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Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower Manual
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Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower Manual

Storage configurator
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Storage Configurator
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower, P3 Ultra, and P3 Tiny
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Summary of Contents for Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower

  • Page 1 Storage Configurator Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower, P3 Ultra, and P3 Tiny...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Overview ........................3 Section 1 – Installing NVMe Devices in P3 Tower ............4 Section 2 – Installing NVMe Devices in P3 Ultra ............9 Section 3 – Installing NVMe Devices in P3 Tiny ............14 Section 4 – Installing SATA Drives in P3 Tower ............17 Section 5 –...

  • Page 3: Overview

    Overview The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for users on how to optimally configure the system storage in the ThinkStation P3 series platform to ensure proper functionality. Below is a table showing the drive type support of each system in the P3 series: Table 1 - P3 Series Storage Support System...

  • Page 4: Section 1 - Installing Nvme Devices In P3 Tower

    P3 Tower M.2 NVMe devices can be installed into the following locations on the ThinkStation P3 Tower motherboard below. The M.2 NVMe drives may use the dedicated PCIe Gen 4 capable onboard M.2 slots or use a Gen 3 PCIe M.2 Add-In Card (AIC) in PCIe Slot 3.
  • Page 5 For M.2 NVMe drives in the onboard M.2 slots: 1. Remove the film that covers the thermal pad on the bracket, if any. Then, install the M.2 solid-state drive by sliding the drive in the bracket. 2. Remove the film that covers the thermal pad at the bottom of the heat sink, if any.
  • Page 6 5. Insert the stopper. Note: P3 Tower systems come equipped with only the necessary onboard M.2 parts required for the configuration when it was originally ordered from Lenovo. Adding an M.2 drive to an open onboard slot requires the option kit 4XF1C39743, which includes the heatsink assembly and stopper seen in the instructions above.
  • Page 7 For M.2 NVMe drives installed in the PCIe Add-in Card (AIC): 1. Ensure that a thermal pad is placed in position on the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter. 2. Insert the new M.2 solid-state drive into the M.2 slot. Then, insert the plug of the retention latch into the hole to secure the new drive.
  • Page 8 3. Position the heat sink on the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter. Ensure that the two mounting studs in the heat sink are aligned with the holes in the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter. Then, push the mounting studs downward to secure the heat sink to the adapter. Note: The M.2 NVMe Add-in Card’s option part number is 4XH0L08578.

  • Page 9: Section 2 - Installing Nvme Devices In P3 Ultra

    Section 2 – Installing NVMe Devices in P3 Ultra M.2 NVMe devices can be installed into the following locations on the ThinkStation P3 Ultra motherboard below. Both onboard M.2 NVMe slots are PCIe Gen 4 capable and can each support up to a double-sided 4TB M.2 2280 drives.
  • Page 10 Figure 4 - P3 Ultra chassis with NVMe Callouts...
  • Page 11 Access the onboard M.2 NVMe slots: 1. Power down the system. Remove the power cable and all attached devices and cables from the system. Locate the chassis opening lever on the back of the system. Push in one side of the lever and pull on the extended lever.
  • Page 12 3. The M.2 NVMe heat sink is now accessible as seen in the image below. To remove the heat sink, squeeze the locking handle and pull up on the heat sink.
  • Page 13 Remove and install the onboard M.2 NVMe drives: 1. To remove a drive, pull up on the retaining plunger for the M.2. It may be necessary to gently pull up on the drive to free it from the heat sink pad underneath.

  • Page 14: Section 3 - Installing Nvme Devices In P3 Tiny

    Section 3 – Installing NVMe Devices in P3 Tiny There are only two Gen 4 M.2 slots in the P3 Tiny. No other drives can be added to the system. The steps to access to these M.2 slots is explained in this section.
  • Page 15 Removal and installation of the M.2 drives: 1. Locate the M.2 drive(s) and remove the retention latch(es). 2. With the retention latch removed the M.2 SSD should lift slightly. If it remains attached to the heat sink pad underneath it, pull up on it gently until it is free of the pad.
  • Page 16 3. For best drive performance when only one M.2 drive is installed in the system, install in Slot 1 as seen in the image below: Figure 6 - P3 Tiny M.2 Slot Numbers 4. Reverse steps 1-4 of “Accessing the M.2 drives” to reassemble the system.

