Dell EMC XC Core XC6520 Manual

Dell EMC XC Core XC6520
Installation and Service Manual
December 2021

Notes, cautions, and warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid
the problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
© 2021 - 2021 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Revision history..........................................................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 1: About this document.................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 2: Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview............................................................................ 8
Inside the sled ......................................................................................................................................................................8
Rear view of the sled..........................................................................................................................................................9
Network port indicator codes......................................................................................................................................... 10
Network ports indicator codes........................................................................................................................................11
Sled to hard drive mapping..............................................................................................................................................12
XC 6520 chassis options and drive enumerations..................................................................................................... 12
Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag............................................................................................... 16
System information label.................................................................................................................................................. 17
Chapter 3: Initial system setup and configuration........................................................................20
Setting up the system......................................................................................................................................................20
iDRAC configuration......................................................................................................................................................... 20
Options to set up the iDRAC IP address............................................................................................................... 20
Options to log in to the iDRAC..................................................................................................................................21
Resources to install the operating system.................................................................................................................. 22
Options to download the firmware..........................................................................................................................22
Options to download and install OS drivers.......................................................................................................... 23
Downloading drivers and firmware..........................................................................................................................23
Chapter 4: Installing and removing system components.............................................................. 24
Before working inside your system............................................................................................................................... 24
Safety instructions...................................................................................................................................................... 24
After working inside your system..................................................................................................................................25
Recommended tools......................................................................................................................................................... 25
Sled....................................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Sled installation guidelines.........................................................................................................................................25
Removing a sled...........................................................................................................................................................26
Installing a sled............................................................................................................................................................. 27
Air shroud............................................................................................................................................................................ 29
Removing the air shroud............................................................................................................................................29
Installing the air shroud..............................................................................................................................................29
Support bracket.................................................................................................................................................................30
Removing the support bracket................................................................................................................................ 30
Installing the support bracket................................................................................................................................... 31
Expansion cards and expansion card risers.................................................................................................................32
Expansion card installation guidelines.....................................................................................................................33
Removing expansion card riser 1............................................................................................................................. 35
Installing expansion card riser 1................................................................................................................................36
Removing expansion card riser 2............................................................................................................................. 37
Installing expansion card riser 2............................................................................................................................... 38
Contents
Contents 3

Removing an expansion card.................................................................................................................................... 39
Installing an expansion card...................................................................................................................................... 42
LOM riser card................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Removing the LOM.....................................................................................................................................................45
Installing the LOM....................................................................................................................................................... 46
M.2 SSD module................................................................................................................................................................ 47
Removing the M.2 riser..............................................................................................................................................47
Installing the M.2 riser................................................................................................................................................48
Removing the M.2 SSD module............................................................................................................................... 49
Installing the M.2 SSD module................................................................................................................................. 50
Linking board and PCIe cable..........................................................................................................................................51
Removing the linking board and PCIe cable.......................................................................................................... 51
Installing the linking board and PCIe cable............................................................................................................52
System memory.................................................................................................................................................................53
System memory guidelines........................................................................................................................................53
General memory module installation guidelines....................................................................................................54
Removing a memory module.................................................................................................................................... 55
Installing a memory module.......................................................................................................................................56
Processor and heat sink module....................................................................................................................................57
Removing a processor and heat sink module........................................................................................................57
Removing the processor from the processor and heat sink module.............................................................. 59
Installing the processor into a processor and heat sink module....................................................................... 61
Installing the processor and heat sink module......................................................................................................64
Optional OCP card............................................................................................................................................................ 66
Removing the OCP filler............................................................................................................................................ 66
Installing an OCP card................................................................................................................................................ 67
Removing an OCP card..............................................................................................................................................68
Installing the OCP card filler.....................................................................................................................................69
System battery...................................................................................................................................................................70
Replacing the system battery...................................................................................................................................70
System board......................................................................................................................................................................72
Removing the system board..................................................................................................................................... 72
Installing the system board....................................................................................................................................... 73
Restoring the system using Easy Restore...................................................................................................................75
Manually update the Service Tag............................................................................................................................ 76
Trusted Platform Module................................................................................................................................................ 76
Upgrading the Trusted Platform Module...............................................................................................................76
Initializing the TPM for users.................................................................................................................................... 77
Initializing the TPM 2.0 for users.............................................................................................................................77
Chapter 5: Upgrade kits.............................................................................................................. 78
Chapter 6: Jumpers and connectors............................................................................................ 79
System board connectors............................................................................................................................................... 79
System board jumper settings....................................................................................................................................... 80
Disabling a forgotten password..................................................................................................................................... 80
Chapter 7: System diagnostics and indicator codes..................................................................... 81
Using system diagnostics.................................................................................................................................................81
4Contents

