An Implementation Engineer is onsite to add two 4-port FC cards to a FlashArray//X20R3.

Before performing a physical card addition (I/O expansion) on a specific controller, it should be in theSecondarystate.

The procedure for adding hardware to a FlashArray is a sequential, non-disruptive process. You cannot add a card to thePrimarycontroller because it is actively handling host I/O; opening it would cause a service outage. Therefore, the Implementation Engineer must first verify the cluster health and, if necessary, perform a manual failover (pureadm make --secondary) to ensure the target controller isSecondary.

Once the controller is Secondary (passing no I/O), the engineer proceeds to stop the Purity software (pureadm stop) and/or power down the controller to safely install the PCIe card. While the physical work happens when the controller is powered off/inactive, "Secondary" is the correct operational starting state required to begin the maintenance workflow safely. "Standby" is often used to refer to a controller that is powered on but not running Purity, which is a subsequent step, not the initial prerequisite state relative to the cluster role.