  • Page 17: Section 4 - Installing Sata Drives In P3 Tower

    Section 4 – Installing SATA Drives in P3 Tower The ThinkStation P3 Tower can hold a maximum of four SATA drives. The P3 Tower motherboard has four SATA port connections, labelled SATA1, SATA2, SATA3, and SATA4 (eSATA) in the order they show up in the system BIOS.
  • Page 18 Table 2 - P3 Tower CPU Cooler & HDD Enclosure Compatibility HDD Enclosure Capability Cooler 125W i9-13900k, 3rd HDD Enclosure Cooler i7-13700k, i5-13600k i9-13900, 3rd HDD Enclosure OR FASE Cooler i7-13700, i5-13600, i5-13500, i5-13400, i3-13400 Figure 8 - P3 Tower FASE Enclosure with 65W Cooler (Chassis beam for mounting HDD enclosure removed for visibility) Figure 9 - P3 Tower 3rd Enclosure with 125W Cooler (Chassis beam for mounting HDD enclosure removed for visibility)
  • Page 19 Note: The use of four SATA drives will utilize all the available SATA ports on the motherboard. Adding additional SATA drives to the system may impact certain lengths of M.2 drives installed in the onboard M.2 slots (See Figure 10). Figure 10 - P3 Tower SATA Bay overlaying M.2 NVMe 2280 (Power Supply removed for visibility) Additionally, in systems with a side fan assembly, the maximum number of SATA drives is three (See Figure 11) due to physical interference between the...
  • Page 20 P3 Tower Internal Storage Drives Overview Below is an overview of the SATA storage locations in the P3 Tower: Figure 12 - P3 Tower Chassis with Numbered Callouts SATA Bay 1 – 3.5” primary storage drive cage SATA Bay 2 – 3.5” storage drive cage SATA Bay 3 –...
  • Page 21 The table below lists option kits for upgrading the P3 Tower SATA storage available at the time of this writing. Remember the previous notes in this Section in regard to adding a 4 SATA bay or FASE kit, as some option kits will not be physically compatible with certain system configurations.

  • Page 22: Section 5 - Installing Sata Drives In P3 Ultra

    Section 5 – Installing SATA Drives in P3 Ultra The P3 Ultra supports one 2.5” SATA drive. Adding a SATA drive into a P3 Ultra that does not already have one will require additional parts. The SATA drive will also prevent the use of PCIe x4, located on the side of the motherboard opposite the CPU.
  • Page 23 Accessing SATA port: 1. Power down the system. Remove the power cable and all attached devices and cables from the system. Locate the chassis opening lever on the back of the system. Push in one side of the lever and pull on the extended lever.
  • Page 24 3. The M.2 NVMe heat sink is now accessible as seen in the image below. To access the motherboard SATA port, remove the heat sink by squeezing the locking handle and pull up on the heat sink. 4. The SATA connection is ribbon-style, so the cable and port should be handled with care.
  • Page 25 Removing/Installing the SATA Drive: 1. To remove the drive, unplug the ribbon cable from the system and drive. Squeeze the locking handle and pull up on the drive carrier. When the carrier is free, remove it from the system and turn it over. 2.

  • Page 26: Section 6 - Raid Levels

    • A given array should not mix drive types or logical sizes. It is recommended to only use drives officially supported by Lenovo for the given platform. • Each RAID level requires a certain minimum and or maximum number of drives.

  • Page 27: Section 7 - Configuring Raid

    Please refer to the following steps to configure RAID for both NVMe and SATA drives. Examples may show configurations that are not possible on all systems. Backup any important data before editing RAID configurations! 1. Boot into the BIOS by pressing the function F1 key at the “Lenovo” splash screen.
  • Page 28 2. Select “System Summary” and scroll down to verify BIOS is recognizing all the drives installed in the system. Note: From this point forward, the examples will utilize the M.2 NVMe drives. The process is the same for both drive types.
  • Page 29 3. Select the “Devices” menu at the BIOS main screen setup utility and then select “Storage Setup”. 4. In the “Storage Setup” menu, select “Configure Storage as” and change or verify the option is set to “RAID”. Notes: In order to Secure Erase any drives, the ‘Configure Storage as’ option must be set to ‘AHCI’...
  • Page 30 5. When selecting to enable RAID the system will prompt a warning that changing the setting may result in the failure of the system to boot. Select “Yes” to continue. 6. Press F10 to save and Exit BIOS setup.
  • Page 31 7. As the system reboots, press the function F1 key at the Lenovo splash screen to enter the BIOS setup. Select the “Devices” menu at the BIOS main screen setup utility and then “Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology”. 8. Verify all the desired drives are available.
  • Page 32 9. If all the disks installed are not shown as available, it may be necessary to clear any previous data from the disks. If no arrays have been created previously but there is an existing volume shown, it will be necessary to delete any previous arrays.
  • Page 33 11. Choose a name for the volume. 12. Select the drop-down box for “RAID Level” and select the desired RAID level. The RAID level options displayed are based on the type and number of drives available in the system.
  • Page 34 13. On the same page, select the drop-down box for each drive and select “X” to add the drive to the array. Once all the required drives are added, select “Create Volume”. Unselected drives will appear in an OS like normal.
  • Page 35 15. To delete an array, select a displayed volume to view information about 16. Select the “Delete” option.
  • Page 36 17. Select “Yes” to confirm the deletion of the volume. 18. To verify the array was deleted, return the opening page of the “Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology” and verify the drives are once again seen as available for the creation of a new array. Note: The user may not see the RAID array show up in the BIOS boot sequence until after a bootable operating system has been installed on the array.

  • Page 37: Section 8 - Document Revision History

    Section 8 – Document Revision History Version Date Author Updates v1.0 5/25/23 Chris C Initial Release...

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