Installation Guide for Lenovo models including: ThinkStation P2 Gen 2 Tower PC, ThinkStation P2, Gen 2 Tower PC, Tower PC
zhuzheng@lenovo.com
Storage Configurator
[PDF] Storage Configurator - Lenovo
In the “Storage Setup” menu, select “Configure Storage as” and change or verify the option is set to “RAID”. Notes: In order to Secure Erase any drives, the ' ...
Storage Configurator
Lenovo ThinkStation P2 Tower Gen 2
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Table of Contents
Overview...................................................................................................................... 3 Section 1 Installing NVMe Devices in P2 Tower Gen 2 ............................................. 5 Section 2 Installing SATA Drives in P2 Tower Gen 2 ...............................................12 Section 3 RAID Levels .............................................................................................19 Section 4 Configuring RAID .....................................................................................20 Section 5 Appendix ..................................................................................................31 Section 6 Document Revision History ......................................................................34
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Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for users on how to optimally configure the system storage in the ThinkStation P2 Tower Gen 2 platform to ensure proper functionality.
Below is a table showing the supported drive types within P2 Tower Gen 2.
Table 1 P2 Tower Gen 2 Storage Support
Component Type:
M.2 NVMe
SATA
Total Max QTY:
Supported, Max QTY: 4 Supported, Max QTY: 4
Maximum Notes:
Maximum 3 PCS M.2 Onboard Slot and 1 PCS M.2 VIA the PCIe to M.2 AIC Adapter.
Maximum 2 PCS 3.5-inch HDD and one 2.5inch Driver and one Slim ODD Support.
Max quantity varies by configuration. See Section 1 & Section 2 for more information.
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The following sections give detailed instructions on the installation of M.2 NVMe and SATA drives, as well as providing part numbers for the required components needed for proper installation.
Table 2 P2 Tower Gen 2 Storage Driver Support
Component Type:
M.2 Gen5 M.2 Gen4 M.2 Gen3 AIC HDD (3.5) FASE HDD HDD (3.5) +FASE HDD
ODD HDD (3.5) +ODD
Total Max QTY: 1* 2 1 2 1 2 1 3
Total Max QTY 3 slot wide GPU*:
1* 2 1 1 **1 Limited support **1 Limited support 1 ***3 Limited support
* Onboard Gen 5 slot only qualified for Gen4 drives at this time. Shipped with Gen 4 SSD.
** A triple-slot GPU (e.g., Nvidia RTX 5070) occupies three physical PCIe slots. When paired with a 125W CPU and a 27L CPU cooler, there is insufficient space to install the FASE.
*** A triple-slot GPU (e.g., Nvidia RTX 5070) occupies three physical PCIe slots. When paired with a 125W CPU and a 27L CPU cooler, there is insufficient space to install second 3.5 HDD bay.
P2 Tower Gen 2, support RAID levels 0 & 1& 5 for onboard NVMe drives.
P2 Tower Gen 2 can support Raid levels 0 or 1 for SATA HDD (3.5) drives depending on system configuration.
RAID configurations and setup instructions are discussed in Section 3 and Section 4.
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Section 1 Installing NVMe Devices in P2 Tower Gen 2
The following section describes the steps to installing storage drives for the P2 Tower Gen 2.
The M.2 NVMe drives may use the dedicated PCIe Gen 5 M.2 Slot 1 &PCIe Gen 4 (M.2 Slot 2&3) capable onboard M.2 slots or use a Gen 3 PCIe M.2 Add-In Card (AIC) in PCIe Slot 3.
Table 3 P2 Tower Gen 2 M.2 by Slot Support
Supported M.2 SSD SSD by Slot
M.2 Slot 1 M.2 Slot 2 and M.2 Slot 3 AIC M.2 Adapter in PCIe Slot
Supported M.2 SSD type:
2280 Gen 4/5 M.2 SSD (Single-Sided)
2280 Gen 4 M.2 SSD(Single-Sided) 2280 Gen 3 M.2 SSD(Single-Sided)
P2 Tower Gen 2 supports up to two double-sided 4TB M.2 2280 drives in the onboard slots and up to one single-sided 2TB M.2 2280 in the AIC.
