Adaptec has announced a new family of entry-level RAID controllers that support RAID 0, 1, and 10. The Series 2 RAID controllers ship with open-source Linux drivers and are designed for controlling low-cost SATA and SAS disk and tape-drive systems, says the company.

(Click for larger view of the Series 2 Adaptec RAID 2405)

The Series 2 RAID 2405 and 2045 controllers are based on the same “Unified Serial” technology and dual-core RAID-on-Chip (ROC) architecture used by Adaptec's higher-end Series 5 RAID controllers, says the company. According to Adaptec, most entry-level RAID systems use software-based RAID, which limits performance and configurability. With its 800MHz ROC processor, backed up by 128MB of DDR2 cache, the Series 2 cards provide hardware-based RAID 0, 1 and 10 support, says Adaptec, with the RAID operation fully independent of the server and its operating system (OS).

The company touts the RoHS compliant controllers' high degree of configurability, thanks to both internal- and external-port versions. The Series 2 Adaptec RAID 2405 version comes with four internal ports and is sold with or without a fanout cable (kit version), and the RAID 2045 instead offers four external ports. The controllers are said to support up to 128 SATA/SAS devices through SAS expanders.

Tiered storage configuration using Adaptec “Unified Serial” technology

The controllers come with open-source Linux drivers, says the company, providing an exceptionally wide variety of driver support while reducing vulnerability to viruses. The controllers are said to offer compatibility with more than 300 SATA/SAS devices, including midplanes, disk drives, and tape drives, and are “plug and play” compatible with Linux drivers 2.4.2 or later. The boards also come with Adaptec Storage Manager software, which is said to offer single-view centralized management of all connected Adaptec RAID controllers.

Both the 2405 and 2045 Series 2 models offer the following features, says Adaptec:

• 4 x internal (2405) or external (2045) ports
• 800MHz dual-core RAID on Chip (ROC) processor
• High-performance RAID 0, 1 & 10
• 128MB DDR2 cache
• Supports SATA and SAS tape drives
• 3Gbps throughput at each drive port
• 8-lane PCI Express host interface
• Enclosure management support via LED header and SES2/SGPIO
• 2.5 x 6.6 inches (167 x 64 mm)
• OS support — Linux, Windows, SCO, and Solaris

Stated Suresh Panikar, Adaptec's director, Worldwide Marketing, “Customers who have specific storage needs — increased RAID performance for disk drives, tape backup, or are working with applications based on Linux — will find our Series 2 controllers exceed those needs.”

Availability

The Series 2 Adaptec RAID 2405 Kit ($250), Adaptec 2405 Single ($225), and Adaptec 2045 Single ($250) are scheduled to ship through the usual Adaptec channels by May 30th, says Adaptec. More information may be found here.

 
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