Intel RS3P4TF160F Installation manual

Delivering Breakthrough Data Center System Innovation –Experience What’s Inside!
Intel® RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and
RS3P4MF088F
Hardware User Guide
A document providing an overview of product features, specification data, and
hardware installation instructions.
Rev. 1.2
March 2022

Intel® RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F Hardware User Guide
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Intel® RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F Hardware User Guide
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Document Revision History
Date
Revision
Changes
April 2021
1.0
Initial release.
June 2021
1.1
•Added Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F.
•Removed support for the Intel® RAID Expander RES3FV288.
•Added support for the cable with iPN CYPCBLSLSLX8L.
•Added support for the kit cables with iPN CYPCBLSLHD.
•Removed limitation for SAS.SATA drive support at launch.
•Minor changes throughout the document for clarity.
March 2022
1.2
•Added support for the Intel® Server Systems R2000WF and R1000WF Families.
•Corrected cable names on figures 9 and 10.
•Removed safety page.
•Updated the safety and regulatory section.
•Added Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7 section.
•Updated link on product support collaterals section.
•Added more details on the connector type added in table 1 and figures.
•Corrected the backplane drawing on figure 10.
•Added the self-encrypting drive support section.
•Grammar and format edits throughout the document.

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Disclaimers
Intel technologies’ features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software, or service
activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your
system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at Intel.com.
No license (express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise) to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document.
Intel disclaims all express and implied warranties, including without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a
particular purpose, and non-infringement, as well as any warranty arising from course of performance, course of dealing, or usage in
trade.
The products and services described may contain defects or errors known as errata, which may cause deviations from published
specifications. Current characterized errata are available on request.
You may not use or facilitate the use of this document in connection with any infringement or other legal analysis concerning Intel
products described herein. You agree to grant Intel a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to any patent claim thereafter drafted which
includes subject matter disclosed herein.
Intel, the Intel logo, are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
© Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Intel® RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F Hardware User Guide
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Warnings
Heed safety instructions: Before working with your server product, whether you are using this guide or any
other resource as a reference, pay close attention to the safety instructions. You must adhere to the
assembly instructions in this guide to ensure and maintain compliance with existing product certifications
and approvals. Use only the described, regulated components specified in this guide. Use of other
products/components will void the UL listing and other regulatory approvals of the product and will most
likely result in noncompliance with product regulations in the region(s) in which the product is sold.
System power on/off: The power button DOES NOT turn off the system AC power. To remove all power
from the system, you must unplug the AC power cord from the electrical outlet. Make sure that the AC power
cord is unplugged before you open the chassis, add, or remove any components.
Hazardous conditions, devices, and cables: Hazardous electrical conditions may be present on power,
telephone, and communication cables. Turn off the server and disconnect the power cord,
telecommunications systems, networks, and modems attached to the server before opening it. Otherwise,
personal injury or equipment damage can result.
Installing or removing jumpers: A jumper is a small plastic-encased conductor that slips over two jumper
pins. Some jumpers have a small tab on top that you can grip with your fingertips or with a pair of fine needle
nosed pliers. If your jumpers do not have such a tab, take care when using needle-nosed pliers to remove or
install a jumper; grip the narrow sides of the jumper with the pliers, never the wide sides. Gripping the wide
sides can damage the contacts inside the jumper, causing intermittent problems with the function controlled
by that jumper. Take care to grip with, but not squeeze, the pliers or other tool you use to remove a jumper,
or you may bend or break the pins on the board.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) and ESD protection: ESD can damage disk drives, boards, and other parts. We
recommend that you perform all procedures in this chapter only at an ESD workstation. If one is not
available, provide some ESD protection by wearing an anti-static wrist strap attached to chassis ground, any
unpainted metal surface on your server when handling parts.
ESD and handling boards: Always handle boards carefully. They can be extremely sensitive to ESD. Hold
boards only by their edges. After removing a board from its protective wrapper or from the server, place the
board component side up on a grounded, static-free surface. Use a conductive foam pad if available but not
the board wrapper. Do not slide board over any surface.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................... 10
1.1 About this Document ...................................................................................................................................................10
1.1.1 Document Organization ..............................................................................................................................................10
1.2 Product Support Collaterals......................................................................................................................................10
2. Product Overview..................................................................................................................................................... 11
3. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters General Features ............................................................................................. 12
3.1 General Features Overview........................................................................................................................................12
3.2 SAS Interface ...................................................................................................................................................................12
3.2.1 SAS Features....................................................................................................................................................................12
3.2.2 SATA III Features.............................................................................................................................................................12
3.3 Non-Volatile Memory Express* (NVMe*) interface........................................................................................... 13
3.3.1 NVMe* Interface Features...........................................................................................................................................13
3.4Flexibility Features.........................................................................................................................................................13
3.4.1 Drive Roaming .................................................................................................................................................................13
3.4.2 Drive Migration................................................................................................................................................................ 13
3.5 Safety Characteristics...................................................................................................................................................14
3.6 Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters Feature Set........................................................................................................14
3.7 Secure Boot ...................................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.8 Data Protection Features ............................................................................................................................................15
3.8.1 Self-Encrypting Drive Support .................................................................................................................................15
3.9 Fault Tolerance Features.............................................................................................................................................16
3.10 Array Performance Features......................................................................................................................................16
3.11 Drive Support Limits .....................................................................................................................................................16
3.12 Over Temperature Protection...................................................................................................................................17
3.13 UART Interface ...............................................................................................................................................................17
3.14 Optional Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit (RMFBU)................................................................... 17
4. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters Detailed Characteristics................................................................................. 18
4.1 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Description................................................................................................18
4.1.1 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Dimensions...............................................................................................19
4.1.2 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Electrical, Thermal,
and Atmospheric Requirements.............................................................................................................................. 20
4.1.3 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Power Consumption............................................................................. 20
4.2 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Description ..............................................................................................21
4.2.1 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Dimensions..............................................................................................22
4.2.2 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Electrical, Thermal,
and Atmospheric Requirements.............................................................................................................................. 23
4.2.3 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Power Consumption............................................................................23

