HighPoint Rocket 1508 User manual

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Rocket 1508 (R1508)
8x M.2 Port to PCIe 4.0 x16 NVMe HBA
Quick Installation Guide
V1.02

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System Requirements
PC Requirements
•Any PC System or Motherboard with an industry standard PCIe x16
physical slot
•Microsoft Windows
•VMware vSphere/ESXi
•Red Hat Enterprise Linux
•SuSE Linux
•Ubuntu Linux
•Citrix XenServer
•CentOS Linux
•Debian Linux
•Oracle Enterprise Linux
•Fedora
•FreeBSD
•macOS

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R1508 Kit Content
•1x R1508
•1x Quick Installation Guide
R1508 Hardware
Front View
Full-Length anodized aluminum heat sink
PCIe 4.0 x16 Host Interface
Full Height bracket
Low-Noise Cooling Fan
External power port

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R1508 Hardware Installation
Step 1. On the rear of the R1508, remove the six screws that secure the
unit’s heat sink to the PCB.
Step 2. After removing the screws, carefully remove the fan’s power
cable from the right-side of the heatsink as shown below, then
carefully flip the heatsink to the left (like turning a page from a
book).
Note: Take care when moving the heatsink to prevent damaging
the left fan’s power cable.

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Step 3. After removing the casing, carefully turn it over to view the
thermal pad. The blue films must be removed from the pad before
reinstalling the panel. These films protect the pad from damage
and foreign objects prior to installation, however, they will also
prevent the thermal pad from conducting the heat away from the
NVMe SSDs if not removed.
Step 4. These 8 screws are used to install the NVMe SSDs.
The R1508 can support 2242, 2260, and 2280 form factor M.2
NVMe SSDs.

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Step 5. Please remove these screws from each of the M.2 slots.
Step 6. Gently insert the NVMe SSD into the M.2 slot.
Note: Please make sure all disks are clean before you insert them
into the slot to avoid unexpected situations.
Step 7. Refasten the screw to secure the NVMe SSD.
Repeat Steps 5 to 7 to install the remaining NVMe SSDs.
The following example shows eight Gen4 NVMe SSDs installed into
Ports 1-8:

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Step 8. After installing all NVMe SSDs, carefully flip the heatsink to
the right.
Note: Make sure the NVMe SSDs are carefully, but securely
installed into each M.2 port. Loose connections can cause a
variety of stability and performance issues, and may ultimately
result in data loss.
Step 9. Carefully reinsert in the power supply cable of the cooling fan
that was removed in step 2.
Step 10. On the rear of the R1508, refasten the 6 screws that were
removed in step 1.
Note: Make sure the aluminum cover is properly aligned with the
controller board (PCB), and that it makes full contact with the
thermal pad, before refastening it to the R1508. If the cover is

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improperly installed, the fan and thermal pad will be unable to
sufficiently cool the NVMe SSDs and controller componentry,
which may result in damage to the NVMe SSDs or controller
hardware, performance loss, unstable I/O, and the loss of data.
Step 11. Power up the SSD external power supply.
Note:If the external power supply is not powered on, the NVMe
SSDs may drop offline or remain undetected, which could lead to
data loss.
R1508 relies on two power sources to support eight NVMe SSDs;
power supplied through the PCIe bus, and power from the
system’s PSU via an external 6 pin PCIe power cable. If the
external cable is not connected, there will be insufficient power to
support all 8 NVMe SSDs; this may cause the NVMe SSDs to
drop offline.

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Step 12. If you are using a 2019 Intel Mac Pro Workstation or 2023 M2
Mac Pro Workstation, you will need to purchase the Belkin AUX
Power Cable Kit from the Apple Store. The kit includes seven
AUX power cables; four 8-pin to 6+2 pin cables (for use with the
Rocket 1508), two 6-pin to 6-pin cables, and a single 8-pin to dual
6-pin cable.
a. Connect the 8-pin power connector of the Belkin AUX Power
Cable to the 2019 Intel Mac Pro Workstation.
b. Connect the 6-pin power connector of the Belkin AUX Power
Cable to the side of the R1508.

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Resources
We recommend visiting the R1508 Product Page for the latest
document.
Document Downloads:
https://www.highpoint-tech.com/nvme-aic/r1508
FAQ & Troubleshooting:
FAQ - HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

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Customer Support
If you encounter any problems while utilizing the R1508, or have any
questions about this or any other HighPoint Technologies, Inc. product,
feel free to contact our Customer Support Department.
Web Support:
https://www.highpoint-tech.com/support-and-services
HighPoint Technologies, Inc. websites:
https://www.highpoint-tech.com
© Copyright 2023 HighPoint Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.