Dell PowerEdge R960 Manual

Dell PowerEdge R960
Installation and Service Manual
Regulatory Model: E84S
Regulatory Type: E84S001
May 2023
Rev. A00

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.
© 2023 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its
subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Chapter 1: About this document.................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 2: Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview........................................................................ 9
Front view of the system.................................................................................................................................................. 9
Left control panel view................................................................................................................................................11
Right control panel view.............................................................................................................................................13
Rear view of the system.................................................................................................................................................. 14
Inside the system............................................................................................................................................................... 16
Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag............................................................................................... 19
System information labels............................................................................................................................................... 20
Rail sizing and rack compatibility matrix......................................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Technical specifications............................................................................................. 24
Chassis dimensions ..........................................................................................................................................................25
System weight................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Processor specifications..................................................................................................................................................26
PSU specifications............................................................................................................................................................ 26
Cooling fan specifications................................................................................................................................................27
Supported operating systems........................................................................................................................................ 28
System battery specifications........................................................................................................................................28
Expansion card riser specifications...............................................................................................................................28
Memory specifications..................................................................................................................................................... 29
Storage controller specifications...................................................................................................................................30
Drives................................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Ports and connectors specifications............................................................................................................................. 31
USB ports specifications............................................................................................................................................ 31
NIC port specifications............................................................................................................................................... 31
Serial connector specifications................................................................................................................................. 31
VGA ports specifications............................................................................................................................................31
Video specifications...........................................................................................................................................................31
Environmental specifications..........................................................................................................................................32
Thermal restriction matrix......................................................................................................................................... 34
Thermal air restrictions.............................................................................................................................................. 36
Chapter 4: Initial system setup and configuration........................................................................37
Setting up the system...................................................................................................................................................... 37
iDRAC configuration......................................................................................................................................................... 37
Options to set up iDRAC IP address....................................................................................................................... 37
Options to log in to iDRAC........................................................................................................................................ 38
Resources to install operating system......................................................................................................................... 39
Options to download drivers and firmware ..........................................................................................................39
Options to download and install OS drivers .........................................................................................................40
Downloading drivers and firmware..........................................................................................................................40
Contents
Contents 3

Chapter 5: Pre-operating system management applications.........................................................41
System Setup......................................................................................................................................................................41
System BIOS.................................................................................................................................................................42
iDRAC Settings............................................................................................................................................................ 62
Device Settings............................................................................................................................................................62
Service Tag Settings.................................................................................................................................................. 62
Dell Lifecycle Controller...................................................................................................................................................63
Embedded system management..............................................................................................................................63
Boot Manager.....................................................................................................................................................................63
PXE boot............................................................................................................................................................................. 63
Chapter 6: Minimum to POST and system management configuration validation......................... 64
Minimum configuration to POST ..................................................................................................................................64
Configuration validation...................................................................................................................................................64
Error messages............................................................................................................................................................ 65
Chapter 7: Installing and removing system components ............................................................. 66
Safety instructions............................................................................................................................................................66
Before working inside your system ..............................................................................................................................67
After working inside your system.................................................................................................................................. 67
Recommended tools......................................................................................................................................................... 67
Optional front bezel..........................................................................................................................................................68
Removing the front bezel..........................................................................................................................................68
Installing the front bezel............................................................................................................................................69
System cover..................................................................................................................................................................... 69
Removing the system cover..................................................................................................................................... 69
Installing the system cover....................................................................................................................................... 70
Support bar..........................................................................................................................................................................71
Removing the support bar..........................................................................................................................................71
Installing the support bar........................................................................................................................................... 73
Cooling fans........................................................................................................................................................................ 74
Removing the cooling fan cage assembly .............................................................................................................74
Installing the cooling fan cage assembly................................................................................................................75
Removing a cooling fan..............................................................................................................................................76
Installing a cooling fan................................................................................................................................................ 77
Air shrouds.......................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Removing the air shroud top cover.........................................................................................................................78
Installing the air shroud top cover...........................................................................................................................78
Removing the air shroud............................................................................................................................................79
Installing the air shroud..............................................................................................................................................80
Removing the GPU air shroud...................................................................................................................................81
Installing the GPU air shroud....................................................................................................................................82
Removing the riser air shroud.................................................................................................................................. 83
Installing the riser air shroud.....................................................................................................................................84
Drives................................................................................................................................................................................... 85
Removing a drive blank..............................................................................................................................................85
Installing a drive blank................................................................................................................................................ 86
Removing a drive carrier............................................................................................................................................86
4Contents

