LSI Corp., Dell Inc. and Seagate Technology have successfully achieved 6Gbit/s SAS I/O throughput and confirmation of data integrity in an interoperability demonstration.
The technology demonstration used LSI 6Gbit/s SAS RAID-on-chip (ROC) controller ICs and 6Gbit/s SAS high-port count expanders, performing read/write I/Os, at full bandwidth. The end-to-end interoperability demo is a critical milestone toward achieving a complete SAS ecosystem.
"A successful demonstration of 6Gbit/s SAS interoperability by three storage industry leaders will be a clear indication that product engineering, validation and interoperability testing is progressing well, and paves the way for production volumes in late 2009," said Dave Reinsel, VP of storage and semiconductor research at IDC.
The demo environment validates RAID functionality, and shows advanced interoperability and backward compatibility operating within a standard Windows Server OS environment. Interoperability demonstrations are being offered by LSI in a hosted suite prior to the SCSI Trade Association SAS Solutions Open House.
"To help accelerate the maturity of 6Gbit /s SAS and deliver the enhanced functionality customers need, it is critical for us to work closely with our silicon and hard disk drive partners in early interoperability and validation testing," said Howard Shoobe, senior manager, Dell storage product management. "We want to help customers by bringing end-to-end 6Gbit/s throughput as well as the security and reliability which come along with this next generation of SAS."
LSI engineers verified interoperability using a Dell prototype server with the LSI SAS2108 PCI Express 2- to 6Gbit/s SAS ROC and the LSI SAS2x36 6Gbit/s SAS expander, and Seagate 6Gbit/s and 3Gbit/s SAS and 3Gbit/s SATA HDDs. The demonstration showcases execution of I/Os—both direct-connect and through an expander, at 6Gbit/s speed. Read/write comparisons were validated, confirming data integrity over millions of I/O operations.
IT professionals will expect a complete ecosystem of servers, HDDs and IC and board components to be tested and broadly available prior to wide-spread industry adoption of 6Gbit/s SAS solutions. Key new features and functionality delivered with 6Gbit/s SAS include:
spread spectrum clocking to reduce EMI emissions;
decision feedback equalization for a more reliable link at 6Gbit/s data rates;
standardized zoning; and
self-configuring expanders.