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5. Connectivity and Drive Support............................................................................................................................ 24
5.1 Connector Pinout........................................................................................................................................................... 24
5.2 SAS/SATA Drive Support............................................................................................................................................ 25
5.2.1 Intel® 12 Gb/s SAS 3.0 Expander Support........................................................................................................... 27
5.2.2 SAS Expander Configuration for the Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F.............................................. 28
5.3 NVMe* Drive Support ...................................................................................................................................................29
6. Hardware Installation .............................................................................................................................................. 31
6.1 Intel® RAID Adapter Installation............................................................................................................................... 32
6.1.1 Requirements...................................................................................................................................................................32
6.1.2 Packing List.......................................................................................................................................................................32
6.1.3 Installation Instructions...............................................................................................................................................32
7. Safety and Regulatory (Class A) ............................................................................................................................ 35
7.1 Product Safety Compliance .......................................................................................................................................35
7.1.1 USA / Canada Safety (UL-Listed) .............................................................................................................................35
7.1.2 CB Scheme Safety..........................................................................................................................................................35
7.1.3 Taiwan (BSMI) ..................................................................................................................................................................35
7.1.4 Morocco (CMIM)..............................................................................................................................................................35
7.2 Product EMC Compliance –Class A Compliance..............................................................................................35
7.2.1 USA / Canada (FCC).......................................................................................................................................................35
7.2.2 CB Scheme Safety..........................................................................................................................................................36
7.2.3 KC Certification (Korea)................................................................................................................................................36
7.2.4 VCCI Emissions (Japan) ............................................................................................................................................... 36
7.2.5 Australia and New Zealand RCM.............................................................................................................................. 36
7.3 Product Environmental Compliance...................................................................................................................... 36
8. Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7 ........................................................................................ 37
8.1 Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7 .......................................................................................37
8.2 FBU345 Specifications and Layout......................................................................................................................... 37
8.2.1 Extender Cable ................................................................................................................................................................ 39
8.3 Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit Installation................................................................................. 39
8.3.1 Super Cap Assembly into the Holder .................................................................................................................... 39
8.3.2 Super Cap Assembly Installation in the
Intel® Server System M50CYP2UR’s Server Chassis ....................................................................................... 40
8.4 Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) in the
Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7........................................................................................ 42
8.5 Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit Monitoring................................................................................. 42
8.5.1 How to use the Human Interface Infrastructure to Monitor the RMFBU ................................................43
Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 46

