STA

New Active Copper Cables will extend the Reach of Serial Attached SCSI Interconnects to 25 meters and Enable Complete Connectivity for Today's Data Centers

SANTA CLARA, CA - March 13, 2009 - Quellan, a leader in Analog Signal Processing and RF Noise Cancellation ICs, today announced the availability of a portfolio of 6Gb/s SAS products including mini-SAS active cables, active cable modules, based on its production QLx4600 Lane Extender IC.

6Gb/s SAS has many enhancements beyond 3Gb/s SAS. It has more bandwidth per connection, greater scalability, and enhanced features. 3Gb/s SAS usage models will be preserved in 6Gb/s SAS along with the retention of 1.5 Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA compatibility. There are many other targeted improvements beyond first generation 3Gb/s SAS, assuring enterprise storage users that SAS technology will continue to meet their needs.

SCSI and SAS standards developed by T10 have historically been given marketing names by the SCSI Trade Association (STA), for numerous reasons. In some cases, multiple T10 documents are required to describe a particular SAS generation. In other cases, the document names can contribute to a fair amount of market confusion, and at times, features made optional or required by T10 are inconsistent with market demands.

FOSE 2010 "SAS & SATA Change the Face of Enterprise Storage"
Marty Czekalski
(March 2010 - pdf)

OEMs, System Builders, and End-Users are deploying the feature-rich capabilities of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) to extend Direct Access Storage (DAS) architectures beyond the traditional usage models. Functioning as a storage solution backbone, SAS allows large numbers of either SAS and/or SATA hard disk drives to be deployed in a variety of storage application environments, effectively extending SAS into new storage realms.

SAS & SATA Combine to Change the Storage Market (PDF)
Harry Mason - Director Industry Marketing, LSI Corporation
Marty Czelkalski - Interface & Emerging Architecture Program Manager, Seagate Technology

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) allows systems to be built that accommodates large numbers of either SAS and/or SATA hard disk drives. This presentation, intended for OEM, System Builders and End-Users, describes the capabilities of the SAS interface, how it's designed to interoperate with SATA drives and when combined, how these technologies can be combined to deliver some very compelling storage solutions.

SNW Europe "SAS & SATA" Combine to Change the Storage Landscape"
Harry Mason & Marty Czekalski
(October 2008 - pdf)

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) allows systems to be built that accommodates large numbers of either SAS and/or SATA hard disk drives. This presentation, intended for OEM, System Builders and End-Users, describes the capabilities of the SAS interface, how it's designed to interoperate with SATA drives and when combined, how these technologies can be combined to deliver some very compelling storage solutions.

6Gb/s SAS — Industry Rollout
Marty Czekalski
(September 2008 - pdf)

Industry Objectives:

• Preserve 3Gb/s SAS usage models
• Maintain 1.5Gb/s & 3Gb/s SATA/SAS compatibility
• Improve storage system RAS attributes
• Reduce the number of cabling connections options
• Double transfer rate
• Improve cost/performance & power/bandwidth ratio
• Reduced # of connections per Gb/s
• Eventual compatibility with 6Gb/s SATA
• Improved link utilization
• Improve rack-to-rack distances

Industry Storage Event Highlights PMC Products in Key SAS Demonstrations

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 8, 2012 - PMC® (Nasdaq:PMCS), the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks, today announced its participation and sponsorship of the SCSI Trade Association (STA) Technology Showcase. PMC will demonstrate its industry leading 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SAS and SSD caching products at this event for customers, industry analysts, editors and partners.

Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu Technology Solutions, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, NEC and others select LSI 6Gb/s SAS and MegaRAID solutions for new datacenter servers

MILPITAS, Calif., March 13, 2012 - LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced that its SAS storage solutions will power more than 200 new server models based on the recently announced Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 product family. Leading server manufacturers that have selected LSI® 6Gb/s SAS and MegaRAID® solutions to provide accelerated storage performance and enterprise data protection for their next-generation server platforms include Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu Technology Solutions, IBM, Intel, Lenovo and NEC.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 7, 2012 - PMC-Sierra, Inc., (Nasdaq:PMCS) or PMC, the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks, today announced that its 6Gb/s SAS RAID-on-Chip (RoC) controllers are shipping on new HP ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) servers. PMC's SRCv RoCs are the world's first production released PCI Express® (PCIe®) 3.0 capable storage controllers for the volume server market. The latest PCIe technology and 24 ports of 6Gb/s SAS connectivity enable Gen8 Servers to deliver seven times faster solid state storage performance and support twice the number of drives per RAID. The SRCv family is shipping as part of the HP Smart Array P420, P421 and P422 RAID Adapters, and across the HP ProLiant DL360p, DL380p and BL460c Gen8 servers.