Dell Embedded System Diagnostics.........................................................................................................................81
Running the Embedded System Diagnostics from the Dell Lifecycle Controller.......................................... 81
Running the Embedded System Diagnostics from Boot Manager................................................................... 81
System diagnostic controls....................................................................................................................................... 82
Chapter 8: Getting help...............................................................................................................83
Recycling or End-of-Life service information.............................................................................................................83
Contacting Dell.................................................................................................................................................................. 83
Accessing system information by using QRL..............................................................................................................83
Receiving automated support with SupportAssist....................................................................................................84
Contents 5

Revision history
Date Document revision Description of changes
December 2021 1 Initial release
6 Revision history

About this document
This document provides an overview about the system, information about installing and replacing components, technical
specifications, diagnostic tools, and guidelines to be followed while installing certain components.
1
About this document 7

Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview
The Dell EMC XC Core XC6520 system is a half-width sled that supports:
●Two Intel Xeon Scalable processors
●16 DIMM slots
The sled also supports PCIe and Open Compute Project (OCP) risers for expansion and connectivity.
For more information, see the Technical Specifications on the product documentation page.
Topics:
•Inside the sled
•Rear view of the sled
•Network port indicator codes
•Network ports indicator codes
•Sled to hard drive mapping
•XC 6520 chassis options and drive enumerations
•Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag
•System information label
Inside the sled
Figure 1. Inside view of the sled
1. Expansion card riser 1 (R1) 2. Memory module sockets for processor 1
3. Processor and heat sink module 1 4. Processor and heat sink module 2
5. Memory module sockets for processor 2 6. Support bracket
7. Memory module sockets for processor 2 8. M.2 riser
NOTE: Supports BOSS card S1V5
9. Air shroud 10. Memory module sockets for processor 1
11. OCP card retention latch 12. Expansion card riser 2 (R2)
2
8 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

Rear view of the sled
Figure 2. Rear view of the sled
Table 1. Rear view of the sled
Item Ports, panels, or slots Icon Description
1 PCIe expansion card riser
1 (R1a)
N/A Enables you to connect PCI Express expansion cards.
2 Sled release handle N/A Enables you to remove the sled from the enclosure.
3 PCIe expansion card riser
2 (R2)
N/A Enables you to connect PCI Express expansion cards.
4 Sled release lock N/A Enables you to remove the sled from the enclosure.
5OCP 3.0 N/A This port supports OCP 3.0. The NIC ports are integrated on the
OCP card which is connected to the system board.
6 System identification LED The System Identification (ID) LED is available on the back of the
system. Press the system ID button on the front of the enclosure
to identify a system in a rack.
7iDRAC Direct port (Micro-
AB USB) Enables you to remotely access iDRAC. For more information,
see the iDRAC User’s Guide at https://www.dell.com/
poweredgemanuals.
8 Sled power button N/A Enables you to power on the sled while accessing it from the rear.
9 Mini-DisplayPort Enables you to connect a display device to the system.
10 iDRAC or NIC or RJ45
port The NIC ports that are integrated on the system board provide
network connectivity. These NIC ports can also be shared with
iDRAC when iDRAC network settings is set to shared mode.
or
Enables you to remotely access iDRAC. For more information,
see the iDRAC User’s Guide at https://www.dell.com/
poweredgemanuals.
11 USB 3.0 port This port is USB 3.0-compliant.
12 Information tag N/A The Information tag is a slide-out label panel that contains system
information such as Service Tag, NIC, MAC address, and so on.
If you have opted for the secure default access to iDRAC, then
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 9

