Lenovo 430-16i 9400-16i 12Gb/s NVMe Tri-Mode HBA PCIe +4*SFF-8643 SATA Cable

Product Overview

The Lenovo ThinkSystem 430-16i is a high-performance internal storage Host Bus Adapter (HBA) designed for enterprise Lenovo servers. It is built using the Broadcom / LSI SAS3416 controller (part of the Broadcom HBA 9400-16i family).

This adapter offers extreme density and deployment flexibility by utilizing Tri-Mode technology. It allows seamless, direct connection of SAS (12Gbps), SATA (6Gbps), or NVMe storage devices into a single PCIe slot without requiring changes to underlying server infrastructure. It operates strictly in IT Mode / JBOD mode (non-RAID) for low-latency, direct pass-through software-defined storage (SDS) and high-density SSD setups.

Technical Specifications

Parameter	Specifications
Brand	Lenovo (OEM Broadcom / LSI)
Lenovo Option Part Number	7Y37A01089
Lenovo Feature Code	AUNM
Underlying Hardware / ASIC	Broadcom SAS3416 (9400-16i family)
Interface / Bus Type	PCI Express 3.0 x8
Data Transfer Rates	• 12/6/3 Gb/s SAS • 6/3 Gb/s SATA • Gen 3 PCIe / NVMe (up to 8.0 GT/s per lane)
Port Count	16 Internal Ports (Lanes)
Internal Connectors	4x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643)
Form Factor	Low-Profile PCIe Card (Includes Low-profile & Full-height brackets)
Firmware Type	IT Mode (Initiator-Target / JBOD pass-through)

Key Features & Capabilities

1. Tri-Mode Storage Flexibility

The HBA supports simultaneous connections of SAS, SATA, and NVMe drives on a single system backplane.

• SAS/SATA Mode: Offers 16 channels of 12Gb/s SAS or 6Gb/s SATA storage to connect directly to up to 16 internal drives (or many more via SAS expanders).

• NVMe Pass-through: Capable of routing PCIe lanes directly to high-speed NVMe U.2/U.3 drives for low-latency storage pools.

2. High-Performance Architecture

• Extremely Deep Queue Depth: Supports a queue depth of up to 10,240, reducing bottleneck constraints on enterprise SSDs.

• Hardware Offloading: Handles low-level transport protocols (SSP, SMP, STP, and SATA) in hardware, minimizing host CPU interrupts.

• End-to-End Data Protection: Implements CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) and Advanced Error Reporting (AER) to prevent data corruption between host and storage media.

3. Integrated Management

Seamless configuration and health reporting via native Lenovo system management protocols:

• Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager (LXPM) via UEFI HII.

• XClarity Controller (XCC) web interface.

• Command-line and GUI operations using Broadcom StorCLI and LSI Storage Authority (LSA).

Power and Environmental Specs

• Typical Power Consumption: 10.05 W to 11.95 W (depending on drive configuration and load).

• Airflow Requirement: Minimum 200 LFM at 55°C.

• Operating Temperature: 0°C to 55°C (32°F to 131°F).

• Relative Humidity Range: 5% to 90% (non-condensing).

Operating System & Ecosystem Compatibility

Designed to work out-of-the-box using inbox drivers on most modern operating systems:

• Linux: RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), Ubuntu Server, Debian.

• Hypervisors: VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Proxmox VE (perfectly suited for Ceph and ZFS software storage pools).

• Windows: Windows Server.