Server Configuration Will Meet Cloud Data Center Performance and Reliability Requirements Leveraging Industry's only PCIe 3.0 Capable 24-Port RAID-on-Chip by PMC

CeBIT 2012, HANNOVER, Germany, March 6, 2012 - PMC-Sierra, Inc., (Nasdaq:PMCS) or PMC, the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks, today announced that Adaptec by PMC&trade is demonstrating a server that doubles storage performance, reduces power consumption and increases reliability in a smaller data center footprint to help meet the soaring demands on data centers while driving down total cost of ownership. The CeBIT demonstration features a RAID controller card prototype based on the industry's only PCI Express® (PCIe®) 3.0 capable 24-port RAID-on-Chip (RoC) from PMC, installed in a system based on the new Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 product family, and 22 Seagate Pulsar® enterprise solid state drives (SSDs). Visit Adaptec in the CeBIT Storage Pavilion, Hall 2, Stand E51 to view the demonstration.

Ultra-Reliable, High-Performance WD S25 SAS Drives Get Capacity Boost to Offer Greater Support for Mission-Critical Enterprise Server and Storage Environments

IRVINE, Calif. - Mar. 6, 2012 — Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), a leader in the desktop, mobile, high-capacity enterprise and consumer markets for hard drives, today announced the availability of its third-generation WD® S25 SAS hard drives, serving the performance-optimized, mission-critical enterprise server and storage market. Shipping now, the new 2.5-inch, 10,000 RPM, WD S25 with SAS 6 Gb/s interface hard drives offer IT professionals a more advanced array of ultra-reliable and efficient, high-performance storage, available in capacities of 300 GB, 450 GB, 600 GB, and 900 GB. The WD S25 line is designed for the most demanding applications such as online transaction processing and multi-tiered networked storage arrays.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 24, 2011 - PMC-Sierra, Inc., (Nasdaq:PMCS) or PMC, the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks, today announced the Tachyon® SPCve 6Gb/s SAS/SATA protocol controllers with integrated StorClad™ encryption technology. The virtualized nature of cloud data centers make securing corporate, financial and sensitive data paramount. Until now, data security was a network add-on, which made scalability, data encryption and key management difficult and expensive. PMC's SPCve controllers integrate line-rate data encryption into the existing data flow, providing a central, scalable and cost-effective means to secure and manage stored data. In addition, the controller-based encryption architecture is agnostic to drive type or vendor, allowing OEMs and cloud providers to mix and match HDDs and SSDs, and to encrypt their deployed storage infrastructure.

Intelligent read and write caching software using SSDs delivers up to 13X more transactions per second and 82 percent cost savings compared to HDD-only arrays

MILPITAS, Calif., August 9, 2011 - LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced LSI® MegaRAID® CacheCade™ Pro 2.0 read/write caching software for select LSI MegaRAID 6Gb/s SATA+SAS controller cards. The software is designed to dramatically accelerate application I/O performance of hard disk drive (HDD)-based arrays by intelligently caching frequently accessed, or "hot spot," data to solid-state drives (SSDs). MegaRAID controllers featuring CacheCade Pro 2.0 software can deliver up to 13X more transactions per second and an 82 percent cost savings compared to HDD-only arrays.

LSI SAS storage area network technologies boost storage bandwidth and fault tolerance, provide room for growth and reduce costs and complexity at Purdue University

MILPITAS, Calif., August 2, 2011 - LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced that Purdue University's Krannert School of Management has implemented an end-to-end SAS storage area network (SAN) based on LSI® 6Gb/s SATA+SAS host bus adapters (HBAs) and industry-first 6Gb/s SAS switch. The LSI SAS SAN solution has helped the school to optimize storage performance and utilization behind its expanded virtual server capacity; deliver an order of magnitude more storage bandwidth; and improve fault tolerance - all at a fraction of the cost of implementing a new Fibre Channel or iSCSI SAN.

Adaptec Series 6E Provides Affordable 6Gb/s RAID that Outperforms Software-based HBAs and SATA Controllers

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 11, 2011 - PMC-Sierra, Inc., ("PMC") (Nasdaq:PMCS), the network semiconductor innovator, today announced the industry's first true hardware 6Gb/s SATA/SAS RAID controllers with on-board DRAM cache for the entry-level market segment. The Adaptec by PMC family of Series 6E RAID controllers enable HBA and hardware RAID functionality in an affordable single card. Based on PMC's industry-proven PM8013 SRC 6Gb/s RAID-on-Chip (RoC) and ARC RAID stack, the entry-level Series 6 four-port 6405E and eight-port 6805E controllers also leverage compatible GUI and management utility tools featured with all Adaptec RAID controllers.

