 cables are hard to come by.
 

ericloewe

Active Member
Apr 24, 2017
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That's true enough, I went looking for some the other day with little success.
 

Propaganda

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Dec 6, 2017
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First pass bench test looking good. Used external 12V power supply to r730 backplane 10pin connector. I was able to route the HBA cable and backplane signal wire out one of the empty PCIE cover slots. I am not sure if the "ID" (grey wires) are important but I used a small jumper wire to short them out identically to the original r720 back plane. Seems to recognize my test SATA drive just fine...
 

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