VNX5500 Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE) is a high-performance unified storage system based on modular architecture that integrates hardware components for block, file, and object with concurrent support for native NAS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and FCoE protocols. The VNX5500 delivers file (NAS) functionality via X-Blade data movers and block (iSCSI, FCoE, and FC) storage via dual storage processors leveraging full 6Gbps SAS disk drive topology. The VNX5500 allows you to even start with block or file functionality and easily upgrade to unified storage when needed. Great for mid-sized to large enterprises, the VNX5500 can support up to 250 drives with dual SP's.

DELL EMC VNX5500 Base Knowledge .
The VNX5500 is a mid-range/mid tier storage platform. It offers Block, File, or Unified Block and File services. These services consist of:

• Block-only —Includes a 3U disk processor enclosure (DPE), a 1U 1.2 KW standby power supply (SPS), and 2U or 3U disk-array enclosures (DAEs) for holding hard disk drives that are integrated to facilitate Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and iSCSI Block services to Windows® and UNIX ® hosts.
• File-only —Adds the 2U Data Mover enclosure (DME) and 1U Control Station (CS) to the 3U DPE, 1U SPS, and 2U, 3U, or 4U DAEs to facilitate file services to CIFS/NFS clients.
• Unified Block and File —Uses the same hardware as the File-only configuration but adds FC, iSCSI, and FCoE I/O connectivity to provide Block services to host simultaneously so as to provide File services to clients.

Form Factor: Block Only 4U | File Only 7U, 9U | Unified 8U, 9U
Chassis: 3U, 15 (3.5-inch) LFF | 3U, 25 (2.5-inch) SFF
Standby Power Supply: 1U 1.2KW
Disk Array Enclosures (DAE):

• 4U 3.5” x 60
  • VNX6GSDAE60
• 3U 3.5” x 15
  • VNX6GSDAE15
  • VNX6GSDAE15F
• 2U 2.5” x 25
  • VNX6GSDAE25
  • VNX6GSDAE25F

Max Drives: 250
Drives Supported: Serial attached-SCSI (SAS), near-line SAS (NL-SAS), and Flash.
I/O Supported: Both the SP and the DME have I/O capabilities. There is a lot of detailed information about these ports. To get a full understanding I suggest you read the manual.

Storage Processor
A CPU module with an Intel Xeon 4-core 2.13-GHz processor with three Double Data Rate Three (DDR3) synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) slots supporting 4-GB of SDRAM.

Storage Processor I/O Supported:
Two PCI Gen 2 x4 I/O module slots supporting a combination of the following UltraFlex™ I/O modules:

• Four-port 8-Gb/s FC I/O module
• Four-port 1-Gb/s copper iSCSI I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s optical or active Twinax iSCSI I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s optical or active Twinax Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) I/O Module
• Four-port 6-Gb/s SAS I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s RJ-45 Base-T iSCSI/IP I/O module

Data Movers:
The Data Mover is installed in the VNX5500 File or Unified configuration.
One CPU module consisting of one Intel Xeon 4-core 2.13-GHz processor. Six DDR3 synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) slots supporting up to 12 GB per CPU module. Comes with One 4x 8-Gb/s optical (running at 2, 4, or 8 Gb/s); in slot 0 only and any combination of the following modules. Max 3 modules supported.

• Four-port 8-Gb/s FC I/O module Slot 0 Only
• Four-port 1-Gb/s copper I/O module
• Two-port 1-Gb/s copper plus two-port 1-Gb/s optical I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s optical I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s optical I/O module
• Two-port 10-Gb/s RJ-45 Base-T iSCSI/IP I/O module

The Data mover will have a total of 4 Modules the first module is the 4 port 8Gb module in Slot 0.

Control Station (CS):
The Control Station is installed in the VNX5500 File or Unified configuration.
If the Unified or File configuration is set then you will need 1 or 2 CS. The CS has an Intel 2.0 GHz single-core Celeron processor with 800-MHz front side bus (FSB) and 512 KB cache, 2 GB of RAM, and One 250-GB SATA hard drive. It also comes with one DVD-ROM drive.

Standby Power Supply (SPS)
The VNX5500 supports up to 2 SPS that support the system when there is a power failure. If the SPS is fully charged it will stay on for 90 seconds while the flush cache writes to the DAE. If the system is not fully charged or there is a failure in the SPS the write cache will be disabled.
Once the power comes back the SPS will start to charge again. If the system has been off for a while it might take up to 2 hours to fully charge.

It is important to cable each SPS so that it connects completely to either the A side or the B side.

Disk Array Enclosure (DAE)
The DAEs supported are a 15 (3.5”) LFF 3U enclosure and a 25 (2.5”) SFF 2U enclosure.

Expansion of up to fifteen 3U DAEs (a maximum of 240 3.5-inch disk drives), up to nine 2U DAEs (a maximum of 250 2.5-inch disk drives), or up to a combination of three 4U DAEs and three 3U DAEs (a maximum of 240 disk drives) is possible.

The 4U DAE:
There is a 4U 60 Drive DAE for this server, Its LCC is a SAS expander that can handle 30 drives on each LCC. This 4U DAE can support either 3.5" or 2.5" Drives. There are some rules and limitations when installing this DAE. Please read the manual for more detailed information.