The P2 Tower Gen 2 chassis has the ability to mount M.2 2242 drives, all Lenovo supported M.2 drives for P2 Tower are 2280.
Figure 1 P2 Tower Gen 2 Motherboard Diagram with NVMe Locations
M.2 AIC Adapter
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Figure 2 P2 Tower Gen 2 Chassis with NVMe Locations
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For M.2 NVMe drives in the onboard M.2 slots: Steps to remove the onboard M.2 SSD. For computers with the heat sink for the On-board M.2 slot 1 SSD.
For computers with the heat sink for the on-Board M.2 slot 2 & 3 SSD
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1. Remove the film that covers the thermal pad on the carrier, if any. Then, install the M.2 solid-state drive by sliding the drive in the carrier.
2. Remove the film that covers the thermal pad at the bottom of the heat sink, if any. Then, install the heat sink onto the M.2 drive in the bracket.
3. If not already present, install the M.2 drive bracket into the system.
4. Install the heat sink with the bracket into the system. 8
5. Insert the stopper.
Note: P2 Tower systems come equipped with only the necessary onboard M.2 parts required for the configuration when it was originally ordered from Lenovo. Adding an M.2 drive to an open onboard slot requires the option kit 4XF1C39743, which includes the heatsink assembly and stopper seen in the instructions above.
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For M.2 NVMe drives installed in the PCIe Add-in Card (AIC): 1. Ensure that a thermal pad is placed in position on the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter.
2. Insert the new M.2 solid-state drive into the M.2 slot. Then, insert the plug of the retention latch into the hole to secure the new drive.
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3. Position the heat sink on the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter. Ensure that the two mounting studs in the heat sink are aligned with the holes in the M.2 solid-state drive PCIe adapter. Then, push the mounting studs downward to secure the heat sink to the adapter.
Note: The M.2 NVMe Add-in Card's option part number is 4XH0L08578. This kit will include the add-in card, thermal pad, and heatsink.
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Section 2 Installing SATA Drives in P2 Tower Gen 2
The ThinkStation P2 Tower Gen 2 can hold a maximum of four SATA drives. The P2 Tower Gen 2 motherboard has four SATA port connections, labelled SATA 1, SATA 2, SATA 3, and SATA 4 (eSATA) in the order they show up in the system BIOS.
Figure 3 P2 Tower Gen 2 Motherboard with SATA ports Locations Callouts
Figure 4 P2 Tower Gen 2 Storage location layout
1 Slim optical drive 12
2 Flex bay (optional) to install a 3.5" secondary storage drive cage or a 3.5" front-access storage enclosure (FASE) 4 Media Card slot 5 Two M.2 solid-state drive slots 6 3.5" storage drive 7 2.5" First (optional) storage drive cage 8 PCIe slot 16x 1x 4x 1x Note 1: When adding additional drives after purchase, additional parts will likely be required such as, Add-In-Cards, enclosures, and cables. See Appendix Note 2: If the unit was purchased without a slim ODD, FASE, 2nd 3.5" HDD, or 2nd 2.5" drive, then the slim ODD bracket will not be present. Users wishing to add any of those components will need to purchase the option kit for the device to be added, as well as the option kit for the slim ODD bracket in order to complete the installation. (see Appendix).
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Removal and installation of the Slim ODD: 1. Remove the side cover
2. Disconnect the signal and power cable from the slim optical drive.
Note: To install a new slim optical drive, if there is a plastic shield in the front bezel, remove the plastic shield first as shown.
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Slim-optical-drive cage
For access, do the following: Remove these parts in order, if any: 1. "Computer cover" 2. "Slim optical drive" 3. "Front bezel"
Disconnect the signal cable and power cable (if any) from the secondary storage drive under the slim- optical-drive.
