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Hardware-Assisted RAID 5 Architecture
RAID 5 implementation involves striping data and parity
information (XOR) across the storage array. Since those
parity calculations are so processor-intensive, RAID 5
controllers traditionally require a dedicated CPU to perform
the XOR calculations and manage the array. Instead of
adding a costly CPU to the controller, Promise's FastTrak
SX4100 uses an integrated XOR engine for parity calculations,
delivering extraordinary performance at a dramatically
lower price. This approach takes advantage of today's
ultra-powerful PC CPUs to manage the array and outperform
traditional RAID 5 solutions. The FastTrak SX4100 sets
a new standard for RAID 5 controllers.
Sophisticated
Array Monitoring Tools
Web-based Promise Array Management (WebPAM) software offers
professional management tools in a simple-to-use, straightforward
format. Array configurations, management and monitoring
features are available via the web based interface. Moreover,
the FastTrak SX family supports industry standard SNMP
so third party management application integration is simplified.
The
Leader in SATA RAID
Promise Technology, Inc., recognized as the originator
and worldwide leader of ATA RAID, has offered high-performance
solutions for PC storage since 1988. Today the world's
biggest OEMs and resellers look to Promise for ongoing
innovations in ATA and ATA RAID design as the company
continues to lead with the most powerful and economical
alternatives to traditional RAID controllers and subsystems.
Features
* Four-port Serial ATA RAID controller with 1.5Gb/s per
channel
* Support for RAID levels 0, 1, 10, 5 and JBOD
* Next generation RAID Engine, with multiple logical drive
support
* Low-profile form factor, ideal for 1U/2U servers
* User friendly Web-based Promise Array Management Software
(WebPAM)
* PerfectRAID technology for robust error handling and
recovery of fatal, media and disk errors
* 32-Bit/66MHz PCI 2.3 interface
* Online array expansion and RAID level migration to add
capacity as needed
* Supports hot swap of failed drives
* Automatic/manual rebuild of hot spare drive
* 64MB of onboard ECC cache memory
Specifications
*
Four SATA ports at 1.5Gb/s (150 MB/sec)
* Supports up to 1.6 terabytes of storage per controller
(with four 400GB drives)
* Dual controller support within a system
* Low profile form factor ideal for 1U/2U servers
* 32-Bit, 66 MHz PCI bus; PCI 2.3 compliant
* Promise RAID Processor with integrated XOR engine for
RAID parity calculations and memory controller for local
cache memory
* 64MB onboard ECC cache memory
* FRAM for RAID5 transaction log to avoid data corruption
in the event of application hangs
* Built-in GPIO ports for enclosure management
RAID
Levels Supported
*
RAID 5-- Striped parity on 3-4 drives, ultimate data protection,
capacity and performance balance
* RAID 10-- Data mirrored then striped across four drives,
for double drive failure protection
* RAID 1-- Mirrored pairs of drives for data protection
with increased read performance
* RAID 0-- Data striped across 2-4 drives for increased
performance but no data protection
* JBOD-- Just a Bunch Of Drives: independent connected
drives with no RAID interconnection
RAID
Fault Tolerance and Robustness Features
*
Multiple logical drive support enables combining different
RAID levels on one set of disks
* Online array expansion and RAID level migration to add
capacity as needed
* PerfectRAID technology for error handling and recovery
of fatal media and disk errors
* Read Check table to avoid data read errors
* Support hot swap of failed drives and hot spare
* Automatic/manual rebuild of hot spare drive
* Background initialization for instant drive availability
* Background rebuild, migration and synchronization
* Error and event logging
* Variable stripe block size support to meet various application
requirements
* Optimal disk utilization with gigabyte rounding
* Support for SMART capable drives
* Synchronization can be scheduled periodically for RAID
array data consistency
Advanced
Performance Features
*
Multiple caching policy support:
-- Write-back: Write-back cache for maximum write performance
-- Write-through: Write-through cache for data protection
in the event of application freeze
-- Read ahead: Predictive read ahead caching based on
application and data types
* Packet commands and interrupt coalescing minimize interrupts
for better performance
* Elevator seek streamlines commands based on where data
is located on the disk
* Load balancing (mirrored RAID array only)
Web-Based Promise Array Management
* Creates, deletes, expands, and converts disk arrays
remotely
* Array synchronization and rebuild scheduling
* Monitors drive, array, and enclosure status and provides
online event logging
* E-mail notification of disk, array, controller or enclosure
events (e.g. error or degrade conditions)
Operating
Systems
*
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003
* Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, Linux partial open source
driver
Limited
Warranty
*
3 Years
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