Installing System Components 91
Expansion Cards
The system supports up to four PCI Express (PCIe) expansion cards.
• Expansion-card riser 1 provides two slots:
–Slot 1 is a
full-length PCIe x8-lane expansion slot.
–Slot 2 is
a half-length PCIe x4-lane expansion slot.
• Expansion-card riser 2 provides two slots:
–Slot 3 is a
full-length PCIe x8-lane expansion slot.
–Slot 4 is
a half-length PCIe x8-lane expansion slot.
The expansion card slots are on separate buses. To identify expansion slots,
see "Expansion-Card Riser-Board Components and PCIe Buses" on page172.

Expansion Card Installation Guidelines

Observe the following notes and guidelines regarding the expansion-card
slots:
• The expansion-card slots are not hot-pluggable.
• Although slot 2 is physically a PCIe x8 connector, it functions only as a
PCIe x4 lane slot.
• Slots 1 and 3 support full-length expansion cards; slots 2 and 4 support
half-length expansion cards.
• The system supports up to two RAID expansion cards to manage external
storage.

Installing an Expansion Card

CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system
cover and access any of the components inside the system. See your Product
Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working
inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
NOTE: The procedure for installing expansion cards into risers 1 and 2 is the same
except that slot 3 on riser 2 has a card guide for installing a full-length expansion
card. The full-length expansion card installation is illustrated in Figure3-14.
1
Unpack the expansion card and prepare it for installation.
For instructions, see the documentation accompanying the card.