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List of Figures
Figure 1. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Layout .................................................................................................................18
Figure 2. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Dimensions.......................................................................................................19
Figure 3. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Layout ................................................................................................................ 21
Figure 4. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Dimensions...................................................................................................... 22
Figure 5. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F’s SFF-8654 Connector.................................................................................24
Figure 6. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Card Connection to the
2U Intel® Server System M50CYP’s Backplane for SAS/SATA Drives..............................................................26
Figure 7. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Card Connection to the
Intel® Server System R2000WFR’s Backplane ........................................................................................................... 27
Figure 8. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F SAS Port Domain Identification ...............................................................28
Figure 9. SAS Ports for the RES3TV360 .......................................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 10. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Card Connection to the
2U Intel® Server System M50CYP’s Backplane .......................................................................................................29
Figure 11. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Card Connection to the
1U Intel® Server System M50CYP’s Backplane.......................................................................................................30
Figure 12. RAID Adapter Card Installation (Riser Card Assembly Removal)..................................................................... 32
Figure 13. RAID Adapter Installation (Insert Adapter in Slot).................................................................................................33
Figure 14. RAID Adapter Card Installation (Riser Card Assembly Installation)................................................................33
Figure 15. FBU345 Layout.....................................................................................................................................................................38
Figure 16. Extender Cable Pinout....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Figure 17. Latch Installation on the Plastic Case .........................................................................................................................39
Figure 18. Super Cap Bank Insertion ................................................................................................................................................ 40
Figure 19. Installation on the Server Chassis ................................................................................................................................ 40
Figure 20. Installation on the Air Duct..............................................................................................................................................41
Figure 21. Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7 Connection to the
Intel® RAID Adapter.............................................................................................................................................................42
Figure 22. HII Dashboard View Screen.............................................................................................................................................43
Figure 23. HII Hardware Components Screen............................................................................................................................... 44
Figure 24. HII Battery Management Screen....................................................................................................................................44
Figure 25. HII Advanced Battery Management Screen..............................................................................................................45

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List of Tables
Table 1. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapter Feature Set ...................................................................................................................14
Table 2. Data Protection Features...................................................................................................................................................... 15
Table 3. Fault-Tolerant Features ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Table 4. Array Performance Features............................................................................................................................................... 16
Table 5. SAS/SATA Drive Support Limits........................................................................................................................................16
Table 6. UART Connector Pinout........................................................................................................................................................17
Table 7. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Power Consumption ......................................................................................20
Table 8. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F Consumption....................................................................................................23
Table 9. SFF-8654 Connector Pinout...............................................................................................................................................25
Table 10. Supported Intel® Storage Expander Options............................................................................................................ 27
Table 11. FBU345 Specifications ....................................................................................................................................................... 37
Table 12. FBU345 Dimensions............................................................................................................................................................38
Table 13. Pin Description.......................................................................................................................................................................38
Table 14. MTBF Information Calculated at Different Temperatures for the
Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit ...............................................................................................................42
Table 15. Battery Management........................................................................................................................................................... 45
Table 16. Battery Management Information Screen Information.........................................................................................45

