Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:VTSS), a leader in
enterprise Storage ICs, today announced two single-chip, Serial
Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID Controllers, featuring industry-leading RAID
software from Adaptec. The RAID-on-Chip devices provide an integrated
processor and dedicated RAID hardware acceleration engines, along with
a full software suite, giving workstation and server OEMs a
high-performance, cost-effective, single-chip solution at a fraction
of the cost of the traditional board-level products available today.
These devices are part of the extensive portfolio of Vitesse
NexSAS(TM) products designed specifically for SAS applications.
The single-chip, RAID Controllers, VSC7250 and VSC7251, are derived from four very successful generations of controllers and HBAs and provide an advanced feature set supporting enhanced RAID storage, performance, and connectivity over the multi-chip solutions available today. Each device offers PCI-Express host connectivity (found in the latest server architectures) linked to independent SAS PHYs, which can connect directly to SAS or SATA hard disk drives, external SAS expanders, or any SAS 1.1 compliant target or initiator device. The VSC7250 is ideal for the highest performance applications utilizing up to eight PCI-Express lanes and eight SAS PHYs. The VSC7251 supports all the RAID features available in the VSC7250, and offers a lower price/performance point by using up to four PCI-Express lanes and four SAS PHYs.
"The inherent data integrity and protection offered by RAID is finding its way into a multitude of data storage applications. The architectural flexibility and low cost of the single-chip VSC7250 and VSC7251 controllers provide an excellent solution all the way from SOHO applications to high-end workstations, enterprise class servers, and high capacity disk arrays," said Bob Cutter, vice president and general manager of the Storage Products Division at Vitesse.
The real on-chip performance is driven by what lies between these two I/O interfaces -- an embedded microprocessor for RAID calculations and a DDR-II memory controller for high-speed RAID processing, which saves PCI bandwidth and host memory. In addition, a Flash/NVSRAM/ SRAM interface simplifies system design, while RAID XOR and DMA controllers for data re-generation are optimized for data throughput up to 4G Bytes per second required to support next-generation RAID products with higher capacity drives without compromising data integrity.
The Vitesse VSC7250 and VSC7251 operate with commercially available software drivers to provide customers with several upgradeable I/O options. The base-level driver supports I/O Controller mode (no RAID) and Adaptec HostRAID(TM) with RAID levels 0 and 1. Available upgrade paths utilize the Adaptec RAID Code (ARC(TM)), an industry proven RAID stack. The ARC is available from Adaptec and gives customers multiple comprehensive RAID levels to suit their unique storage requirements for today and tomorrow, addressing the rebuild challenges of higher capacity SAS and SATA drives in JBOD applications.
"As a key development partner and technology supplier to Vitesse for next-generation SAS solutions, we are excited about the latest additions to the NexSAS family of products," said Paul Vogt, director of marketing for Adaptec's Storage Products Group. "Adaptec's RAID code is the most robust and reliable data protection software available today, helping Vitesse meet a wide variety of customer requirements for data integrity, while our unified set of software management tools simplify product configuration, installation, and management."
VSC7250 and VSC7251 Key Features and Advantages:
-- RAID-On-Chip: To get optimal performance with minimal bill-of-materials cost and printed circuit board real estate consumption, the VSC7250 and VSC7251 provide a single-chip RAID controller function for servers, workstations, and disk arrays.
-- Integrated PCI-Express Links: To optimize how PCI-Express resources are utilized for storage, the VSC7250 offers up to eight host processor connections via x1, x2, x4, or x8 lane PCI-Express Links while the more cost effective VSC7251 supports up to four PCI-Express Links.
-- Independent SAS/SATA PHYs: Direct connection to SAS or SATA hard disk drives, SAS expanders, or any SAS 1.1 compliant initiator or target devices.
-- Embedded Microprocessor: RAID-specific processor relieves host CPU from RAID calculations, volume rebuilds, and numerous interrupt requests related to I/O processing.
-- On-Chip RAID 5 and 6 Hardware Acceleration: RAID XOR calculations required for data re-generation are optimized for maximum throughput and data guarding for catastrophic drive failures.
-- DDR-II External Memory Interface: High-performance memory interface supports optimized I/O and RAID processing.
-- Sophisticated, high-performance I/O: Multiple levels of output pre-emphasis and de-emphasis, signal equalization, and edge-rate control.
Availability and Pricing
The VSC7250 is priced at $64 USD per unit in volume. The VSC7251 is priced at $46 USD per unit in volume. Samples of each device will be available in May 2005.
About the Storage Products Division
For over two decades, the Storage Products Division at Vitesse has delivered state-of-the-art IC solutions for enterprise storage and storage networking applications. With emphasis on the development of advanced disk array intelligence, high performance interconnect, and enclosure management devices for Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, and Serial ATA, the Vitesse portfolio stands second to none for enterprise applications. Vitesse components are used in a wide array of products from industry leading OEMs including Adaptec, Brocade, Dell Computer, EMC, Emulex, Engenio Information Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, Sun Microsystems, and others.
About Vitesse
Vitesse designs, develops, and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for communications and storage networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Ethernet-over-SONET, Advanced Switching, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, Optical Transport, and other applications. Vitesse innovation empowers customers to deliver superior products for Enterprise, Access, Metro, and Core applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.
Vitesse is a registered trademark and NexSAS is a trademark in the United States and/or other jurisdictions of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.