Panel discussion at the Creative Storage Conference provided attendees a look at how media and entertainment professionals in networked production environments rely on the high speed and high capacity of SAS storage

CULVER CITY, Calif., - June 28, 2011 -- During a panel presentation today at the 2011 Creative Storage Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel in West Los Angeles, Harry Mason, president of the SCSI Trade Association (STA) provided attendees with a look at how Serial Attached Storage (SAS) technology is well entrenched in nearly every aspect of enterprise storage, including the digital media and entertainment markets.

6Gb/s SAS Tachyon Controller Family Sets New Benchmark with up to 16 Ports and More Than 750,000 IOPS

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 15, 2011 - PMC-Sierra, Inc., ("PMC") (Nasdaq:PMCS), the network semiconductor innovator, today introduced its latest generation of SAS/SATA protocol controllers, which doubles the performance and port density of existing solutions. The Tachyon® SPCv family sets the industry performance benchmark for enterprise storage systems, delivering more than 750,000 I/Os per second (IOPS), integrating 16 ports and supporting advanced data protection. The trend toward solid state drives (SSDs), which can provide a greater than 100x increase in IOPS compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), is dramatically increasing performance requirements for enterprise storage systems. The Tachyon SPCv controller's innovative multi-core architecture enables storage equipment manufacturers to take full advantage of SSD performance.

PMC's Innovative Storage Solutions Accelerate SAS Adoption in Storage Systems and Servers

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 13, 2011 - PMC-Sierra, Inc. ("PMC," Nasdaq:PMCS), the network semiconductor innovator, today announced that the company has shipped more than 74 million 6Gb/s SAS system ports, establishing PMC as the leading provider of 6Gb/s SAS technology. Unprecedented demand for storage capacity and performance is fueling wide-spread deployment of 6Gb/s SAS 2.5" Small-Form-Factor Hard Disk Drives in both server and networked storage systems. PMC's end-to-end 6Gb/s SAS chipset solution, including Tachyon® SPC protocol controllers, SRCv RAID-on-Chip controllers, and the maxSAS™ family of expanders, is enabling the world's leading storage and server OEMs to rapidly transition from 3Gb/s SAS to 6Gb/s SAS with industry-leading performance, scalability and power efficiency.

San Francisco, Nov. 15, 2010 - The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the 11th Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Plugfest was held the week of October 4, 2010, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). Nineteen companies, including both STA members and non-members, attended the Plugfest. The Plugfest included the first official active cable testing program held by STA. Several interconnect providers using cables in excess of 20m were tested across several device pairings, which proved to be very successful.

High-performance, low-cost storage networking option allows storage resources to be shared across multiple servers for optimized storage utilization and simplified management

MILPITAS, Calif., October 12, 2010 - LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today introduced in the channel the industry's first 6Gb/s SAS switch. The LSITM SAS6160 switch is designed to significantly extend the capabilities of SAS in direct-attached storage (DAS) environments by allowing multiple servers to connect to one or more independent external storage systems. The 6Gb/s SAS switch offers customers a high-performance, low-cost and easy-to-use storage networking option for rack-mount server and storage installations in cloud computing, data center and managed hosting application environments.

New MegaRAID, 3ware and HBA products allow single card to directly connect up to 24 drives inside the server or externally connect up to 512 devices for efficient and simplified storage expansion

MILPITAS, Calif., July 27, 2010 ­ LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today launched in the channel new high port count 6Gb/s SATA+SAS MegaRAID® and 3ware® RAID controller cards and host bus adapters (HBAs). The new storage adapters support both internal storage and external JBOD expansion to provide customers with a scalable and reliable solution to address the growing storage requirements in application environments ranging from cloud computing and video streaming to high-performance computing and general-purpose servers.

New CTS2600 family of configurable storage components enable channel partners to build, customize, brand and sell complete external storage systems

MILPITAS, Calif., June 22, 2010 - LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today introduced the CTS2600 family of configurable storage components, offering white box channel partners a quick, efficient and cost-effective approach to build, customize, brand and sell a wide range of external storage system configurations. The unique approach using configurable components is designed to provide channel partners with the flexibility to assemble complete systems to their customers' specifications without the need for costly stocking of pre-configured systems.

