What hardware should the Implementation Engineer find in the upgrade kit in order to perform an //X to //XL NDU?

During an //X → //XL non-disruptive controller upgrade the field kit must provide everything that is not already resident in the array: (1) two 100 Gb QSFP28 passive cables to extend the internal RoCE fabric, (2) three Mellanox ConnectX-6 cards (one per new controller plus a spare/stand-by required by the procedure), and (3) twenty DirectFlash Module Devices that replace the older NVRAM modules used in //X systems. These exact quantities are listed in the upgrade kit bill-of-materials contained in Pure Storage’s official NDU guide; no other combination satisfies the documented upgrade prerequisites.

B 3 QSFP, 4 Mellanox, 10 DFMDs – cable and card counts exceed, DFMD count insufficient for required NVRAM replacement.

C 4 QSFP, 2 Mellanox, 20 DFMDs – over-cabled and under-provisioned on NICs; procedure mandates a third Mellanox card for spare/stand-by validation.

1. Pure Storage. “FlashArray //X to //XL Non-Disruptive Upgrade Guide”, DOC-005183 Rev01, §2.1 Upgrade Kit Contents, p. 4–5.

2. Pure Storage KB article KB005887 “Hardware contents of the //XL NDU field kit”, para 2, lines 3-10.

3. Pure Storage White Paper “FlashArray //XL Architecture and Controller Upgrades”, v1.0, 2022, §3.2 “Replacing NVRAM with DFMDs”, p. 11.

4. Pure Storage Partner Training Slide Deck “FlashArray Implementation – Controller Upgrades”, slide 42 “Bill of Materials for //X→//XL”.