Note to editors: Additional information on the VSC7250, VSC7251, other NexSAS products and SAS technology are available at: Product Brief and Photo: http://www.vitesse.com/products/group?hilite=VSC7250:VSC7251#VSC7250
NexSAS Technology Center: http://www.vitesse.com/NexSAS
Serial Attached SCSI Trade Association: http://www.scsita.org
The single-chip, RAID Controllers, VSC7250 and VSC7251, are derived from four very successful generations of controllers and HBAs and provide an advanced feature set supporting enhanced RAID storage, performance, and connectivity over the multi-chip solutions available today. Each device offers PCI-Express host connectivity (found in the latest server architectures) linked to independent SAS PHYs, which can connect directly to SAS or SATA hard disk drives, external SAS expanders, or any SAS 1.1 compliant target or initiator device. The VSC7250 is ideal for the highest performance applications utilizing up to eight PCI-Express lanes and eight SAS PHYs. The VSC7251 supports all the RAID features available in the VSC7250, and offers a lower price/performance point by using up to four PCI-Express lanes and four SAS PHYs.
"The inherent data integrity and protection offered by RAID is finding its way into a multitude of data storage applications. The architectural flexibility and low cost of the single-chip VSC7250 and VSC7251 controllers provide an excellent solution all the way from SOHO applications to high-end workstations, enterprise class servers, and high capacity disk arrays," said Bob Cutter, vice president and general manager of the Storage Products Division at Vitesse.
The real on-chip performance is driven by what lies between these two I/O interfaces -- an embedded microprocessor for RAID calculations and a DDR-II memory controller for high-speed RAID processing, which saves PCI bandwidth and host memory. In addition, a Flash/NVSRAM/ SRAM interface simplifies system design, while RAID XOR and DMA controllers for data re-generation are optimized for data throughput up to 4G Bytes per second required to support next-generation RAID products with higher capacity drives without compromising data integrity.
The Vitesse VSC7250 and VSC7251 operate with commercially available software drivers to provide customers with several upgradeable I/O options. The base-level driver supports I/O Controller mode (no RAID) and Adaptec HostRAID(TM) with RAID levels 0 and 1. Available upgrade paths utilize the Adaptec RAID Code (ARC(TM)), an industry proven RAID stack. The ARC is available from Adaptec and gives customers multiple comprehensive RAID levels to suit their unique storage requirements for today and tomorrow, addressing the rebuild challenges of higher capacity SAS and SATA drives in JBOD applications.
"As a key development partner and technology supplier to Vitesse for next-generation SAS solutions, we are excited about the latest additions to the NexSAS family of products," said Paul Vogt, director of marketing for Adaptec's Storage Products Group. "Adaptec's RAID code is the most robust and reliable data protection software available today, helping Vitesse meet a wide variety of customer requirements for data integrity, while our unified set of software management tools simplify product configuration, installation, and management."
VSC7250 and VSC7251 Key Features and Advantages:
-- RAID-On-Chip: To get optimal performance with minimal bill-of-materials cost and printed circuit board real estate consumption, the VSC7250 and VSC7251 provide a single-chip RAID controller function for servers, workstations, and disk arrays.
-- Integrated PCI-Express Links: To optimize how PCI-Express resources are utilized for storage, the VSC7250 offers up to eight host processor connections via x1, x2, x4, or x8 lane PCI-Express Links while the more cost effective VSC7251 supports up to four PCI-Express Links.
-- Independent SAS/SATA PHYs: Direct connection to SAS or SATA hard disk drives, SAS expanders, or any SAS 1.1 compliant initiator or target devices.
-- Embedded Microprocessor: RAID-specific processor relieves host CPU from RAID calculations, volume rebuilds, and numerous interrupt requests related to I/O processing.
-- On-Chip RAID 5 and 6 Hardware Acceleration: RAID XOR calculations required for data re-generation are optimized for maximum throughput and data guarding for catastrophic drive failures.
-- DDR-II External Memory Interface: High-performance memory interface supports optimized I/O and RAID processing.
-- Sophisticated, high-performance I/O: Multiple levels of output pre-emphasis and de-emphasis, signal equalization, and edge-rate control.
Availability and Pricing
The VSC7250 is priced at $64 USD per unit in volume. The VSC7251 is priced at $46 USD per unit in volume. Samples of each device will be available in May 2005.
About the Storage Products Division
For over two decades, the Storage Products Division at Vitesse has delivered state-of-the-art IC solutions for enterprise storage and storage networking applications. With emphasis on the development of advanced disk array intelligence, high performance interconnect, and enclosure management devices for Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, and Serial ATA, the Vitesse portfolio stands second to none for enterprise applications. Vitesse components are used in a wide array of products from industry leading OEMs including Adaptec, Brocade, Dell Computer, EMC, Emulex, Engenio Information Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, Sun Microsystems, and others.
About Vitesse
Vitesse designs, develops, and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for communications and storage networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Ethernet-over-SONET, Advanced Switching, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, Optical Transport, and other applications. Vitesse innovation empowers customers to deliver superior products for Enterprise, Access, Metro, and Core applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.
Vitesse is a registered trademark and NexSAS is a trademark in the United States and/or other jurisdictions of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.
Note to editors: Additional information on the VSC7250, VSC7251, other NexSAS products and SAS technology are available at: Product Brief and Photo: http://www.vitesse.com/products/group?hilite=VSC7250:VSC7251#VSC7250
NexSAS Technology Center: http://www.vitesse.com/NexSAS
Serial Attached SCSI Trade Association: http://www.scsita.org
© 2005 Business Wire
