SATA Card Offers Flexibility

The new device features four external Serial ATA (SATA) II ports and supports RAID 5 and JBOD. Along with the Addonics Disk Array 4SA system, it can be used to build storage systems that rival the performance of traditional SCSI systems at less than half the cost.

PRODUCT SNAPSHOT
>SATA II RAID5/JBOD Controller
COMPANY: Addonics Technologies.
San Jose, Calif.
(408) 433-3899
www.addonics.com
DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro
MODEL: ADS3GX4R5-E
PRICE: $129 MSRP

The controller permits the maximum SATA II data throughput of 3 Gbps per port on a PCI-X bus and uses the latest SATA connectors for enhanced EMI protection. External cabling can be up to seven feet in length. Four drives attached to the controller can be configured as RAID 1, RAID 0, RAID 1+0 or RAID 1+S. A sustained throughput of up to 200 Mbps can be achieved using four standard 7,000-rpm SATA drives in a RAID 0 configuration. The card works with any SATA drive, even supporting drives with a capacity of 137 Gbytes or larger.

The Addonics SATA II controller features four external SATA II connectors. Drives can be configured individually or in a JBOD fashion, combining them into one giant storage pool.

System builders can use whatever enclosures they prefer, and Addonics offers several options. One good example is Disk Array 4SA, which accommodates up to four 3.5-inch SATA I or SATA II hard drives. Each drive can be permanently secured or removed from the disk array via an aluminum drive drawer. Using an optional external SATA power supply, each drive can be removed from the disk array and used to transfer data between computers.

External SATA connectors are new and might not be readily available, but Addonics offers complete cabling options for external SATA applications. All of the external SATA cables are constructed with metal clips on the connectors for reliable connections, and they are heavily shielded for increased EMI protection.