Installing the drive carrier..........................................................................................................................................87
Removing the drive from the drive carrier............................................................................................................88
Installing the drive into the drive carrier................................................................................................................89
Drive backplane................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Drive backplane............................................................................................................................................................90
Removing the drive backplane ................................................................................................................................92
Installing the drive backplane................................................................................................................................... 93
Side wall brackets............................................................................................................................................................. 94
Removing the side wall bracket............................................................................................................................... 94
Installing the side wall bracket................................................................................................................................. 95
Cable routings.................................................................................................................................................................... 97
PERC module....................................................................................................................................................................108
Removing the rear mounting front PERC module............................................................................................. 108
Installing the rear mounting front PERC module............................................................................................... 109
System memory................................................................................................................................................................ 110
System memory guidelines.......................................................................................................................................110
General memory module installation guidelines...................................................................................................113
Removing a memory module....................................................................................................................................114
Installing a memory module......................................................................................................................................115
Expansion cards and expansion card risers................................................................................................................116
Expansion card installation guidelines....................................................................................................................116
Removing the expansion card risers...................................................................................................................... 131
Installing the expansion card risers........................................................................................................................135
Removing expansion card from the expansion card riser................................................................................ 139
Installing an expansion card into the expansion card riser............................................................................... 141
Removing the full length expansion card risers..................................................................................................142
Installing the full length expansion card risers....................................................................................................144
Removing a GPU........................................................................................................................................................146
Installing a GPU.......................................................................................................................................................... 148
Power distribution board................................................................................................................................................ 151
Removing the power distribution board................................................................................................................151
Installing the power distribution board................................................................................................................. 152
Processor and heat sink module.................................................................................................................................. 153
Removing the processor and heat sink module..................................................................................................153
Removing the processor.......................................................................................................................................... 155
Installing the processor............................................................................................................................................ 156
Installing the processor and heat sink module....................................................................................................159
Processor expansion module......................................................................................................................................... 161
Removing the processor expansion module (PEM)........................................................................................... 161
Installing the processor expansion module (PEM)............................................................................................ 163
PEM power board............................................................................................................................................................164
Removing the PEM power board...........................................................................................................................164
Installing the PEM power board.............................................................................................................................165
Optional VGA and Serial COM port ............................................................................................................................166
Removing the VGA and Serial COM port.............................................................................................................166
Installing the VGA and Serial COM port............................................................................................................... 167
Optional BOSS-N1 module.............................................................................................................................................169
Removing the BOSS-N1 module blank..................................................................................................................169
Installing the BOSS-N1 module blank....................................................................................................................169
Removing the BOSS-N1 card carrier blank..........................................................................................................170
Contents 5

Installing the BOSS-N1 card carrier blank............................................................................................................170
Removing the BOSS-N1 module..............................................................................................................................171
Installing the BOSS-N1 module............................................................................................................................... 173
System battery ................................................................................................................................................................175
Replacing the system battery................................................................................................................................. 175
Optional internal USB card............................................................................................................................................ 177
Removing the internal USB card............................................................................................................................ 177
Installing the internal USB card.............................................................................................................................. 178
Intrusion switch................................................................................................................................................................180
Removing the intrusion switch module................................................................................................................ 180
Installing the intrusion switch module................................................................................................................... 181
Optional OCP card...........................................................................................................................................................182
Removing the OCP card.......................................................................................................................................... 182
Installing the OCP card.............................................................................................................................................183
Power supply unit............................................................................................................................................................ 185
Hot spare feature...................................................................................................................................................... 185
Removing a power supply unit blank.....................................................................................................................185
Installing a power supply unit blank.......................................................................................................................186
Removing a power supply unit adapter................................................................................................................ 186
Installing a power supply unit adapter...................................................................................................................187
Removing a power supply unit................................................................................................................................188
Installing a power supply unit..................................................................................................................................189
Trusted Platform Module...............................................................................................................................................190
Upgrading the Trusted Platform Module............................................................................................................. 190
Initializing TPM for users.......................................................................................................................................... 191
Initializing the TPM 2.0 for users............................................................................................................................191
System board....................................................................................................................................................................192
Removing the system board................................................................................................................................... 192
Installing the system board......................................................................................................................................193
Restoring the system using Easy Restore........................................................................................................... 195
Manually update the Service Tag.......................................................................................................................... 195
LOM card and rear I/O board.......................................................................................................................................195
Removing the LOM card and rear I/O board......................................................................................................195
Installing the LOM card and rear I/O board........................................................................................................ 197
Control panel.................................................................................................................................................................... 199
Removing the right control panel.......................................................................................................................... 199
Installing the right control panel.............................................................................................................................201
Removing the left control panel............................................................................................................................ 202
Installing the left control panel.............................................................................................................................. 203
Chapter 8: Upgrade Kits............................................................................................................ 205
BOSS-N1 module kit.......................................................................................................................................................205
Serial COM port kit.........................................................................................................................................................206
Chapter 9: Jumpers and connectors.......................................................................................... 208
System board Connectors............................................................................................................................................ 208
System board jumper settings......................................................................................................................................212
Disabling a forgotten password....................................................................................................................................212
6Contents

