August 5, 2015 at 14:30Modern Adaptec RAID Controllers from A to Z. Part 2
Previously, I published the first part, which described general information about RAID controllers (for the basics, read here ), there were questions and interest, I’m already laying out a “meat” piece. Everything is very specific here - a detailed classification of Adaptec controllers, the functions of each series of controllers, tables, pictures, etc.
Adaptec RAID product lineup.
Adaptec controller classification
You can try to imagine the enhancement of the stack functions relative to the class of projects in this table graphically in order to give the table visualization.
Table of application models in terms of support for SSD drives.
The next generation of RAID controllers and HBAs will provide even more powerful support for using a large number of SSD drives on the controller. The number of disks indicated in the table has an approximate value. More accurate performance calculations are not indicated in this article; they can be performed by integrator companies.
The dependence of the choice of RAID controller model on the number of server system users is shown in the table below (active users are indicated). The figures are quite approximate, and are given in order to understand the trend in the use of certain models.
And one more important point. As all textbooks devoted to the design of complex systems strongly recommend, the project should take into account not only present, but future requirements for the system.
There is also a dependency on applications. For example, SSD caching speeds up reading-oriented applications. Fortunately, this is more than 90% of Internet applications. Caching is also possible for write operations, but this is more like a “nice addition” to reading due to the nature of the applications themselves.
Now consider the controller models in more detail.
6th series of Adaptec RAID controllers.
General characteristics of the 6th series controllers:
• Based on the RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PM8013 8x SAS2 (6Gb / s) PMC-Sierra ports (for more information, see www.pmcs.com;
• Models with the maximum number of ports - 8 SAS 2.0 ports (6Gb / s), and an 8x PCI-express Gen 2.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 512MB DDR2-667 DRAM.
• Optionally they can use the Adaptec Flash Module Cache Protection Kit (AFM-600 Kit) which includes:
o Daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit
Adaptec RAID 6805 with AFM-600 Flash Module.
Series 6 controllers at the stack level support:
Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 1E, 5, 6, 50, 60 Hybrid RAID 1, 10.
Maximum controller core performance 50,000 IOPS (4 KB blocks, random read).
Performance for sequential patterns in the table below.
Family 6T.
The main purpose of the appearance of such 6T family controllers is to exclude situations when the inflexible part of the cable (part about 2 cm long after the connector) rests on the server cover or body, the processor heatsink, or other parts of the server. To do this, on the 6th series of controllers, the ports are located so that the inflexible part of the cable does not go beyond the geometric boundaries of the controller. Marked with a green arrow in the figure. The blue box is the inflexible part of the cable.
Adaptec RAID 6805T with AFM-600 Flash Module.
Family 6E
RAID controllers for entry-level projects. RAM is reduced compared to conventional 6th series controllers, the stack is simplified, there is no support for cache protection and expanders. They have a simplified stack, only support Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0,1, 10, 1E, i.e. there is no support for RAID 5,5EE, 6, 50, 60, but they support Hybrid RAID 1, 10 (see the section " Hybrid Volumes ”in the chapter“ Basic RAID controller functions ”below.
The 6405E supports maximum 4 disks. The 6805E has 8 disks (since there is no support for SAS expanders). The 6405E has a PCI-E 1x slot, the 6805E has a PCI-E 4x slot ver. 2.
Ports of the 6th series
controllers The entire family of 6th series RAID controllers supports only Mini-SAS ports.
The connector is used for internal ports - SFF 8087 (internal mini-SAS),
for external ports - SFF-8088 (external mini-SAS).
Summary table for 6th series controllers.
7th Adaptec RAID Series
Adaptec RAID 71605.
The first PCIe 3.0 LP MD2 controller with 16 SAS / SATA 6 Gb / s ports.
The first half-length PCIe 3.0 controller with 24 ports.
The first solution to take full advantage of the PCIe 3.0 bus.
The first solution, providing 450 thousand IOPS and 6600 MB / s.
The first solution focused on creating volumes based on SSD.
For the first time, the connection of external RBOD racks, tape devices and autoloaders is fully allowed.
General characteristics of the 7th series controllers:
• Based on the SRCv RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PM8015 SRCv 24x SAS2 port (6Gb / s) PMC-Sierra (for more information, see www.pmcs.com );
• Models with a maximum number of ports - 24 SAS 2.0 ports (6Gb / s), and an 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 1024 MB DDR3-1333 DRAM.
o Optionally, they can use the Adaptec Flash Module cache protection kit (AFM-700), which includes:
o A daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit.
Stack level 7 Series controllers support: Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 1E, 5, 6, 50, 60, Hybrid RAID 1, 10 and HBA mode.
