LSI Logic delivers Serial Attached SCSI controller IC

LSI Logic announced today that it has delivered and verified the first single-chip 3Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controller IC.

SAS protocol and both initiator and target mode functionality have been verified. The 3Gb/s controller, an LSISAS1064, uses Fusion-MPT(TM) (Message Passing Technology) architecture to speed OEM system development. Because the SAS physical layer is compatible with Serial ATA (SATA), users will have the choice of populating their systems with SAS or SATA hard disk drives, or a combination of both.

SAS technology enables SCSI interface solutions beyond Ultra320 to the next-generation Direct Attach Storage (DAS) enterprise server and high-performance workstation markets while retaining device-level backward compatibility. The SAS standard defines a device-level enterprise storage interface incorporating SCSI command sets, serial point-to-point interconnections, dual porting, increased addressability and the ability to scale to small form factors.

LSI Logic's silicon has now verified performance in key OEM benefit areas such as:

-- Higher performance
- Full duplex, 3Gb/s end-to-end data transfers direct to SAS drivesand 1.5 Gb/s data transmission to SATA drives
- Bandwidth aggregation
-- Increased reliability and availability
- More extensive error recovery techniques, multi-initiator and dual-active port support
- Serial cable interface at 3Gb/s
-- Greater scalability
- Extended physical device addressing range
- Connection to out-of-box storage, 8-meter cable length
- Port aggregation
-- Greater cost and device flexibility
- Connection through the expander to SATA drives
- Support for both SAS and SATA drives (common physical interface)
- Initiator and target mode functionality
- Support for 3.5-inch and small form factor 2.5-inch disk drives
-- Industry standards interoperability
- SAS protocol compliance: SSP (Serial Attached SCSI protocol), full Serial ATA Tunneling Protocol (STP), SATA protocol, and Serial Management Protocol (SMP)
- Data transmissions through expander with wide-port capability

In 2003, LSI Logic pioneered SAS/SATA disk drive interoperability jointly testing with Fujitsu, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Maxtor and Seagate Technology; was first to publicly demonstrate the exchange of data between SAS prototype devices (July 2003 T10 meeting); was first to prove SAS/SATA prototype drive interoperability (October 2003 Maxtor Serial-In-A-Box Technology Symposium) and was first to show a functional SAS wide-port demonstration (with an HP system at Comdex 2003) using SAS prototype drives, production SATA drives and two SAS expander prototypes.