Table 1. Rear view of the sled (continued)
Item Ports, panels, or slots Icon Description
the Information tag will also contain the iDRAC secure default
password.
For more information about the ports, see the Dell EMC XC Core XC6520 Technical Specifications on the product
documentation page.
Network port indicator codes
Figure 3. LAN indicators on the QSFP OCP card
1. Link indicator
2. Activity indicator
Table 2. QSFP port on OCP card indicator codes
Connection State QSFP Upper green LED QSFP Lower green LED
No link/Not Connected Off Off
Ethernet Link - No Traffic Green Green
Ethernet - Traffic Green Blink
The LED blink speed varies according to the traffic bandwidth.
Figure 4. Ethernet port indicator codes
10 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

Table 3. Ethernet port indicator codes
Convention Status Condition
A Link and activity indicators are off The NIC is not connected to the
network.
B Link indicator is green The NIC is connected to a valid network
at its maximum port speed.
C Link indicator is amber The NIC is connected to a valid network
at less than its maximum port speed.
D Activity indicator is flashing green Network data is being sent or received.
Network ports indicator codes
Figure 5. LAN indicators on the QSFP OCP card
1. Link indicator
2. Activity indicator
Table 4. QSFP port on OCP card indicator codes
Connection State QSFP Upper green LED QSFP Lower green LED
No link/Not Connected Off Off
Ethernet Link - No Traffic Green Green
Ethernet - Traffic Green Blink
NOTE: The LED blink speed varies according to the traffic bandwidth.
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 11

Figure 6. Ethernet port indicator codes
1. Speed indicator
2. Link and activity indicator
Table 5. Ethernet port indicator codes
Convention Status Condition
A Link and activity indicators are off The NIC is not connected to the network.
B Link indicator is green The NIC is connected to a valid network at its maximum port speed.
C Link indicator is amber The NIC is connected to a valid network at less than its maximum port
speed.
D Activity indicator is flashing green Network data is being sent or received.
Sled to hard drive mapping
Figure 7. Sled to drive mapping for 24 x 2.5-inch drive configuration
1. Drives 0–5 mapped to sled 1 2. Drives 6–11 mapped to sled 2
3. Drives 12–17 mapped to sled 3 4. Drives 18–23 mapped to sled 4
5. (Optional) NVMe hard drive location
NOTE: The warranty of the drives are linked to the Service Tag of the corresponding sled.
XC 6520 chassis options and drive enumerations
XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch NVMe drive configuration
12 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

The XC6520 chassis with 24 x 2.5-inch NVMe drive configuration supports NVMe backplane and up to six NVMe drives per sled
and a total of 24 NVMe drives per chassis.
NOTE:
●The NVMe backplane supports only NVMe drives, It does not support SAS/SATA drives.
●The NVMe backplane is PCIe Gen4 capable and can support both Gen4 and Gen3 NVMe drives. It is not recommended
to install all Gen3 drives on the NVMe backplane since each drive gets only x2 Gen4 lanes (compared to x4 Gen3 lanes in
the existing NVMe backplane), which impact the drive read/write performance.
●For Gen3 drive installation, It is recommended to install up to eight NVMe drives for 24 x 2.5-inch NVMe backplane.
Figure 8. XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch NVMe backplane with four C6520 sleds, each up to 6 NVMe drives
XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA drive configuration
The XC6520 chassis with 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA drive configuration supports SAS/SATA backplane and up to six SAS/SATA
drives per C6520 sled and a total of 24 SAS/SATA drives per chassis.
NOTE:
●The chassis is optimized for High-Performance Computing (HPC), High Performance Data Analytics (HPDA), Saas/IaaS,
Financial Modeling, vSAN.
●Using an M.2 boot drive in each C6520 sled enables use of front 2.5-inch drives entirely for application data.
Figure 9. XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA backplane with four XC6520 sleds, each up to 6 SAS/SATA
drives
XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA backplane - Drive enumeration
Figure 10. 2.5-inch drives (24) with four XC6520 sleds
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 13

