SCSI Adapters suit high-performance applications.

Press Release Summary:



PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI units and PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID units are 64-bit, 3.3 V adapters with 320 MBps data rate. Former includes 2 SCSI channels and internal/external busses and supports target mode. Latter consists of bootable adapters that include RAID 0, 5, or 10 capability that can address up to thirty 16-bit SCSI physical disk drives on 2 independent SCSI buses. All adapters use low-voltage differential drivers and receivers.



Original Press Release:



PCI-X Ultra320 SCSI Adapters and Enablement Feature Improve IBM eserver pSeries System Capabilities and Performance



At a glance

The new PCI-X Ultra320 SCSI adapter features include:

o Up to two Ultra320 SCSI channels per adapter

o Up to 320 MBps data transfer rate per channel

o Ultra320 disk drives with a 320 MBps data rate

For ordering, contact:

Your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or the Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL (Reference: RE001).

Overview

These new adapters can provide an excellent solution for your high-performance SCSI applications:

o The PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI and PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Blind Swap adapters

o The PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID and PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Blind Swap adapters

o The pSeries® Dual Channel SCSI RAID Enablement card

The previously announced Ultra3 disk drives and selected system backplanes (160 MBps data rate) are being re-announced and re-named as Ultra320 (320 MBps data rate). These features include:

3273

3274

3275

3277

3278

System backplanes re-named Ultra320 include:

6429

6579

6574

Key prerequisites

o A supported pSeries system with an appropriate 3.3-volt PCI-X or PCI bus slot for the adapters

o A supported pSeries system with an appropriate planar with available card socket for the enablement card

o AIX® V5.1 or V5.2, or later, operating system with appropriate updates

Planned availability date

October 31, 2003

Description

PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI adapter

PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Blind Swap adapter

These 64-bit 3.3-volt adapters include two SCSI channels (busses) capable of running 320 MBps (maximum), up to twice the maximum data transfer rate of the previous Dual Channel Ultra3 SCSI adapter (160 MBps). Each SCSI bus can either be internal or external. Internally attached Ultra320 devices run at a data rate of up to 320 MBps on systems that have internal backplanes that are capable of supporting Ultra320 speeds.

These adapters are native boot adapters with AIX 5.1 or 5.2 software in a supported pSeries system. These adapters also support target mode.

PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID adapter

PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Blind Swap adapter

These 64-bit 3.3-volt, bootable high-performance adapters have a data rate of up to 320 MBps. They include RAID 0, 5, or 10 capability that can address up to 30 16-bit SCSI physical disk drives on two independent SCSI buses.

A 40 MB fast-write cache is resident on the adapter and can increase the data-writing performance. This cache can provide a significant improvement in data throughput and response time during certain sequence write operations compared to SCSI RAID adapters without the fast-write cache. The response time and data transfer improvement will vary depending upon the data block sizes, the percentage of sequential writes, machine type/model, and application parameters.

Both adapters have two independent Ultra320 SCSI buses. There are two internal ports and two external ports. The two internal ports are shared with the two external ports. The SCSI busses can drive either an internal port or an external port. The internal ports can be used to provide an internal RAID solution on certain supporting pSeries systems with internal multiple disk drives or packs of drives. Internally attached Ultra320 devices run at a data rate of up to 320 MBps on systems that have internal backplanes that are capable of supporting Ultra320 speeds.

The two external ports connect to an IBM 2104-DS4 Expandable Storage Plus Drawer or 2104-TS4 Expandable Storage Plus Tower at up to 320 MBps SCSI bus data rate configured as either a non-array or an array of disks. Also the two external ports provide non-array connectivity to numerous other SCSI external subsystems. Check the external subsystem sales/Web pages for verification of connectivity support with this adapter.

For all adapters: In order to achieve an Ultra320 SCSI bus data rate of up to 320 MBps and also maintain a reasonable drive distance, the adapter uses low-voltage differential (LVD) drivers and receivers. To fully utilize this 320 MBps performance, all attaching devices should also be Ultra320 LVD devices. If Ultra2, Ultra3, or Ultra320 devices coexist on the same bus, each device will operate at its rated speed. For lower speed single-ended (SE) devices, the SCSI bus will switch to SE performance and interface to all devices on that SCSI bus at the lower SE bus data rate of the device.

Two industry-standard VHDCI 68-pin connectors are mounted on the adapter's end bracket allowing attachment of various LVD and SE external subsystems. A .3-meter converter cable, VHDCI to P, mini-68 pin to 68-pin, (#2118) can be used with older external SE devices or subsystems to allow connection to the VHDCI connector on the adapter.

Dual Channel SCSI RAID Enablement Card (#5709)

This card is a bootable high-performance SCSI RAID Enablement feature with RAID 0, 5, or 10 capability to select pSeries systems with the appropriate supporting integrated SCSI adapter. The enablement card is an internal RAID solution on supporting pSeries systems with internal multiple disk drives or packs of drives.

To increase the data-writing performance, a 16 MB non-volatile fast-write cache is provided as a resident part of this feature. The 16 MB fast-write cache can provide an improvement in data throughput and response time during certain sequence write operations compared to SCSI RAID adapters without the fast-write cache. The response time and data transfer improvement will vary depending upon the data block sizes, the percentage of sequential writes, machine type/model, and application parameters.

All RAID adapters and cards: When an array configuration is selected with the RAID Manager, the disk drives being designated as part of the array (attached to either the internal or external ports) are required to be formatted to 522 byte sectors. 522 byte sectors provide additional CRC error-checking for improved data integrity. A menu option is provided in the AIX supporting software which will reformat these disk drives before their usage in an array. When a disk drive is removed from an array, a similar menu option is available to re-format them back to 512 byte sectors.

Note: Some disk drives require that their microcode be updated to the latest level before being formatted to 522 byte sectors. Also, there are some disk drives which do not support being formatted to 522 byte sectors. The PCI-X SCSI Disk Array Manager will inform the user of these known situations when they exist. For disk microcode updates, visit:

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/mdownload/

Ultra320 SCSI 4-Pack for Disk Mirroring (#6584)

This includes an enclosure that can contain up to four Ultra320 SCSI disk drives. This disk-mirroring product requires feature number 5712, the PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Adapter, or feature number 5703, the PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Adapter, or a follow-on, and feature number 4267, the PCI-X adapter to hot-swap disk enclosure cable.

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Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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