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Page 6 LSI Corporation | September 2010
LSISAS6160 SAS Switch User GuideChapter 1: Overview
| Serial Attached SCSI and the SAS6160 Switch
1.2 Serial Attached SCSI and
the SAS6160 Switch
SAS replaces Ultra320 SCSI as the next phase in the evolution of the SCSI standard. The
SAS interface addresses enterprise data storage and retrieval requirements with
features such as point-to-point topology, 6.0Gb/s transfer rate, minimum arbitration
overhead, native support for both SAS and SATA drives, and smaller cables and
connectors.
In SAS storage environments, the SAS6160 switch allows connection of multiple targets
and initiators through a switched device for manageable scalability. The integrated
SDM application provides a central management point to view the SAS topology,
manage other switches or expanders in the domain, and to configure zoning to provide
exclusive access between endpoints in the domain. The SAS6160 switch allows data
centers to benefit from the improved performance, minimum arbitration overhead,
simplified cabling, and lower system implementation costs of SAS and SATA, while
easing migration from Direct Attached Storage.
Figure 1: The LSISAS6160 Switch
The SAS6160 switch uses two LSISAS2x36 6Gb/s SAS expanders, which are compliant
with the ANSI Serial Attached SCSI specification and support SATA as defined in the
Serial ATA: High Speed Serialized AT Attachment and the Serial ATA II: Port Selector
Specification.
The SAS6160 switch functions as a single expander and offers advanced hardware
management with an external power supply module, and two enclosure fans, and
temperature and power supply voltage sensing/alerts. The switch is housed in a
compact chassis for easy shelf placement in rack mounted server clusters.
NOTE: The two connectors on the upper left of the face plate (port 0 and port 2)
support active cabling for longer cable runs. Passive cables may also be connected to
these ports for normal cable runs.