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1. Introduction
1.1 About this Document
RAID stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks. This document provides an overview of product
features, specification data, and hardware installation instructions for the Intel® RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F
and RS3P4MF088F.
1.1.1 Document Organization
This document includes the following chapters and appendix:
•Introduction. Reference documents and online articles available.
•Product Overview. A product overview of the features set and support specifications.
•Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters General Features. A description of the features that are common for
the products covered by this user guide.
•Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters Detailed Characteristics. Details on the characteristics for each of the
products covered by this user guide.
•Connectivity and Drive Support. Description of what drives are supported by the products covered by
this user guide and the way to connect them.
•Hardware Installation. Support for the installation of these RAID adapters on the Intel server systems
in these products are supported.
•Safety and Regulatory (Class A). Lisf of individual component-level certifications with which the Intel
RAID products comply.
•Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup AXXRMFBU7. Details of the Intel RAID Maintenance Free
Backup AXXRMFBU7 accessory option.
•Appendix A. Glossary. Definitions for specialized concepts and acronyms used in this user guide.
1.2 Product Support Collaterals
The following document is available for download and is useful for setting up and using the Intel RAID
adapters described in this user guide.
Document Title
Description
Intel® RAID Software User Guide for full
featured and entry-level RAID
controllers
This document provides information on RAID card setup and usage of the supported
RAID utility software.
Available for download at:
•https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005760/server-
products/sasraid.html.
In addition to this user guide, Intel provides documentation, device driver updates, and utilities that may be
necessary and/or useful for operation and support of this product. Additional product support collaterals
can be downloaded from the following Intel webpages:
For general Intel RAID product documentation, hardware and software user guides, go to the Intel webpage:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000055582/server-products/sasraid.html.
For Intel RAID product warranty information, firmware, device drivers, configuring and troubleshooting
guides, go to the Intel webpage: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/raid-bios-
firmware.html.

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2. Product Overview
The Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F are part of the second generation of tri-mode
Intel RAID adapters. This new generation provides the capability of creating RAID configurations with Serial
Attached SCSI (SAS) drives and/or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) drives, and/or
Non-Volatile Memory Express* (NVMe*) drives, with a x8 Peripheral Component Interconnect Express*
(PCIe*) 4.0 host interface.
The Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F are high-performance, intelligent adapters with
RAID control capability. They provide reliability, high-performance, and fault-tolerant drive subsystem
management. Secure boot is another new feature, which increases security since it allows only authenticated
firmware to execute on the adapter.
To address the needs for internal and external drive connectivity solutions, two tri-mode Intel RAID adapters for
PCIe 4.0 are available:
•Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F –Full featured tri-mode RAID adapter with 16 internal ports
•Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F –Full featured tri-mode RAID adapter with 8 internal and 8
external ports
Note: The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters are designed to work on systems configured for optimized UEFI boot
mode. No built-in configuration utility exists for these adapters when the system is configured for legacy
boot mode. No boot support is available if used on systems configured for legacy boot mode.
The Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F include a SAS interface and an NVMe interface.
Both share the SFF-8654 8i connector by multiplexing the data and sideband signals. Compared with the
previous generation of Intel RAID adapters, the new tri-mode family offers increased performance by
reducing latency, reducing power consumption, increasing IOPS, increasing queue depth, and increasing
cache memory.
Additionally, the new PCIe 4.0 interface doubles the host bandwidth. It offers a variety of NVMe drive
configurations, including direct attach, through switch, x4 and x2 connections; also support for common
clock and SRIS NVMe type drives.
Although the Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F can be installed on many different
server systems, these were designed for the Intel® Server System M50CYP and the Intel® Server Systems
R2000WF and R1000WF Families. This guide refers to these specific server systems.
Notes:
•On the Intel Server System M50CYP (at launch), only x4 common clock direct-attach NVMe drives are
supported.
•On the Intel Server Systems R2000WF and R1000WF Families, only the SAS and SATA drives are
supported.

