PCIe3 x8 NVMe 1.6 TB SSD NVMe Flash Adapter (FC EC5A and EC5B; CCIN 58FC)
Learn about the specifications and operating system requirements for feature code (FC) EC5A and EC5B
adapters.
Overview
FC EC5A and EC5B are both the same adapter with different feature codes. FC EC5A is a low-profile
adapter and FC EC5B is a full-height adapter.
The PCIe3 x8 NVMe 1.6 TB SSD NVMe Adapter is a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)
generation 3 (Gen3) x8 adapter. The adapter can be used in either a x8 or x16 PCIe (Gen3) slot in the
system and uses Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe). NVMe is a high performance software interface
that can read/write flash memory. Compared to a SAS or SATA SSD, the NVMe Flash adapter provides
more read/write input/output operations per second (IOPS) and larger throughput (GB/sec). The NVMe
Flash Adapter is read intensive and is not designed for high write intensive workloads. At about 8,760 to
17,000 TB of writes to the adapter, it will be at its maximum projected write capability. The nature of the
workload has a great impact on the maximum write capacity. If a high percentage of more sequentially
oriented writes is used instead of random writes, the maximum write capacity will be closer to the larger
value in the range. In the case of a high percentage of random writes, the maximum will be closer to the
smaller value in the range. Writes past the adapter's maximum write capacity will continue to work for
some period of time, but much more slowly. A Predictive Failure Analysis message will indicate that it is
time to replace the adapter if enabled by the system administrator. After the warranty period, if the
maximum write capability is achieved, the adapter's replacement is not covered under IBM maintenance.
This adapter has protection against single Flash channel failures. To prevent the entire adapter from
failing, software RAID should be used. For high-value applications where the content in the adapter must
be protected, additional NVMe Flash adapters with OS mirroring or software Redundant Array of
Independent Disks (RAID) are recommended. This adapter is not supported in the PCIe Gen3 I/O
drawer.
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Managing PCIe adapters