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Intel® RAID Expander Card RES2SV240 Hardware User’s Guide 1
1 Overview
The Intel
®
RAID Expander Card RES2SV240 offers high performance, high disk drive
connectivity,scalability, and flexibility in various storage environments, and is an
attractive alternative to other expensive and complex topologies. The SAS expander is
ideal for high availability and scalable server clustering environments and front-end
storage subsystems used in clusters, Storage Area Networks (SANs), and Network-
Attached Storage (NAS) environments. It is an optimal device for use in data centers and
SANs, leveraging existing SCSI infrastructure for investment protection and ease of
migration and implementation.
Intel
®
RAID Expander Card RES2SV240 is a 24-port, 6.0Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI
(SAS) expander that enables the connection of up to 24 directly attached SAS or Serial
ATA (SATA) devices. Each expander phy is individually configurable and performs SAS
and SATA transfers based on the speed of the host or target at either 6.0Gb/s, 3.0Gb/s, or
1.5Gb/s.
The Intel
®
RAID Expander Card RES2SV240 addresses the growing demand for
increased data throughput and scalability requirements across entry level, midrange, and
enterprise server platforms.
SATA and SAS are serial, point-to-point, device interfaces that use simplified cabling,
smaller connectors, lower pin counts, and lower power requirements than parallel SCSI.
Benefits of SAS and SATA
SAS is a serial, enterprise-level device interface that leverages the proven SCSI protocol
set. SAS is a convergence of the advantages of SATA, SCSI, and FC, and is the future
mainstay of the enterprise and high-end workstation storage markets. SAS offers a higher
bandwidth per pin than parallel SCSI and improves signal and data integrity.
The SAS interface uses the proven SCSI command set to ensure reliable data transfers,
while providing the connectivity and flexibility of point-to-point serial data transfers. The
serial transmission of SCSI commands eliminates clock skew challenges. The SAS
interface provides improved performance, simplified cabling, smaller connectors, lower
pin count, and lower power requirements than parallel SCSI.
SAS controllers leverage a common electrical and physical connection interface that is
compatible with Serial ATA technology. The SAS and SATA protocols support the use of
a thin, 7-wire connector instead of the 68-wire SCSI cable or 40-wire ATA cable. The
SAS/SATA connector and cable are easier to manipulate, connect to smaller devices, and
do not inhibit airflow. The point-to-point SATA architecture eliminates difficulties created
by the legacy ATA master-slave architecture, while maintaining compatibility with
existing ATA firmware.