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3. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters General Features
3.1 General Features Overview
The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters offer interfaces for SAS and for a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe). By
using the proper cables, it is possible to connect NVMe-only drives, SAS / SATA drives, or a mix of them.
3.2 SAS Interface
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a point-to-point, enterprise-level device interface that leverages the proven
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol set. SAS is a convergence of the advantages of Serial
Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), SCSI, and fiber channel, combined with the mainstay of the
enterprise and high-end workstation storage markets.
The SAS interface uses the SCSI commands set to ensure reliable data transfers while providing the
connectivity and flexibility of point-to-pointserial data transfers. The serial transmission of SCSI commands
eliminates clock skew challenges. Compared to the original parallel SCSI, the SAS interface provides
improved performance, simplified cabling, smaller connectors, and lower pin count and power requirements.
SAS adapters leverage a common electrical and physical connection interface that is compatible with SATA
technology. The SAS protocols and the SATA III protocols use a common thin, 7-wire connector. The SAS /
SATA III connector and cable are easier to manipulate, allow connections to smaller devices, and do not inhibit
airflow. The point-to-point SATA III architecture eliminates inherent difficulties created by the legacy ATA
primary / secondary architecture while maintaining compatibility with existing ATA firmware.
The support for SAS drives is automatic, the controller detects the drive type, there is no need to switch
profiles or IDs.
3.2.1 SAS Features
The characteristics of the SAS interface are:
•SAS interface supports the following:
o12 Gb/s, 6 Gb/s, and 3 Gb/s SAS data transfers per PHY.
oSMP communicating topology management information.
oSSP-enabling communication with other SAS devices.
oSTP-enabling communication with SATA devices through an attached expander.
•Provides a serial, point-to-point, enterprise-level storage interface.
•Simplifies cabling between devices.
•Provides a scalable interface that supports up to 240 devices using expanders.
•Supports x2 through x8 wide ports that consist of two, four, or eight PHYs within a single port.
•Supports narrow ports consisting of a single PHY.
•Transfers data by using SCSI information units.
3.2.2 SATA III Features
The SAS interface is compatible with SATA and it has the following characteristics:
•Supports the following:
oSATA III data transfers up to 6 Gb/s.
oSTP data transfers up to 6 Gb/s.
•Provides a serial, point-to-point storage interface.
•Simplifies cabling between devices.
•Eliminates the primary / secondary construction used in parallel ATA.
•Permits addressing of multiple SATA targets through an expander.

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3.3 Non-Volatile Memory Express* (NVMe*) interface
NVMe is a storage protocol created to accelerate the transfer of data with solid-state drives (SSDs) by using
multiple PCIe connections. Benefits are increased bandwidth (up to 8 Gb/s per lane), lower latency, increased
efficiency, lower CPU utilization with multiple long command queues, and lower power requirements.
The support for NVMe drives is automatic, the controller detects the drive type, there is no need to switch
profiles or IDs.
3.3.1 NVMe* Interface Features
The NVMe drive interface has the following characteristics.
•Supports the following:
oData transfers of 16 Gb/s per lane (64 Gb/s when 4 PCIe lanes are being used).
oPCI Bus Power Management Interface Specification (revision 1.2).
oActive state power management, states, by placing links in a power-saving mode during times
of no link activity.
•Supports PCIe hot plug.
•Supports error handling.
•Provides high bandwidth per pin with low overhead and low latency.
•Supports lane reversal and polarity inversion.
•Two or four PCIe lanes per drive.
•Common clock and SRIS drive support.
3.4 Flexibility Features
The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters have the next flexibility characteristics.
3.4.1 Drive Roaming
Drive roaming occurs when, once a VD is already set up, some or all the drives that are part of this VD are
manually changed to different ports on the same adapter. When this happens, the adapter detects the RAID
configuration from the configuration data onthe drives.
Configuration data is saved in both the NVRAM on the RAID adapter and on the drives attached to the
adapter. This feature maintains the integrity of the data on each drive, even if the drives have changed their
physical device ID. More information on how to use the drive roaming feature can be found on the Intel® RAID
Software User Guide for full featured and entry-level RAID controllers.
3.4.2 Drive Migration
The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters allow to move one VD from one adapter to another, this is called drive
migration. In other words, drive migration is the transfer of a set of drives in an existing configuration from
one adapter to another. To achieve this, these conditions must be met:
1. If the source and the destination RAID controllers do not belong to the same family generation, only
forward compatibility is allowed. Meaning, the destination RAID controller must be of the same family
as the source or newer.
2. The destination RAID controller cannot have an existing RAID configuration.
3. To keep migrated VD consistent (given that it was consistent before the migration), the VD must be
set to hidden before the migration.
More information on how to use the drive migration feature can be found on the Intel® RAID Software User
Guide for full featured and entry-level RAID controllers.

