BusinessWire
June 05, 2007 02:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

PMC-Sierra Announces Industry’s First 6Gbit/s SAS RAID-on-Chip Controller for Volume Server Market

SRC 8x6G RoC, with Innovative RoCstar Contention-Free Architecture, Enables Next Generation SAS 2.0 Enterprise Server Storage Solutions

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PMC-Sierra, Inc. (Nasdaq:PMCS) today announced the PM8010 SRC 8x6G, the industry’s first 6Gbit/s RAID-on-Chip (RoC) controller for next generation server architectures. The RAID controller targets the x86 volume server segment, which represented almost seven million units in 2006, and is expected to grow at more than seven percent annually, according to IDC. The SRC 8x6G’s RoCstar™ architecture harnesses the full throughput of SAS 2.0 and PCI Express 2.0, more than doubling the performance of existing solutions and enabling a new class of enterprise servers. The SRC 8x6G, together with PMC-Sierra’s maxSAS™ expanders and multiplexers, provides a complete server storage chip set solution (see Figure 1).

“PMC-Sierra continues to demonstrate both technology and product leadership in the Enterprise storage semiconductor market,” said Bob Bailey, chairman and CEO, PMC-Sierra, Inc. “With the introduction of the SRC 8x6G, we are leveraging our strengths in high-performance embedded processor design, storage protocol controllers and multi-gigabit serial technology to offer a market-leading 6Gbit/s SAS/SATA RAID-on-Chip solution. The SRC 8x6G will enable our customers to cost-effectively develop and deploy next-generation servers with more than double the storage throughput performance compared to current 3G SAS based RoC solutions.”

Data center demands for higher computing power, networking bandwidth and support for virtualization applications are driving system requirements for improved host bus interface, input-output, and RAID performance. PMC-Sierra’s RoC device is SAS 2.0 compliant, doubling the storage throughput to 6Gbit/s and enabling a new level of system reliability, availability and scalability. The SRC 8x6G is also compliant to the PCI Express 2.0 standard, doubling the host bus interface bandwidth to 5Gbit/s and improving power management, diagnostics and virtualization capabilities.

“Customers have come to rely on the HP ProLiant and BladeSystem platforms for unmatched performance and reliability for their business-critical application needs,” said Mike Gill, vice president of Industry Standard Servers, HP. “As the first vendor to offer a full portfolio of SAS-based servers, HP is pleased to be working with PMC-Sierra on next generation SAS RAID-on-Chip designs. We look forward to delivering robust, leading edge server storage solutions based on these devices to our customers.”

The device’s breakthrough RoCstar architecture efficiently interconnects all device subsystems, eliminating internal bottlenecks and resource contentions that have plagued today’s shared-bus solutions (see Figure 2). By enabling simultaneous access to all chip resources, RoCstar technology improves system performance by increasing I/O throughput and lowering latency. IT professionals will see a marked performance increase in time-critical functions such as RAID rebuilds and data backup.

The SRC 8x6G is the first RAID solution to integrate the latest in host, drive and memory interface standards with RAID hardware acceleration and an advanced processor subsystem. The device integrates numerous other advanced features, including:

* 8 Port SAS 2.0 Controller compatible with 6.0/3.0/1.5 Gbit/s SAS/SATA;
* 8 Lane PCI Express 2.0 host interface - full duplex 2.5/5.0 Gbit/s per lane;
* RoCstar contention-free architecture;
* DDR2-800 Memory Controller;
* High performance MIPS-based™ multi-processor subsystem;
* Block DMA engine; and
* Hardware XOR and Reed-Solomon Engines for RAID 5 and 6 acceleration.

Availability

The PM8010 maxSAS SRC 8x6G and evaluation boards are available now to select partners. For more information, including datasheets and pricing, please visit http://www.pmc-sierra.com/storage or contact PMC-Sierra at sales@pmc-sierra.com.

PMC-Sierra maxSAS Product Family

Product Description Package/Process

PM8010 SRC
8x6G
8 port 6Gbit/s SAS/SATA RAID-on-Chip Controller with PCI-Express 2.0 x8 Interface

27mm x 27mm

672-ball FCBGA

90nm CMOS

PM8398 SXP
36x3GSec
36 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SAS Expander with Secure Zoning and Integrated Enclosure Management

27mm x 27mm

352-ball CSBGA

0.13 μm CMOS

PM8399 SXP
24x3GSec
24 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SAS Expander with Secure Zoning and Integrated Enclosure Management

27mm x 27mm

352-ball CSBGA

0.13μm CMOS

PM8387 SXP
36x3G
36 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SAS Expander with Integrated Enclosure Management

27mm x 27mm

352-ball CSBGA

0.13μm CMOS

PM8388 SXP
24x3G
24 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SAS Expander with Integrated Enclosure Management

27mm x 27mm

352-ball CSBGA

0.13μm CMOS

PM8383 SXP
12x3G
12 port 3Gbit/s SAS Expander

23mm x 23 mm

228-ball CSBGA

0.18μm CMOS

PM8381 SXP
6x3G
6 port 3Gbit/s SAS Expander 20mm x 20mm

144-ball TQFP

0.18μm CMOS

PM8305 SPS
3G
4 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SATA/SAS Active/Active Mux with Native Command Queuing 10 mm x 10 mm

80-ball TQFP

0.18μm CMOS

PM8307 SPS
3GT
3 port 1.5 and 3 Gbit/s SATA/SAS Active/Active Mux with Native Command Queuing 10 mm x 10 mm

80-ball TQFP

0.18μm CMOS

PM8380
QuadSMX 3G
4 port 1.5/3G SAS/SATA 2:1 multiplexer and backplane repeater 11mm x 11mm

100-ball BGA

0.18μm CMOS

PM8389
SMC-L
SAS/SATA Storage Management Controller 15mm x 15mm

196-ball CABGA

0.18μm CMOS

About PMC-Sierra’s Storage Products

PMC-Sierra is a leading provider of enterprise storage system solutions for networked (SAN/NAS) and server storage applications, with a broad portfolio of Fibre Channel and SAS/SATA protocol controllers, RAID controllers and disk interconnect products. PMC-Sierra’s Tachyon® protocol controllers, Fibre Channel loop switches, enclosure management controllers and maxSAS expander switches and multiplexers provide the most comprehensive solution for enterprise-class storage systems. Together, these products are providing end-to-end semiconductor and software solutions to the industry’s leading storage OEMs and ODMs. For more information, visit http://www.pmc-sierra.com/storage.

About PMC-Sierra

PMC-SierraTM is a leading provider of broadband communications and storage semiconductors for metro, access, fiber to the home, wireless infrastructure, storage, laser printers, and fiber access gateway equipment. PMC-Sierra offers worldwide technical and sales support, including a network of offices throughout North America, Europe, Israel and Asia. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the PMCS symbol and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information, visit www.pmc-sierra.com.

Attachments:

Figure 1: Server Attached Storage Application End-to-End Solution

Figure 2: PM8010 SRC 8x6G SAS RAID Controller RoCstar Architecture

For figures visit: http://www.pmc-sierra.com/news_room/pdf/PM8010_figures.pdf

For photos visit: http://www.pmc-sierra.com/news_room/images/PM8010.jpg

Resources to Extend Your Product Knowledge and Understanding

SAS 2.0 Educational Website www.sas6g.org

PMC-Sierra New Products www.pmc-sierra.com/products/newProducts.html

PMC-Sierra Storage White Papers www.pmc-sierra.com/whitepaper