Starting from the 7th RAID series, the controllers support HBA mode, i.e. in fact, it is not exactly a RAID controller, it is a RAID controller and HBA on one board. See the “HBA Mode” section for a description of product features.
RAID 5EE has been discontinued (the reason is that the performance of RAID6 due to the strengthening of the architecture of the RoC chip is equal to RAID5EE, and in all other respects it is reliable, easy to maintain, etc. RAID 6 is similar or better than RAID5EE, which deprives meaning the existence of RAID 5EE in the stack of a modern RAID controller).
The maximum performance of the controller core is 600,000 IOPS.
The entire 7 Series RAID family of controllers supports only miniSAS-HD ports.
For internal ports, the connector is used - SFF-8643 (internal mini-SAS HD),
for external - SFF-8644 (external mini-SAS HD).
Pay attention to the balance of the SAS and PCI-E bandwidths using the 71605 controller as the only solution in the industry with 16 SAS2 ports in a low-profile version.
Family 7E
RAID controllers for entry-level projects. RAM is reduced compared to conventional 6th series controllers, the stack is simplified, there is no support for cache protection. They have a simplified stack, only support Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0,1, 10, 1E, i.e. there is no support for RAID 5,5EE, 6, 50, 60, but they support Hybrid RAID 1, 10 (see the section " Hybrid Volumes ”in the“ Basic RAID Controller Features ”chapter below).
Unlike 6E, the 7E family supports expanders and has the same 8X PCI-E slot as controllers without an “E” index.
7Q Family 7Q family
RAID controllers feature SSD caching. Supports cache allocation at the logical drive level. The remaining capacity can be used as a regular RAID volume. Supported cache for reading and writing. See the section “SSD Caching” in the “Basic RAID Controller Functions” section below for more information.
Summary table for 7 Series controllers.
8th Adaptec RAID Controller Series
General characteristics of the 8th series controllers.
The 8th series of RAID controllers is the flagship group of RAID controllers at the beginning of 2015. And it is already based on SAS3 technology (12 Gb / s). The family includes the industry's only 16-port SAS 12 Gb / s RAID controller with built-in flash cache redundancy - all in the LP / MD2 form factor - ASR-81605ZQ. The industry's highest for RAID controllers is 700,000 I / O operations per second (IOPS). Max Cache 3.0, industry-leading tiering and caching software, provides storage with the best cost-effectiveness and performance.
The ASR-8885 has 8 internal / external SAS3 ports of 12 Gb / s in the low profile LP / MD2 form factor:
• Based on the SRCv RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PMC PM8063 16x SAS3 ports (12 Gb / s) PMC-Sierra (for more information, see www.pmcs.com );
• Models with a maximum number of ports - 12 SAS 3.0 ports (12 Gb / s) and an 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 1024 MB DDR3-1600 DRAM;
• HD miniSAS connectors.
o Optionally, they can use the Adaptec Flash Module cache protection kit (AFM-700), which includes:
o A daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit.
The AFM-700 model of the cache protection module is suitable for the 7th and 8th series of Adaptec controllers.
8Q family
The 8Q family of RAID controllers supports SSD caching. Supports cache allocation at the logical drive level. The remaining capacity can be used as a regular RAID volume. Supported cache for reading and writing. See the section “SSD Caching” in the “Basic RAID Controller Functions” section below for more information.
Summary table for 8th series controllers.
Adaptec RAID 81605ZQ with connected supercapacitor unit.
6th series HBA Adaptec
Adaptec SAS HBA 6805H.
General characteristics of the HBA 6H series:
• Extremely effective, in terms of price, HBA solutions that provide 4/8 internal SAS ports (SAS2 technologies 6Gb / s);
• Performance 250,000 IOPS with block size. 512 bytes and 200,000 IOPS with a block size of 4K bytes;
• All models have low-profile size LP / MD2 and use MiniSAS connectors;
• The family uses 4x PCI-express Gen 2.0.
Pivot table for HBA 6th series.
7th series HBA Adaptec.
Adaptec SAS HBA 71605H.
General characteristics of the HBA 7H series:
• Extremely efficient, in terms of price, HBA solutions that provide 16/8 internal or external SAS ports (SAS2 technology 6Gb / s);
• Performance 1 million IOPS with block size. 512 bytes and 800,000 IOPS with a block size of 4K bytes;
• Support non-disk devices;
• All models have low-profile size LP / MD2 and use MiniSAS-HD connectors;
• The family uses 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0.
Summary table for HBA 7th series.
A general look at the core of the product line in terms of support for RAID and HBA functions.
Information provided by Adaptec by PMC (Russia). The full article can be found on the Adaptec website .