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3.5 Safety Characteristics
All the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters meet or exceed the requirements of UL flammability rating 94 V0. Each
baseboard is also marked with the supplier’s name or trademark, type, and UL flammability rating.
3.6 Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters Feature Set
The following table describes the feature set of the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters.
Table 1. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapter Feature Set
Feature
Intel® RAID Adapter
RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID Adapter
RS3P4MF088F
I/O processor
Broadcom* SAS3916 PCIe
RAID on-Chip (ROC)
Broadcom SAS3916 PCIe
RAID On-Chip (ROC)
RAID levels
0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60
0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60
JBOD mode or pass-thru mode (SAS / SATA)
Yes
Yes
Cache memory
8 GB DDR4 at 2133 MHz
8 GB DDR4 at 2133 MHz
Form factor
MD2 (PCIe card)
MD2 (PCIe card)
Drive interface connectors
2 internal SFF-8654 female
(SlimSAS* 8i)
1 internal SFF-8654 female
(SlimSAS 8i),
2 external SFF-8644 female
PCI Express* interface
x8 PCIe 4.0.
PCIe performance up to 16
GT/s per lane.
x8 PCIe 4.0.
PCIe performance up to 16
GT/s per lane.
Data transfer rates
12, 6, and 3 Gbps per port
SAS, 6 and 3 Gbps per port
SATA and 16 Gbps per lane
NVMe
12, 6, and 3 Gbps per port
SAS, 6 and 3 Gbps per port
SATA and 16 Gbps per lane
NVMe
Maximum operating temperature
(chassis internal)
55 °C
55 °C
Operating system
Microsoft Windows*, Linux*
(SUSE*, Red Hat*)
Microsoft Windows, Linux
(SUSE, Red Hat)
Drive types
SAS, SATA, NVMe
SAS, SATA, NVMe
Maximum direct-attach NVMe* drives supported
4
03
Maximum NVMe* drives supported through switches2
24
24
Maximum SAS / SATA devices supported1
240
240
Maximum virtual drives
64
64
Advanced array configuration and management utilities
Yes
Yes
Support for global hot spares and dedicated hot spares
Yes
Yes
Support for user-defined strip sizes: 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 KB
Yes
Yes
Advanced array configuration and management utilities offer
these capabilities:
•Online capacity expansion
•Online RAID level migration
•Drive migration
•Drive roaming
•No reboot necessary after expansion
•Media scan
Yes
Yes
User-specified rebuild rate (specifying the percentage of system
resources to use from 0% to 100%)
Yes
Yes
Non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) of 32 KB for storing
RAID system configuration information; the MegaRAID* SAS
firmware is stored in flash ROM for easy upgrade.
Yes
Yes
Support for Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit (RMFBU).
Used to save RAID cache if an unexpected power loss occurs.
Yes
Intel accessory AXXRMFBU7
(option)
Yes
Intel accessory AXXRMFBU7
(option)
Self-encrypting drive support, SAS and SATA
TCG Enterprise only
TCG Enterprise only
Self-encrypting drive support, NVMe*
TCG Enterprise and OPAL
TCG Enterprise and OPAL
SSD cache support
No
No

