Features - Storage Innovations:

3WARE INTROS NEW ESCALADE SATA CONTROLLERS

3ware Inc announced that its new controllers for Serial ATA RAID systems are available. The 3ware Escalade 8506 Series Multi-lane Internal (MI) controllers increase reliability, and simplify installation by significantly reducing the number of required connection cables. Offering up to three terabytes of affordable SATA storage, the new controllers and backplanes available from industry leading chassis vendors such as Advanced Industrial Computer –- AIC, Chenbro Micom, Ci Design and others, are available.

The new 3ware Multi-lane controllers are designed with the same hardware, software and firmware architecture of the industry leading, second generation 3ware Escalade 8506 SATA RAID controllers. The Escalade Multi-lane boards feature an integrated connector system that combines four SATA ports into a single connection on the controller side and a single connector on a backplane. Using InfiniBand 4x cables (SFF-8470 connector) with the 3ware 12-port Escalade 8506-12MI reduces the number of cables typically required from 12 to three and from eight to two on the Escalade 8506-8MI 8-port card. By reducing the number of required connections, the reliability of the complete storage solution is dramatically increased. In addition, the Multi-lane integrated connector has a locking mechanism to ensure a strong connection between the board and the cable, making it suitable for industrial environments.

"3ware and many of our chassis partners have showcased this solution to customers over the last four months and the results are clear," said Barbara Murphy, vice president of marketing at 3ware. "In high port-count environments such as supercomputing and bulk storage, the new Escalade Multi-lane controllers solve the current and future needs for streamlined cabling and high reliability and performance. 3ware continues to be first-to-market with innovative solutions that drive Serial ATA technology advancements to meet the expanding storage needs of IT professionals as well as VARs and system integrators."

"As a supplier of complete storage solutions and chassis options, this new Multi-lane innovation from 3ware will enable us to build and implement application-specific solutions for the rapidly growing SATA market," said Maggi Chen, CEO at Chenbro. "Customers will immediately realize the benefits and savings, which will boost SATA installations overall in business and vertical markets."

"3ware's Multi-lane concept combined with our innovative chassis designs will create unbeatable enterprise-class SATA storage solutions. This new Multi-lane design will make scalability easy, and will provide great interconnect reliability that has been lacking from the early generation of SATA products," said Gene Lee, vice president of AIC. "Our streamlined kit enables much more efficient installations in applications where high port-counts are necessary, which dramatically improves performance, reliability and management for enterprise-class network storage."

"Ci Design has developed the most dependable storage and server enclosures for over 20 years utilizing the latest interface technologies. Our standards have continued with 3ware's Multi-lane connectors, which represent a vital evolution opportunity for the expansion of Serial-based storage solutions in the enterprise and small-to-medium-sized business markets," said KJ Lee, president of Ci Design. "With a completely new backplane and interface design, Serial-based network storage will save our customers money while providing them with high-performance and ultra-reliable solutions."

The 3ware Escalade 8506 Series Multi-lane Internal (MI) controllers are based on the company's innovative StorSwitch™ architecture, which applies network packet switching to storage. The non-blocking switched fabric allows data to be simultaneously routed to multiple hard disk drives with the highest efficiency, delivering the performance and reliability customers expect from enterprise solutions, with the added benefit of affordable Serial ATA storage.