Supermicro unveils universal I/O SAS solutions

SAN JOSE and MILPITAS, USA: Supermicro Computer Inc. and LSI Corp. recently announced three Supermicro Universal I/O (UIO) SAS RAID cards based on the most advanced RAID-On-Chip (ROC) available from LSI, the SAS1078.

Optimized for Supermicro UIO servers, these AOC-USAS H-Series UIO cards feature 667MHz 256MB DDRII cache to deliver hardware RAID 5 and 6 data protection with flexible options for internal or external SAS/SATA connections.

Traditionally, customers were locked into a specific configuration for their SAS solutions depending on their static motherboard implementation. Supermicro's UIO architecture provides the freedom and flexibility to configure the same UIO motherboard with multiple options, based on the selected UIO card. For instance, the same UIO server can support four-internal plus four-external ports, or eight-internal ports, or eight-external ports just by changing the UIO card, and all of these solutions include a battery backup option as well.

With support for all key RAID levels including RAID 6 and 60 (protection against two simultaneous failures), these new UIO cards enable system builders to attach up to 240 physical devices. The controllers are ideal for applications requiring the connection of external storage or backup devices. With eight ports at 3Gbps each, these SAS solutions can achieve an aggregated 2.4GBps throughput.

The LSI SAS1078 ROC is an integrated, single-chip SAS/SATA solution that serves as a powerful I/O storage engine capable of performing all data protection, data checking, and restoration tasks, thereby reducing board space requirements.

The SAS1078 ROC provides an eight-lane, PCI-Express host interface, and a full-featured, cost-effective hardware-based RAID implementation. The LSI ROC has been validated with an LSI MegaRAIDsoftware stack providing advanced data protection ideal for enterprise servers and external storage.

"When installed, these high-performance UIO SAS cards become part of the server board, and the system still retains all of its PCI-Express and PCI-X slots for expansion cards," said Charles Liang, CEO and president of Supermicro. "Supermicro UIO cards enable our customers to create optimized SAS solutions to match their specific requirements."

"LSI ROC solutions, and the SAS1078 in particular, provide the industry's most robust and proven RAID implementation," added Dan Roehrich, vice president of marketing, LSI Storage Components Group. "By selecting LSI as a technology partner, Supermicro is able to provide their customers with a highly-integrated MegaRAID solution."