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Feature
Intel® RAID Adapter
RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID Adapter
RS3P4MF088F
Snapshot recovery
No
No
Audible alarm for failure alert
No
No
MTBF(hours)
>3,000,000
>3,000,000
Standard warranty
3 years, AWR options
3 years, AWR options
Notes: 1Devices include drives and expanders. Drives on dual-ported backplanes count twice. 2This feature is not supported at
launch. 3Due to NVMe clocking requirements, two cables must be connected between the RAID adapter and the backplane. Since
this adapter only has one internal connector, x4 direct-attach NVMe drives are not supported.
3.7 Secure Boot
The Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F include a hardware secure boot feature. This
provides advanced security, allowing only authenticated firmware to be executed. Intel provides the signed
firmware images using hardware secure boot transparent to customers, while providing confidence in the
security.
3.8 Data Protection Features
The next table describes the data protection features of the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters.
Table 2. Data Protection Features
Feature
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4MF088F
Online capacity extension
Yes
Yes
Distributed sparing
Yes
Yes
Background consistency checking
Yes
Yes
Patrol read for media functionality
Yes
Yes
SMART support
Yes
Yes
Enclosure management
Yes
Yes
RAID support before operating system loaded
Yes
Yes
Write back cache with optional protection
Yes
Yes
Intel® RAID management software
Yes
Yes
Hot-spare support, global and dedicated
Yes
Yes
Self-encrypting drive (SED) support
Yes1
Yes1
Note: 1This is a built-in feature, PFK is not required.
3.8.1 Self-Encrypting Drive Support
The Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F include support for self-encrypting drive (SED),
which provides protection for data at rest. This support is built-in and does not require to install any keys
(PFK) to enable it.
The SED support for SAS and SATA drives is only for drives compliant with the TCG Enterprise Storage
Security Subsystem Class. The SED support for NVMe drives is for drives compliant with the TCG Enterprise
or the OPAL Storage Security Subsystem Class.
Consult with the drive manufacturer the TCG Storage Subsystem Class for the drives to make sure it is
compatible.

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3.9 Fault Tolerance Features
The next table describes the fault-tolerant features of the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters.
Table 3. Fault-Tolerant Features
Specification
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4MF088F
Support for SMART1
Yes
Yes
Drive failure detection
Automatic
Automatic
Drive rebuilt using hot spares
Automatic
Automatic
Parity generation and checking
Yes
Yes
Note: 1 The self-monitoring analysis and reporting technology (SMART) detects up to 70% of all predictable drive failures. In addition,
SMART monitors the internal performance of all motors, heads, and drive electronics.
3.10 Array Performance Features
The next table describes the array performance features of the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters.
Table 4. Array Performance Features
Specification
Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4MF088F
PCIe* host data transfer rate
16 GT/s per lane
16 GT/s per lane
Drive data transfer rate
12, 6, 3 Gb/s (SAS)
6,3,1.5 Gb/s (SATA)
16 Gb/s per lane (NVMe)
12, 6, 3 Gb/s (SAS)
6,3,1.5 Gb/s (SATA)
16 Gb/s per lane (NVMe)
Maximum scatter / gather I/O
80 elements
80 elements
Maximum size of I/O requests
6.4 MB in 64-KB strips
6.4 MB in 64-KB strips
Maximum queue tags per drive
As many as the drive can accept
As many as the drive can accept
Strip sizes
64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, or 1 MB
64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, or 1 MB
3.11 Drive Support Limits
The next table describes the SAS / SATA drive support limits of the tri-mode Intel RAID adapters.
Table 5. SAS / SATA Drive Support Limits
Specification
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4TF160F
Intel® RAID
Adapter
RS3P4MF088F
Maximum virtual drives per adapter
240
240
Maximum drive groups per adapter
240
240
Maximum virtual drives per drive group
16
16
Maximum drives per drive group
32
32
Maximum physical devices per adapter
240
240
Maximum hot spares per adapter
64
64
Maximum spans per virtual drive
8
8
Maximum enclosures
16
16