Other Trinity articles can be found in the Trinity hub . Subscribe!
Adaptec RAID product lineup.
Adaptec controller classification
You can try to imagine the enhancement of the stack functions relative to the class of projects in this table graphically in order to give the table visualization.
Table of application models in terms of support for SSD drives.
The next generation of RAID controllers and HBAs will provide even more powerful support for using a large number of SSD drives on the controller. The number of disks indicated in the table has an approximate value. More accurate performance calculations are not indicated in this article; they can be performed by integrator companies.
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The dependence of the choice of RAID controller model on the number of server system users is shown in the table below (active users are indicated). The figures are quite approximate, and are given in order to understand the trend in the use of certain models.
And one more important point. As all textbooks devoted to the design of complex systems strongly recommend, the project should take into account not only present, but future requirements for the system.
There is also a dependency on applications. For example, SSD caching speeds up reading-oriented applications. Fortunately, this is more than 90% of Internet applications. Caching is also possible for write operations, but this is more like a “nice addition” to reading due to the nature of the applications themselves.
Now consider the controller models in more detail.
6th series of Adaptec RAID controllers.
General characteristics of the 6th series controllers:
• Based on the RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PM8013 8x SAS2 (6Gb / s) PMC-Sierra ports (for more information, see www.pmcs.com;
• Models with the maximum number of ports - 8 SAS 2.0 ports (6Gb / s), and an 8x PCI-express Gen 2.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 512MB DDR2-667 DRAM.
• Optionally they can use the Adaptec Flash Module Cache Protection Kit (AFM-600 Kit) which includes:
o Daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit
Adaptec RAID 6805 with AFM-600 Flash Module.
Series 6 controllers at the stack level support:
Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 1E, 5, 6, 50, 60 Hybrid RAID 1, 10.
Maximum controller core performance 50,000 IOPS (4 KB blocks, random read).
Performance for sequential patterns in the table below.
Family 6T.
The main purpose of the appearance of such 6T family controllers is to exclude situations when the inflexible part of the cable (part about 2 cm long after the connector) rests on the server cover or body, the processor heatsink, or other parts of the server. To do this, on the 6th series of controllers, the ports are located so that the inflexible part of the cable does not go beyond the geometric boundaries of the controller. Marked with a green arrow in the figure. The blue box is the inflexible part of the cable.
Adaptec RAID 6805T with AFM-600 Flash Module.
Family 6E
RAID controllers for entry-level projects. RAM is reduced compared to conventional 6th series controllers, the stack is simplified, there is no support for cache protection and expanders. They have a simplified stack, only support Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0,1, 10, 1E, i.e. there is no support for RAID 5,5EE, 6, 50, 60, but they support Hybrid RAID 1, 10 (see the section " Hybrid Volumes ”in the chapter“ Basic RAID controller functions ”below.
The 6405E supports maximum 4 disks. The 6805E has 8 disks (since there is no support for SAS expanders). The 6405E has a PCI-E 1x slot, the 6805E has a PCI-E 4x slot ver. 2.
Ports of the 6th series
controllers The entire family of 6th series RAID controllers supports only Mini-SAS ports.
The connector is used for internal ports - SFF 8087 (internal mini-SAS),
for external ports - SFF-8088 (external mini-SAS).
Summary table for 6th series controllers.
7th Adaptec RAID Series
Adaptec RAID 71605.
The first PCIe 3.0 LP MD2 controller with 16 SAS / SATA 6 Gb / s ports.
The first half-length PCIe 3.0 controller with 24 ports.
The first solution to take full advantage of the PCIe 3.0 bus.
The first solution, providing 450 thousand IOPS and 6600 MB / s.
The first solution focused on creating volumes based on SSD.
For the first time, the connection of external RBOD racks, tape devices and autoloaders is fully allowed.
General characteristics of the 7th series controllers:
• Based on the SRCv RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PM8015 SRCv 24x SAS2 port (6Gb / s) PMC-Sierra (for more information, see www.pmcs.com );
• Models with a maximum number of ports - 24 SAS 2.0 ports (6Gb / s), and an 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 1024 MB DDR3-1333 DRAM.
o Optionally, they can use the Adaptec Flash Module cache protection kit (AFM-700), which includes:
o A daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit.
Stack level 7 Series controllers support: Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 1E, 5, 6, 50, 60, Hybrid RAID 1, 10 and HBA mode.
Starting from the 7th RAID series, the controllers support HBA mode, i.e. in fact, it is not exactly a RAID controller, it is a RAID controller and HBA on one board. See the “HBA Mode” section for a description of product features.
