LSI adapters, ROMB solutions power IBM servers

LSI Corp. says its MegaRAID technology was selected by IBM for integration into the IBM System x server line, via its new ServeRAID-MR10 family of adapters and ROMB solutions. Server customers using IBM ServeRAID adapters based on LSI RAID-on-Chip (ROC) technology now have a cost-effective choice for internal and external direct-attached storage (DAS) employing SAS and Serial ATA disk drives.

"The new ServeRAID family of controllers provides IBM customers with a cutting-edge and consistent interface to all forms of server storage," said Jay Bretzmann, manager of IBM System x offerings. "By selecting ROC and MegaRAID technology from LSI, we're able to provide our customers with a cohesive solution set for both internal and external direct attach storage while delivering simplified hardware compatibility across server platforms."

IBM's choice
LSI claims the MegaRAID technology provides the best-in-class storage performance and advanced data protection capabilities required for server applications such as e-mail, database, video streaming, Web content, video-on-demand, security and surveillance, and reference data storage.

As the third generation of LSI ROC solutions, the LSI SAS1078 incorporates the company's ROC and SAS expertise, providing customers with high performance and data protection in a single-chip solution.

MegaRAID SAS/Serial ATA solutions employing the LSI SAS1078 include highly integrated motherboard-based implementations as well as a cost-effective value line and a highly flexible feature-line of PCIe compliant RAID adapters.

"The selection by IBM to enable its ServeRAID-MR10 family with our MegaRAID technology featuring the LSI SAS1078 validates our strength in the market as a leading RAID provider," said Kelly Bryant, DAS RAID business line director, LSI Engenio Storage Group. "By bringing together our expertise in chips, boards, software and system-level products, this engagement demonstrates the benefits that the LSI silicon-to-systems-to-software SAS/Serial ATA portfolio brings to the OEM community."

Powerful solution

The ServeRAID-MR10M SAS/Serial ATA controller is a high performance x8 PCIe RAID Controller for external DAS storage, including IBM System Storage EXP3000. This RAID adapter uses the LSI SAS1078 ROC and provides investment protection by supporting SAS and Serial ATA hard drive configurations and providing performance enhancements enabled by a standard battery. The battery provides cached data protection during unexpected power outages for ServeRAID-10M when operating in its higher performance, write back mode.

The ServeRAID-MR10k SAS/SATA adapter enables full ROMB for LSI 1078-based subsystems on high performance servers, including the IBM System x3950 M2 and x3850 M2 servers. The System x3950 M2 is ready for virtualization right out of the box by eliminating software setup and installation time and enables four times the amount of memory to be hosted on a single chassis compared to the previous system for more virtualization workloads.

The ROMB solution is suitable for space-limited server environments. The adapters offer external connectivity with the ability to cascade up to 10 EXP3000s per port. It also features removable Battery Backed Cache and a RAID activation key along with RAID 6 Protection.

The ServeRAID-MR10 family is also supported by the LSI MegaRAID Management Suite of software—a complete spectrum of applications and tools including next-generation pre-boot and advanced online RAID management utilities.