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3.12 Over Temperature Protection
The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters are designed to operate at a maximum internal chassis temperature of
55 °C, with a minimum of 200 LFM airflow. This ensures that the internal ROC IC operates at less than 105 °C.
If for any reason there’s an overheating, the internal ROC overtemperature protection circuitry operates as
described next:
•If the ROC reaches 110 °C, the overtemperature LED is turned on, I/O is throttled and the event
“MR_EVT_CTRL_TEMP_ABOVE_OPTIMAL_RANGE” is registered in the adapter’s log.
•If the ROC temperature goes down below 105 °C (mostly due to I/O throttling), the over temperature LED
is turned off. The event “MR_EVT_CTRL_TEMP_WITHIN_OPTIMAL_RANGE” is registered in the adapter’s
log and I/O throttling is turned off.
•If the ROC reaches 116 °C, the overtemperature LED continues to light, I/O continues to throttle, the
event “MR_EVT_CTRL_TEMP_CRITICAL” is registered in the adapter’s log. Then, after 10 seconds of
operation, the cache is flushed, pending I/Os are completed and the ROC enters the “Montask” state, in
which state all I/Os stop except through the UART debugging interface.
3.13 UART Interface
The tri-mode Intel RAID adapters include a UART interface for special debugging purposes. The UART
connector debug port requires a special cable and Intel support to gather detailed ROC / IOC status. The
UART connector uses the layout shown in the following table.
Table 6. UART Connector Pinout
Pin
Function
11
UART_TX
2
Gnd
3
UART_RX
4
1.8 V
Note 1: Pin 1 has a square solder mask, while the other pins have a round solder mask.
The default communication parameters are 921,600 b/s, 8-bit characters, no parity bit, one stop bit, and no
XON / XOFF flow control.
3.14 Optional Intel® RAID Maintenance Free Backup Unit (RMFBU)
To protect the integrity of cached data on the Intel RAID adapter during a power loss event, the tri-mode
Intel RAID Adapters RS3P4TF160F and RS3P4MF088F support the Intel Maintenance Free Backup Unit
AXXRMFBU7 accessory kit (also referred to as RMFBU in this document). During a power loss event, this
optional accessory provides back-up power to the Intel RAID adapter, allowing the adapter to offload the
data stored in the onboard cache to its onboard non-volatile NAND flash.
Benefits of the RMFBU option include:
•Capacitor technology has a longer usable life span than batteries; also, reduces maintenance and
replacement costs.
•Capacitors do not have the chemical volatility of batteries, which carry a risk of exothermic events.
•RMFBU options do not require the comprehensive certifications needed for batteries for import and
export.
•The RMFBU can constantly maintain the RAID volume in write-back mode even when doing learn
cycles.
•The recharge rate of the super capacitor is minutes as compared to hours for a battery.
See Chapter 8 for additional RMFBU information.

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4. Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Adapters Detailed Characteristics
4.1 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Description
The Intel RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F is a full featured tri-mode RAID adapter with 16 internal ports based
on the Broadcom* SAS3916 RAID-on-chip (ROC). It supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60; it includes
8 GB of 72-bit cache memory DDR4 at 2133 MHz.
It has an x8 PCI Express (PCIe) 4.0. PCIe interface and it supports up to 240 physical SAS / SATA devices, and
up to 240 virtual drives. It also supports up to 4 direct attach Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drives.
The next figures describe the connectors for this adapter.
Note: Physical SAS / SATA devices include expanders and, if dual-ported backplanes are being used, each
drive counts twice.
Front side
Back side
Figure 1. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Layout

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4.1.1 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Dimensions
The next figure shows the Intel RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F dimensions in millimeters, without the PCI
bracket.
Figure 2. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Dimensions

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4.1.2 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Electrical, Thermal, and Atmospheric Requirements
List of operating conditions for the Intel RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F:
•Power supply voltage at the 12V rail (from PCI edge connector): 12 V ± 8%.
•Power supply voltage at the 3.3V rail (from PCI edge connector): 3.3 V ± 9%.
•Relative humidity range is 5% to 90% non-condensing.
•Temperature range is 0 °C to +55 °C (with or without the RMFBU adapter attached).
The following list shows the non-operating conditions (while in storage or in transit) for the Intel RAID
Adapter RS3P4TF160F:
•Relative humidity range is 5 % to 95% non-condensing.
•Temperature range is -45 °C to +105 °C without backup battery unit.
•Temperature range is 0 °C to +70 °C with backup battery unit.
4.1.3 Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Power Consumption
The following table describes the power consumption of the Intel RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F under the
following states:
•State 1: While sitting idle at the EFI shell.
•State 2: During a drive stress test.
Table 7. Intel® RAID Adapter RS3P4TF160F Power Consumption
Power Mode
State 1
State 2
Typical
Typical
RMFBU Learn
3.3 V supply
0.01 W
0.22 W
6 W
+ 12 supply
10.76 W
15.56 W
Total power
10.77 W
15.78 W
6 W