Storage Technology Matures with Larger System Builds, 6Gb/s SATA and SSD Testing

San Francisco, Dec. 1, 2009 -The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the 10th Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) plugfest was held Oct. 26-30, 2009, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). The plugfest was attended by STA members and non-members.

Attending companies represented many stages of SAS product development, with differing levels of achievement and expertise. Anticipating this diversity, the plugfest was designed to accommodate testing for various stages of product development. Some attendees had attended plugfests many times before, and for others, this was their first experience. The variety of needs and goals was broad, as the attendees represented many segments of the market and its infrastructure, however, they all worked together to meet the needs of all attendees. The larger group soon divided into several sub-groups, each of which pursued their primary areas of interest.

6Gb/s SAS tests available to attendees Included:

• PHY Testing
• Pair Interoperability Testing
• Triplet Zoning Interoperability Testing
• Large System Build
• Active/Active Cable Testing (recently added to the 6Gb/s SAS specification)

Plugfest Featured Testing for Product Interoperability and Compatibility

San Francisco, Nov. 24, 2008 - The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the ninth Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) plugfest was held Nov. 10-14, 2008, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). The plugfest was attended by both STA members and non-members (see below for a list of the attending STA members).

Tests made available to attendees Included:

• Open plugfest environment allowed competitors to interconnect and test for interoperability and compatibility.
• Extensive pair-testing to prove compatibility between any two vendors.
• Pair-testing also allowed vendors the time to vary the parameters to test for margin levels.
• In addition to standard cables, active cables were also tested at longer lengths.

Next Generation SAS Storage Interface Ready for Prime Time

SAN FRANCISCO, September 29, 2008 - The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the next generation of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is ready to enter the enterprise storage market after five years of research and development.

6Gb/s SAS is the marketing name for the new technology, in contrast to the name of the standard specification, SAS-2, designated by T10. The SAS-2 specification describes the features and capabilities for 6Gb/s SAS products and STA defines 6Gb/s SAS as a required set of features. The T10 Technical Committee is under the direction of the InterNational Committee for Information and Technology Standards (INCITS).

Recent SAS Plugfest Featured Large-System Build with 3Gb/s SAS

San Francisco, July 28, 2008 — The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the eighth Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) plugfest was held June 16-19, 2008, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). The plugfest was attended by both STA member and non-member companies. See below for a list of the twenty attending STA members.

July 23-27 SAS Plugfest Featured SAS and SATA HDDs, Enclosures and Cabling Product Testing

San Francisco, August 20, 2007 - The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced today that the seventh Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) plugfest was held July 23-27, 2007, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). The plugfest was attended by both STA member and non-member companies. See page two for a list of the attending STA members.

Tests made available to attendees Included:

• Single zoning
• Multiple zones
• Interoperability of Serial ATA (SATA) drives in a SAS environment

6Gb/s SAS: An Evolutionary Step for SAS Technology (PDF)

Storage demands have continued to escalate and now require more and more complex capabilities. Thus, making it necessary for the storage industry to look beyond 3Gb/s SAS and determine what steps need to be taken to incorporate additional improvements into the SAS protocol.This paper takes a look at the evolution of the SAS protocol and examines the new capabilities that will be provided with the next step along the evolutionary process for the SAS protocol -- 6Gb/s SAS. (September 2008)

Serial Attached SCSI Establishes Its Position In The Enterprise (PDF)

With the advent of 6Gb/s SAS, the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) architecture and technology is growing its presence within traditional and non-traditional enterprise environments. This white paper will explore the roots of SAS technology, why the SAS architecture is well suited to enterprise markets and how the evolution of SAS technology expands its role in data centers. After addressing the increasing capabilities of SAS and how enterprise environments are deploying SAS, new growth opportunities will be discussed based on how the SAS architecture is adapting to the growing needs of the enterprise. (September 2008)

LSI MegaRAID® SAS 9260-8i and MegaRAID CacheCade™ Technologies Combine for Supercomputing Performance Breakthroughs

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) provides data management to some of the most challenging astronomy projects ever conceived.

One such project is the Dark Energy Survey (www.darkenergysurvey.org). This large scale project involving more than 120 scientists from 23 institutions in the United States, Brazil, Spain, and the United Kingdom will collect digital data from astronomical observations in the attempt to solve one of today's great scientific mysteries: why the expansion of the universe seems to be speeding up. NCSA is tasked with processing the data, identifying the galaxies and stars in digital maps of the heavens, and storing it all in a database expected to grow by 400GB daily over the one and a half year life of the project to approximately 200TB of raw image data.

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