SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PMC-Sierra, Inc. (PMC®) (Nasdaq:PMCS), the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data, today announced the industry’s first 12Gb/s SAS expander card to enable density-optimized servers, the fastest growing segment of the worldwide server market according to IDC1. The Adaptec® 12Gb/s SAS expander card enables flexible, high-density server architectures that can expand as data center storage needs grow. It provides 36 ports in a PCI Express® (PCIe®) low-profile form factor, with internal connectivity for up to 24 SAS or SATA drives and eight additional external ports to connect JBODs for even greater capacity expansion on a single RAID controller or Host Bus Adapter. The expander card enables modular passive backplane architectures to reduce server variants and increase data center operating efficiency (see Figure 1).
“Server density is a key design goal for data center architects, and a solution like the Adaptec expander card that enables modular designs, is compatible with existing infrastructures and can provide maximum scalability and throughput will be very attractive,” Jed Scaramella, research director, Enterprise Servers and Data Centers, IDC. “Density-optimized servers, which are increasingly an optimal choice for hyperscale environments, will continue to gain share of server deployments and spending.”
The Adaptec 12Gb/s SAS expander card is the industry’s only expander to fit in a low-profile MD2 form factor and is within the PCIe® power envelope of less than 25 Watts. It mounts internally to any available PCIe slot away from the backplane, and features mini-SAS HD connectors out the top for added cabling flexibility in dense server environments. It can receive power either from the PCIe slot or through a standard 4-pin auxiliary power connector. The card supports SGPIO and SES2 enclosure management, allowing enclosure information to be routed from all daisy-chained expander cards to the HBA or RAID adapter.
“With growing deployments of scale-out architectures in data centers, our customers are looking for solutions that will give them maximum scalability, flexibility and compatibility within their power target,” said Pete Hazen, vice president of the Data Center & Server Group at PMC. “Our new Adaptec expander card is the only solution that meets all of these needs, and it enables our customers to deliver a wide range of configurations tailored to specific storage workloads.”
The 12Gb/s SAS expander card’s buffering capabilities improve performance of 6Gb/s SAS+SATA, allowing data centers to leverage their existing drives in addition to the newest 12Gb/s SAS devices to achieve maximum throughput. The expander card is compatible with all HDDs and SSDs, existing active and passive backplanes, as well as all Adaptec Series 8, Series 7 and Series 6 RAID adapters and HBAs. It is also compatible with several 3rd party RAID adapters and HBAs.
Availability
The Adaptec 82885T 12Gb/s SAS expander card will be available in October 2014 through Adaptec’s worldwide distributors and storage channel partners. For complete product details, visit www.adaptec.com.
About Adaptec by PMC
Adaptec by PMC storage solutions protect, accelerate, and condition data as it moves through the I/O path. We deliver high-performance, interoperable and reliable storage solutions combined with leading technical support. Our products enable customers to innovate storage networks for next-generation data centers, cloud services as well as the broader market segments served by our channel partners. For more information, visit www.adaptec.com.
About PMC’s Server, Storage System and Flash Solutions
PMC is a leading provider of enterprise storage system solutions for networked and server storage applications, with a broad portfolio of Adaptec by PMC™ RAID adapters and HBAs, Tachyon® SAS/SATA and Fibre Channel (FC) protocol controllers, RAID controllers, Flashtec™ PCIe flash controllers and NVRAM drives, and maxSAS™ expander and FC disk interconnect products. Together, these products provide end-to-end semiconductor and software solutions to the industry’s leading storage OEMs and ODMs and hyperscale data centers. For more information, visit http://www.pmcs.com/storage.
About PMC
PMC (Nasdaq:PMCS) is the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data. Building on a track record of technology leadership, the company is driving innovation across storage, optical and mobile networks. PMC’s highly integrated solutions increase performance and enable next-generation services to accelerate the network transformation. For more information, visit www.pmcs.com. Follow PMC on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and RSS.
Attachments
Figure 1: Adaptec® 12Gb/s SAS Expander Card with Internal Connectors to Passive Backplanes http://pmcs.com/news_room/images/Adaptec_expander_card_figure1.png
For photos visit: http://pmcs.com/news_room/images/Adaptec_12G_SAS_expander_card.png and http://pmcs.com/news_room/images/Adaptec_12G_SAS_expander_card_angled.png
© Copyright PMC-Sierra, Inc. 2014. All rights reserved. PMC, PMC-SIERRA and ADAPTEC are registered trademarks of PMC-Sierra, Inc. in the United States and other countries, PMCS, Flashtec and Adaptec by PMC are trademarks of PMC-Sierra, Inc. PMC disclaims any ownership rights in other product and company names mentioned herein. PMC is the corporate brand of PMC-Sierra, Inc.
1 IDC, Worldwide and U.S. Server 2014–2018 Forecast, 247931, April 2014.