Front bezel
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Removal and installation SATA Drives:
Removal steps of the 3.5-inch primary storage drive and bracket 1. Remove the "Computer cover" 2. Disconnect the signal cable and the power cable from the 3.5-inch primary storage
drive. 3. Remove the 3.5-inch primary storage drive and bracket.
3.5-inch primary storage drive cage
Removal and installation of the Secondary storage drives: Disconnect power and data cables from the drive. Push on the marked lever on the rear of the drive cage and lift out of the chassis. Replace the internal storage drive only for upgrade or repair. The internal storage drive is not designed for frequent changes or replacement. 16
Before replacing the internal storage drive, make a backup copy of all the data that you want to keep.
Note: Do not touch the contact edge of the internal storage drive. Otherwise, the internal storage drive might get damaged. Do not apply pressure to the internal storage drive. Do not make the internal storage drive subject to physical shocks or vibration. Put the internal storage drive on a soft material, such as cloth, to absorb physical shocks.
Removal steps of the 3.5-inch secondary storage drive, plastic bracket, and cage
Storage drive in the front-access storage enclosure
The storage drive in the front-access storage enclosure is hot-swappable only when the following requirements are met:
The eSATA mode of the SATA 4 connector is enabled in BIOS by doing the following: 1. Restart the computer. When the logo screen is displayed, press F1 or Fn+F1. 2. Select Devices ATA Drive Setup SATA Drive 4 Hot-Plug Support and press Enter. 3. Select Enabled and press Enter. 4. Press F10 or Fn+F10 to save the changes and exit. 5. The SATA cable of the front-access storage enclosure is connected to the SATA 4 connector on the system board.
The operating system of your computer does not reside on the storage drive installed in the front-access storage enclosure.
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Note: If any of the above requirements are not met, do not install or replace the storage drive when the computer is turned on. Otherwise, data on the storage drive might get Corrupted or lost. Removal steps for the 3.5-inch storage drive Note: Before removing an old 3.5-inch storage drive, safely eject the old storage drive from the operating system first.
Below are some important notes about SATA drive capabilities in P2 Tower Gen 2 : The ability to maximize the number of SATA drives is dependent upon using a "3rd HDD enclosure" or "Front-Access Storage Enclosure" (FASE), depending on CPU SKU and fan cooler (See Table 2 ).
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Section 3 RAID Levels
Note:
· Before creating or altering a RAID config, always backup important data to an external location to prevent accidental data loss.
· A given array should not mix drive types or logical sizes. It is recommended to only use drives officially supported by Lenovo for the given platform.
· Each RAID level requires a certain minimum and or maximum number of drives. If altering the system storage devices after purchase or a previous configuration, it will be necessary to verify the proper types and number of devices for a desired RAID configuration have been installed. Altering or creating an array may require any existing OS to be reinstalled.
· P2 Tower Gen 2 utilizes Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) for configuring RAID.
P2 Tower Gen 2:
· There are no add-in HW RAID controllers certified on this platform. · At the time of writing, the following drive quantities are supported for the
respective SATA RAID levels: o RAID 0 & RAID 1 - Two SATA drives
· Only drives in the Three onboard M.2 slots can be utilized together in a RAID configuration. RAID configurations utilizing both onboard and AIC M.2 drives are not supported.
The table below shows various RAID levels supported on each P2 Tower Gen 2
Table 4 P2 Tower Gen 2 RAID Capabilities
System P2 Tower Gen 2
Max # of RAIDable M.2 NVMe Drives 4*
M.2 NVMe RAID Levels
0,1,5
Max # of RAIDable SATA Drives 2
SATA RAID Levels
0,1,
* M.2 2280 sized drives from being installed in the 3 onboard M.2 slots, 4th M.2 (installed in an add-in card).