Figure 11. 2.5-inch drives (24) with three XC6520 sleds
Figure 12. 2.5-inch drives (24) with two XC6520 sleds (Sleds 1 and 3)
Figure 13. 2.5-inch drives (24) with one XC6520 sled
XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/ 8 x 2.5-inch NVMe drive configuration
The XC6520 chassis with 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA or NVMe backplane drive configuration enables a total of 24 x 2.5-inch
drives and up to 6 drives per C6520 sled. Each sled has two universal drive slots which can use NVMe drives or SAS/SATA
drives; rest of the 4 drive slots can be SAS/SATA drives.
●The chassis is optimized for High-Performance Computing (HPC), High Performance Data Analytics (HPDA), Saas/IaaS,
Financial Modeling, HCI, vSAN, HPDA, SDS.
●Using an M.2 boot drive in each C6520 sled enables use of front 2.5-inch drives entirely for application data.
The XC6520 chassis with NVMe backplane supports the following configurations:
●One to four C6520 sleds, each with up to 2 x 2.5-inch NVMe SSDs and 4 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA drives.
●First two drives for each sled can be NVMe or SAS/SATA drives. The rest of the drives can be SAS or SATA drives only.
XC6520 chassis - 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/ 8 x 2.5-inch NVMe drive configuration - Drive enumeration
The following images show the C6520 sled with only first two drive slots can be populated with NVMe drives (or SAS/SATA
drives). The rest of the slots for each sled only support SAS/SATA drives.
14 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

Figure 14. 2.5-inch NVMe backplane chassis with four XC6520 sleds, each up to 2 NVMe drives
Figure 15. 2.5-inch NVMe backplane chassis with three XC6520 sleds, each up to 2 NVMe drives
Figure 16. 2.5-inch NVMe backplane chassis with two XC6520 sleds, each up to 2 NVMe drives
Figure 17. 2.5-inch NVMe backplane chassis with one XC6520 sled with up to 2 NVMe drives
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 15

Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag
The unique Express Service Code and Service Tag are used to identify the system.
The information tag is located on the rear of the system that includes system information such as Service Tag, Express Service
Code, Manufacture date, NIC, MAC address, QRL label, and so on.
Figure 18. Locating the Service Tag of your system
1. Information tag (top view)
2. Express Service Tag label
3. Network MAC address information label
4. iDRAC MAC address information label
5. Information tag (bottom view)
The Mini Enterprise Service Tag (MEST) label is located on the rear of the system that includes Service Tag (ST), Express
Service Code (Exp Svc Code), and Manufacture Date (Mfg. Date). The Exp Svc Code is used by Dell EMC to route support calls
to the appropriate personnel.
Alternatively, the Service Tag information is located on a label on left wall of the chassis.
16 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

System information label
Figure 19. System board connections and Jumper settings
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 17

Figure 20. Mechanical Overview and Memory information
Figure 21. System tasks: Riser cable, OCP and Air shroud
18 Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview

Figure 22. System tasks: Processor 1 heat sink and BOSS / SATA M.2
Dell EMC XC Core XC6250 Overview 19

Initial system setup and configuration
This section describes the tasks for initial setup and configuration of the Dell EMC system. The sections provide general steps
to set up the system and the reference guides for detailed information.
Topics:
•Setting up the system
•iDRAC configuration
•Resources to install the operating system
Setting up the system
Perform the following steps to set up the system:
Steps
1. Unpack the system.
2. Remove the I/O connector cover from the system connectors.
CAUTION: While installing the system, ensure that it is properly aligned with the slot on the enclosure to
prevent damage to the system connectors.
3. Install the system in the enclosure.
4. Power on the enclosure.
NOTE: Wait for the enclosure to initialize before you press the power button.
5. Press the power button on the system.
Alternatively, you can also power on the system by using iDRAC.
For more information, see Options to log in to the iDRAC.
For more information about setting up the system, see the Getting Started Guide that is shipped with your system.
NOTE: For information about managing the basic settings and features of the system, see the Dell EMC PowerEdge
C6520 BIOS and UEFI Reference Guide on the product documentation page.
iDRAC configuration
The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is designed to make you more productive as a system administrator
and improve the overall availability of Dell EMC servers. iDRAC alerts you to system issues, helps you to perform remote
management, and reduces the need for physical access to the system.
Options to set up the iDRAC IP address
To enable communication between your system and iDRAC, you must first configure the network settings based on your
network infrastructure. The network settings option is set to DHCP, by default.
NOTE: For static IP configuration, you must request the setting at the time of purchase.
You can set up the iDRAC IP address using one of the following interfaces. For information about how to set up iDRAC IP
address, see the documentation links provided in the table.
3
20 Initial system setup and configuration