Chapter 10: System diagnostics and indicator codes.................................................................. 214
Power button LED...........................................................................................................................................................214
Status LED indicators..................................................................................................................................................... 214
System health and system ID indicator codes..........................................................................................................216
iDRAC Quick Sync 2 indicator codes.......................................................................................................................... 217
iDRAC Direct LED indicator codes...............................................................................................................................217
LCD panel.......................................................................................................................................................................... 218
Viewing Home screen............................................................................................................................................... 219
Setup menu................................................................................................................................................................. 219
View menu................................................................................................................................................................... 219
NIC indicator codes........................................................................................................................................................ 220
Power supply unit indicator codes..............................................................................................................................220
Drive indicator codes..................................................................................................................................................... 222
Using system diagnostics..............................................................................................................................................222
Dell Embedded System Diagnostics......................................................................................................................223
Chapter 11: Getting help............................................................................................................ 224
Recycling or End-of-Life service information.......................................................................................................... 224
Contacting Dell Technologies.......................................................................................................................................224
Accessing system information by using QRL........................................................................................................... 224
Quick Resource Locator for PowerEdge R960 system................................................................................... 225
Receiving automated support with Secure Connect Gateway (SCG).............................................................. 225
Chapter 12: Documentation resources....................................................................................... 226
Contents 7

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

Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview
The PowerEdge R960 system is a 4U server that supports:
●Up to four 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors with up to 60 cores
●64 DIMM slots
●Four AC or DC power supply units with 2+2 redundancy
●Up to 8 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) drives
●Up to 16 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) drives
●Up to 32 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) drives
●Up to 24 x 2.5-inch NVMe (SSD) drives
●Up to 16 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + 8 x 2.5-inch NVMe (SSD) drives
NOTE: For more information about how to hot swap NVMe PCIe SSD U.2 device, see the Dell Express Flash NVMe
PCIe SSD User's Guide at https://www.dell.com/support > Browse all products > Infrastructure > Data Center
Infrastructure > Storage Adapters & Controllers > Dell PowerEdge Express Flash NVMe PCIe SSD > Select This
Product > Documentation > Manuals and Documents.
NOTE: All instances of SAS, SATA, and NVMe drives are referred to as drives in this document, unless specified otherwise.
CAUTION: Do not install GPUs, network cards, or other PCIe devices on your system that are not validated
and tested by Dell. Damage caused by unauthorized and invalidated hardware installation will null and void the
system warranty.
Topics:
•Front view of the system
•Rear view of the system
•Inside the system
•Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag
•System information labels
•Rail sizing and rack compatibility matrix
Front view of the system
Figure 1. Front view of 32 x 2.5-inch drive system
2
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 9

Figure 2. Front view of 24 x 2.5-inch drive system
Figure 3. Front view of 16 x 2.5-inch drive system
Figure 4. Front view of 8 x 2.5-inch drive system
10 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview