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Section 4 Configuring RAID
Please refer to the following steps to configure RAID for both NVMe and SATA drives. Examples may show configurations that are not possible on all systems. Backup any important data before editing RAID configurations!
1. Boot into the BIOS by pressing the function F1 key at the "Lenovo" splash screen.
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2. Select "System Summary" and scroll down to verify BIOS is recognizing all the drives installed in the system.
Note: From this point forward, the examples will utilize the M.2 NVMe drives. The process is the same for both drive types.
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3. Select the "Devices" menu at the BIOS main screen setup utility and then select "Storage Setup".
4. In the "Storage Setup" menu, select "Configure Storage as" and change or verify the option is set to "RAID".
Notes: In order to Secure Erase any drives, the `Configure Storage as' option must be set to `AHCI' mode. Changing storage modes may cause issues with boot OS and data on existing drives.
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5. When selecting to enable RAID the system will prompt a warning that changing the setting may result in the failure of the system to boot. Select "Yes" to continue.
6. Press F10 to save and Exit BIOS setup.
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7. As the system reboots, press the function F1 key at the Lenovo splash screen to enter the BIOS setup. Select the "Devices" menu at the BIOS main screen setup utility and then "Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology".
8. Verify all the desired drives are available.
9. If all the disks installed are not shown as available, it may be necessary to clear any previous data from the disks. If no arrays have been created previously but there is an existing volume shown, it will be necessary to delete any previous arrays. Advance to step 15 to complete the process to delete any arrays. Return and proceed to step 10 once the desired drivers are available. 24
10. Select "Create RAID Volume". 11. Choose a name for the volume.
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12. Select the drop-down box for "RAID Level" and select the desired RAID level. The RAID level options displayed are based on the type and number of drives available in the system.
13. On the same page, select the drop-down box for each drive and select "X" to add the drive to the array. Once all the required drives are added, select "Create Volume". Unselected drives will appear in an OS like normal.
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14. From the opening page of the "Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology", verify the volume was created properly.
15. To delete an array, select a displayed volume to view information about it.
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16. Select the "Delete" option. 17. Select "Yes" to confirm the deletion of the volume.
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18. To verify the array was deleted, return the opening page of the "Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology" and verify the drives are once again seen as available for the creation of a new array.
Note: The user may not see the RAID array show up in the BIOS boot sequence until after a bootable operating system has been installed on the array.
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Note In the Windows, we can use the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Application for get more Manage action under system. We can get the application from the Microsoft Store.
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Section 5 Appendix
· On some P2 Tower GEN 2 configurations, the hardware required to support the addition of certain storage components (listed below) may not be present. In order to install these components, it might be necessary to add the Slim ODD Bracket assembly, which is available via Option PN 4XF1L42848 or FRU 5M11C16639.
This additional bracket will add the required supporting structure to allow these additional storage options to be installed properly.
Slim ODD/Flex Bay / FASE/Secondary 2.5" storage bay
Slim ODD Bracket Assembly (Tower only)
· Additional detail for the ThinkStation 3.5" FASE kit Option PN 4XH1B85931 (Tower only)
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· Additional detail for the ThinkStation Storage Kit Option PN 4XH1B85930
· Additional detail for the 2.5"" to 3.5" Conversion Kit Option PN 4XF0G94539
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(4XH0L08578) ThinkStation PCIe to M.2 Riser Card High Profile contains: · PCIe to M.2 Riser Card with Thermal Pad · M.2 Push Pin Heatsink Module
(4XF1C39743) ThinkCentre M.2 2280 SSD Kit III contains: · M.2 2280 Heatsink (Top heatsink and carrier, supports one-sided M.2 drives) · M.2 2280 Carrier (Bottom component only) · M.2 Bracket with stopper 33
Section 6 Document Revision History
Version V1.0
Date
Author
06/18/25 Zhu Zheng
Updates Initial Release
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Microsoft Word 适用于 Microsoft 365
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