CeBIT 2005: Many Homes For Your Data

If there is one constant in the computer industry, it is the ever-increasing demands for storage. Users of computers and electronic devices alike always seem to require more storage capacity and greater performance from their storage subsystems. As larger numbers of devices become intelligent, we are seeing flash memory and even hard drives appearing in places nobody would ever have expected just a few short years ago.

In this, our fourth and final report from the 2005 CeBIT fair in Hanover, Germany, we take a look at the latest highlights and innovations in the mass storage industry.

Mass Storage

AMCC/3Ware

Thanks to a port multiplier, up to four drives can be operated on one SATA port - this is the main use for fast 3 Gbit/s interfaces.

3Ware has built an excellent reputation for itself in the past few years through its RAID controllers for UltraATA and SATA hard drives. Today 3Ware, together with JNI and PowerPC, is part of AMCC (Applied Micro Circuits Corporation).

With the 9500SX and 9500SE, the architecture known as StorSwitch has been thoroughly overhauled. The interface will in the future be equivalent to PCI-X 133 MHz or x4 PCI Express. SATA modules from Marvell replace the AccelerATA controller chips, marking the final disappearance of the bridges and the obstacles to SATA II (featuring NCQ and transfer speeds of 3 Gbit/s). 3Ware also uses a port multiplier, so a 4 port version can support up to 16 drives. External SATA solutions enable Infiniband cabling.

By the way, RAID 6 is lined up for 2006/2007; according to 3Ware an array running with double redundancy will be only 10-15% slower than a comparable RAID 5.