RAID 5EE has been discontinued (the reason is that the performance of RAID6 due to the strengthening of the architecture of the RoC chip is equal to RAID5EE, and in all other respects it is reliable, easy to maintain, etc. RAID 6 is similar or better than RAID5EE, which deprives meaning the existence of RAID 5EE in the stack of a modern RAID controller).
The maximum performance of the controller core is 600,000 IOPS.
The entire 7 Series RAID family of controllers supports only miniSAS-HD ports.
For internal ports, the connector is used - SFF-8643 (internal mini-SAS HD),
for external - SFF-8644 (external mini-SAS HD).
Pay attention to the balance of the SAS and PCI-E bandwidths using the 71605 controller as the only solution in the industry with 16 SAS2 ports in a low-profile version.
Family 7E
RAID controllers for entry-level projects. RAM is reduced compared to conventional 6th series controllers, the stack is simplified, there is no support for cache protection. They have a simplified stack, only support Simple Volume, JBOD, RAID 0,1, 10, 1E, i.e. there is no support for RAID 5,5EE, 6, 50, 60, but they support Hybrid RAID 1, 10 (see the section " Hybrid Volumes ”in the“ Basic RAID Controller Features ”chapter below).
Unlike 6E, the 7E family supports expanders and has the same 8X PCI-E slot as controllers without an “E” index.
7Q Family 7Q family
RAID controllers feature SSD caching. Supports cache allocation at the logical drive level. The remaining capacity can be used as a regular RAID volume. Supported cache for reading and writing. See the section “SSD Caching” in the “Basic RAID Controller Functions” section below for more information.
Summary table for 7 Series controllers.
8th Adaptec RAID Controller Series
General characteristics of the 8th series controllers.
The 8th series of RAID controllers is the flagship group of RAID controllers at the beginning of 2015. And it is already based on SAS3 technology (12 Gb / s). The family includes the industry's only 16-port SAS 12 Gb / s RAID controller with built-in flash cache redundancy - all in the LP / MD2 form factor - ASR-81605ZQ. The industry's highest for RAID controllers is 700,000 I / O operations per second (IOPS). Max Cache 3.0, industry-leading tiering and caching software, provides storage with the best cost-effectiveness and performance.
The ASR-8885 has 8 internal / external SAS3 ports of 12 Gb / s in the low profile LP / MD2 form factor:
• Based on the SRCv RoC chip (RAID on Chip) PMC PM8063 16x SAS3 ports (12 Gb / s) PMC-Sierra (for more information, see www.pmcs.com );
• Models with a maximum number of ports - 12 SAS 3.0 ports (12 Gb / s) and an 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0 slot;
• Cache memory - 1024 MB DDR3-1600 DRAM;
• HD miniSAS connectors.
o Optionally, they can use the Adaptec Flash Module cache protection kit (AFM-700), which includes:
o A daughter board with flash memory;
o Remote supercapacitor unit.
The AFM-700 model of the cache protection module is suitable for the 7th and 8th series of Adaptec controllers.
8Q family
The 8Q family of RAID controllers supports SSD caching. Supports cache allocation at the logical drive level. The remaining capacity can be used as a regular RAID volume. Supported cache for reading and writing. See the section “SSD Caching” in the “Basic RAID Controller Functions” section below for more information.
Summary table for 8th series controllers.
Adaptec RAID 81605ZQ with connected supercapacitor unit.
6th series HBA Adaptec
Adaptec SAS HBA 6805H.
General characteristics of the HBA 6H series:
• Extremely effective, in terms of price, HBA solutions that provide 4/8 internal SAS ports (SAS2 technologies 6Gb / s);
• Performance 250,000 IOPS with block size. 512 bytes and 200,000 IOPS with a block size of 4K bytes;
• All models have low-profile size LP / MD2 and use MiniSAS connectors;
• The family uses 4x PCI-express Gen 2.0.
Pivot table for HBA 6th series.
7th series HBA Adaptec.
Adaptec SAS HBA 71605H.
General characteristics of the HBA 7H series:
• Extremely efficient, in terms of price, HBA solutions that provide 16/8 internal or external SAS ports (SAS2 technology 6Gb / s);
• Performance 1 million IOPS with block size. 512 bytes and 800,000 IOPS with a block size of 4K bytes;
• Support non-disk devices;
• All models have low-profile size LP / MD2 and use MiniSAS-HD connectors;
• The family uses 8x PCI-express Gen 3.0.
Summary table for HBA 7th series.
A general look at the core of the product line in terms of support for RAID and HBA functions.
Information provided by Adaptec by PMC (Russia). The full article can be found on the Adaptec website .
Other Trinity articles can be found in the Trinity hub . Subscribe!
