Back to Contents Page

Cable Connections: Dell® PowerEdge® Rack-Mountable Solutions Installation Guide

Overview | Safety Information | Connecting the Equipment

Overview

This file provides general instructions on connecting the power and data cables to the equipment in the rack.

Safety Information

When connecting equipment in the rack to a power source, Dell recommends that you follow these guidelines:

CAUTION: Ensure that the total power requirements of equipment in the rack (see Table 1, UPS Power Ratings) are distributed properly to avoid exceeding the 15-A rated capacity of each power strip.
WARNING: You must plug the power input cable of the UPS or power strip into a two-pole, three-wire grounding AC power outlet. Do not use an extension cable or adapter plug.
Table 1. UPS Power Ratings

Model

Output
Watts

Output
VA

Output Amps
at 120 VAC*

Power
Factor

Plug
APC 1400 RM 950 1400 7.9-11.6 0.7 NEMA 5-15P
APC 2200 RM 1600 2200 13.3-18.3 0.7 NEMA 5-20P
APC 3000 RM 2250 3000 18.7-24.9 0.7 NEMA L5-30P
* The power factor of a system determines how much output current is available from the UPS. If the system's power factor is greater than 0.90, use the lower output amp value for the UPS. If the system's power factor is 0.60 to 0.70, use the higher output amp value.

Connecting the Equipment

Refer to the following sections when connecting power and data cables to the equipment in the rack.

Preinstalled Cables for Servers and Storage Systems

If you are setting up a rack that has been preconfigured by Dell, the power and data cables for any servers puchased with the rack have been preinstalled on the cable-management arms in the rack. For identification purposes, each end of a double-ended cable (such as SCSI cables and serial cables leading from a computer to the switch box) is labeled with a matching number.

Cable Connections for the Switch Box

Follow these steps to connect the switch box to the servers in the rack:

  1. Connect the cables leading from the keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the switch box's back panel (see Figure 1, Back-Panel Connections for the Switch Box).

    Figure 1. Back-Panel Connections for the Switch Box

    Fig4-05.gif (11823 bytes)

    1

    		 video connector

    2

    		 keyboard connector

    3

    		 mouse connector

    4

    		 video, keyboard, and mouse connectors for up to eight systems
    Table 2. Back-Panel Connections for the Switch Box 
    Video one 15-pin connector
    PS/2-style keyboard nine 6-pin mini-DIN
    PS/2-compatible mouse nine 6-pin mini-DIN
  2. For each server in the rack, connect the server-to-switch-box interface cables to the appropriate keyboard, mouse, and video cable connectors on the server's back panel and the switch box's back panel.
    The keyboard cable is marked with a red arrow, whereas the mouse cable is marked with black arrows.
  3. Connect the switch-box power cable to a power source in the rack.

Cable Connections for the UPS

Figure 2. Typical UPS Back-Panel Cable Connections (APC 1400 RM Shown)

Fig4-06.gif (17360 bytes)

1

 serial connectors (3)

2

 output power receptacles (6)
Table 3. UPS Back-Panel Connectors 
Serial connector(s) 9-pin connector
Output power receptacles NEMA 5-15R
Power input connection:

APC 1400 RM

APC 2200 RM

APC 3000 RM

NEMA 5-15P

NEMA 5-20P

NEMA 5-30P

Cable Connections for the UPS Power Management Software

If you want to use the UPS power management software, connect the serial connector on the UPS back panel to the "master" computer that will control the UPS power management features. If a UPS interface card is installed in the UPS, connect any other protected computers or storage systems to the serial connectors on the UPS interface card.

Back to Contents Page