Table 1. Features available on the front of the system
Item Ports, panels, and
slots
Icon Description
1 Left control panel N/A Contains the system health, system ID, and the status LED indicator.
2 Drive N/A Enables you to install drives that are supported on your system.
NOTE: For drive slot numbers, see the System information labels
section.
3 Right control panel N/A Contains the power button, VGA port, USB port, iDRAC Direct
(Micro-AB USB) port, and the iDRAC Direct status LED.
4 Express Service Tag N/A The Express Service 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, the
Information tag will also contain the iDRAC secure default password.
NOTE: For more information about ports, panels, and slots, see the Technical specification section.
Left control panel view
Figure 5. Left control panel
Table 2. Left control panel
Item Indicator, button, or
connector
Icon Description
1 System health and system
ID
Indicates the system health. For more information, see the System
health and system ID indicator codes section.
2 Status LED indicators N/A Indicates the status of the system. For more information, see the
Status LED indicators section.
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 11

Figure 6. Left control panel with optional iDRAC Quick Sync 2 indicator
Table 3. Left control panel with optional iDRAC Quick Sync 2 indicator
Item Indicator, button, or
connector
Icon Description
1 Status LED indicators N/A Indicates the status of the system. For more information, see the
Status LED indicators section.
2 System health and system
ID indicator
Indicates the system health. For more information, see the
System health and system ID indicator codes section.
3 iDRAC Quick Sync
2 wireless indicator
(optional)
Indicates if the iDRAC Quick Sync 2 wireless option is
activated. The Quick Sync 2 feature allows management of the
system using mobile devices. This feature aggregates hardware/
firmware inventory and various system level diagnostic/error
information that can be used in troubleshooting the system. You
can access system inventory, Dell Lifecycle Controller logs or
system logs, system health status, and also configure iDRAC,
BIOS, and networking parameters. You can also launch the virtual
Keyboard, Video, and Mouse (KVM) viewer and virtual Kernel-
based Virtual Machine (KVM), on a supported mobile device.
For more information, see the Integrated Dell Remote Access
Controller User's Guide at www.dell.com/poweredgemanuals.
NOTE: For more information about the indicator codes, see the System diagnostics and indicator codes section.
12 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview

Right control panel view
Figure 7. Right control panel
Table 4. Right control panel
Item Indicator or button Icon Description
1 VGA port Enables you to connect a display device to the system.
2 iDRAC Direct
(Micro-AB USB)
port
The iDRAC Direct (Micro-AB USB) port enables you to access the iDRAC
direct Micro-AB USB features. For more information, see the Integrated Dell
Remote Access Controller User's Guide at www.dell.com/poweredgemanuals.
NOTE: You can configure iDRAC Direct by using a USB to micro USB (type
AB) cable, which you can connect to your laptop or tablet. Cable length
should not exceed 3 feet (0.91 meters). Performance could be affected by
cable quality.
3 USB 2.0 port The USB port is 4-pin, 2.0-compliant. This port enables you to connect USB
devices to the system.
4 Power button Indicates if the system is powered on or off. Press the power button to
manually power on or off the system.
NOTE: Press the power button to gracefully shut down an ACPI-compliant
operating system.
NOTE: For more information about ports, panels, and slots, see the Technical specification section.
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 13

Rear view of the system
Figure 8. Rear view of the system
Table 5. Rear view of the system
Item Ports, panels, or slots Icon Description
1 PCIe expansion card riser 1
(slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3)
N/A The expansion card riser enables you to connect PCI Express
expansion cards. For more information , see the Expansion card
installation guidelines section.
2 BOSS-N1 module N/A BOSS-N1 module for internal system boot.
3 PCIe expansion card riser 3
(slot 5, slot 6, slot 7 and slot
8)
N/A The expansion card riser enables you to connect PCI Express
expansion cards. For more information , see the Expansion card
installation guidelines section.
4 PCIe expansion card riser 4
(slot 10, slot 11 and slot 12)
N/A The expansion card riser enables you to connect PCI Express
expansion cards. For more information , see the Expansion card
installation guidelines section.
5 Power supply unit (PSU3) PSU3 is the third PSU of the system.
6 Power supply unit (PSU1) PSU1 is the primary PSU of the system.
7 VGA bracket blank N/A Enables you to add VGA port (only in direct liquid cooled
configuration) and Serial COM port.
8 PCIe expansion card riser 2
(slot 3 and slot 9)
N/A The expansion card riser enables you to connect PCI Express
expansion cards. For more information , see the Expansion card
installation guidelines section.
9 NIC ports blank (optional) The NIC ports that are integrated on the LOM card provide network
connectivity which is connected to the system board.
10 OCP NIC card (optional) N/A The OCP NIC card supports OCP 3.0. The NIC ports are integrated
on the OCP card which is connected to the system board.
11 System Identification (ID)
button
The System Identification (ID) button is available on the front and
back of the system. Press the button to identify a system in a rack
by turning on the system ID button. You can also use the system ID
button to reset iDRAC and to access BIOS using the step through
mode. When pressed, the system ID LED in the back panel blinks until
either the front or rear button is pressed again. Press the button to
toggle between on or off mode.
14 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview

Table 5. Rear view of the system (continued)
Item Ports, panels, or slots Icon Description
NOTE: If the server stops responding during POST, press and
hold the System ID button for more than five seconds to enter
the BIOS progress mode
NOTE: To reset the iDRAC (if not disabled on the iDRAC setup
page by pressing F2 during system boot), press and hold the
System ID button for more than 15 seconds.
12 Dedicated iDRAC9 Ethernet
port
Enables you to remotely access iDRAC. For more information,
see the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller User's Guide at
www.dell.com/poweredgemanuals.
13 USB 3.0 port The USB port is 9-pin and 3.0-compliant. This port enables you to
connect USB devices to the system.
14 USB 2.0 port The USB port is 4-pin, 2.0-compliant. This port enables you to
connect USB devices to the system.
15 VGA port Enables you to connect a display device to the system.
16 Power supply unit (PSU2) PSU2 is the secondary PSU of the system.
17 Power supply unit (PSU4) PSU4 is the third PSU of the system.
NOTE: For more information about ports, panels, and slots, see the Technical specification section.
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 15

Inside the system
Figure 9. Inside the system
1. Backplane 2. Cooling fans
3. Air shroud top cover 4. Expansion riser 4
5. Expansion riser 3 6. Power supply units (PSU2 and PSU4)
7. Power supply units (PSU1 and PSU3) 8. Expansion riser 1
9. Air shroud bottom cover 10. Support bar
11. Express Service Tag
16 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview

Figure 10. Inside the system with full length risers and GPU air shroud
1. Backplane 2. Cooling fans
3. Support bar 4. Expansion riser 3
5. Expansion riser 4 6. Power supply units (PSU2 and PSU4)
7. Power supply units (PSU1 and PSU3) 8. Expansion riser 1
9. GPU air shroud top cover 10. Express Service Tag
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 17

Figure 11. Inside the system with processor expansion module (PEM)
1. Backplane 2. Processor 4
3. Expansion riser 3 4. Expansion riser 4
5. Power supply units (PSU2 and PSU4) 6. Power supply units (PSU1 and PSU3)
7. Expansion riser 1 8. System board
9. Processor expansion module (PEM) 10. Processor 3
11. Express Service Tag
18 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview

Figure 12. Inside the system with system board
1. Backplane 2. Processor 2
3. Power distribution board (PDB) 4. Expansion riser 2
5. VGA bracket 6. Power supply units (PSU2 and PSU4)
7. Power supply units (PSU1 and PSU3) 8. Power distribution board (PDB)
9. System board 10. Processor 1
11. Express Service Tag
Locating the Express Service Code and Service Tag
The unique Express Service Code and Service Tag are used to identify the system.
The Express Service Tag is located on the front of the system that includes system information such as the Service Tag,
Express Service Code, Manufacture date, NIC, MAC address, QRL label, and so on. If you have opted for the secure default
access to iDRAC, the Information tag also contains the iDRAC secure default password. If you have opted for iDRAC Quick Sync
2, the Information tag also contains the OpenManage Mobile (OMM) label, where administrators can configure, monitor, and
troubleshoot the PowerEdge servers.
Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview 19

Figure 13. Locating the Express Service Code and Service tag
1. Express Service Tag (front view)
2. Express Service Tag (rear view)
3. OpenManage Mobile (OMM) label
4. iDRAC MAC address and iDRAC secure password label
5. Service Tag, Express Service Code, QRL label
The Mini Enterprise Service Tag (MEST) label is on the rear of the system that includes the Service Tag (ST), and Express
Service Code (Exp Svc Code). The Exp Svc Code is used by Dell to route support calls to the appropriate personnel.
Figure 14. Locating the Mini Express Service Tag
System information labels
The system information label is on the rear side of the system cover.
Figure 15. Service information
20 Dell PowerEdge R960 system overview