LSI Logic First to validate Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID-on-Chip/RAID Stack Solution

LSI Logic First to validate Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID-on-Chip/RAID Stack Solution

- LSISAS1078 SAS RAID-on-Chip (ROC) being tested with two industry- leading RAID stacks and RAID 6

- Lab testing demonstrates highly integrated, single-chip SAS ROC solution that reduces board real estate requirements and provides a value segment solution

- MegaRAID(R) software stack provides advanced data protection ideal for enterprise servers and external storage

- Fusion-MPT(TM) (Message Passing Technology) architecture speeds development of third-generation ROC product to the industry's broadest Serial Attached SCSI product line

MILPITAS, Calif., March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE:LSI) today announced early validation of the industry's first Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID-On-Chip (ROC) solution, the LSISAS1078, currently running two industry-leading RAID stacks, LSI Logic's MegaRAID(R) and the HP SmartArray(TM), and demonstrating RAID 6 advanced data guarding functionality. Laboratory testing of the PCI Express-to-SAS ROC controller (http://lsilogic.com/sas) demonstrates robust functionality and performance. The solution is ideal for enterprise server and external storage applications.

"SAS ROC integration tests using full-featured and proven RAID software stacks from LSI Logic and HP are milestones that further solidify Serial Attached SCSI as an I/O technology whose time has arrived," said Brian Garrett, an analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group. "Manufacturers and OEMs who choose to partner with LSI Logic to deploy certified SAS ROC solutions will be well positioned to take advantage of the enhanced performance and reliability of SAS hard drives and RAID 6."

LSI Logic has SAS design wins at four of the world's top five server manufacturers, including HP, and was the first company in the industry to receive Microsoft logo certification for a Serial Attached SCSI host bus adapter (HBA).

"HP is an industry leader in the development of Serial Attached SCSI server solutions. By delivering a family of ICs, HBAs and expanders, we help enable market adoption and can better assure end-to-end interoperability," said Bill Wuertz, vice president and general manager for the LSI Logic Storage Standard Products division. "LSI Logic links all the design components -- common driver architecture, process technology, libraries and memories. The result is outstanding products, outstanding performance, and cost-effective solutions. We help engineer success at the core of business critical products."

RAID 6 capability permits advanced data guarding protection which allows users to recover data during two drive failures. This is even more critical in SAS environments where systems will often also use lower MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) SATA spindles in combination with enterprise SAS hard disk drives.

"The enhanced performance capabilities, flexibility, and scalability of Serial Attached SCSI will enable the customers to optimize system solutions across servers and external storage, while maintaining complete compatibility with previous generation configuration and management utilities," said Javier Izquierdo, director of Server Storage, HP. "The LSISAS1078 ROC device extends LSI Logic's already robust product line, and aligns well with our need to deliver first-to-market SAS solutions with best-in-class performance and features."

The LSI Logic ROC controller, the LSISAS1078, extends the company's already industry-leading SAS product line. LSI Logic is shipping both 4-port and 8-port SAS controller ICs (the LSISAS1064 and LSISAS1068), SAS HBAs and the LSISASx12 12-port SAS expander. All products use the Fusion-MPT(TM) (Message Passing Technology) architecture (http://lsilogic.com/fusion) to speed OEM development time and increase reliability. The company will also supply a full line of MegaRAID SAS adapter cards and RAID on Motherboard (ROMB) solutions.

SAS technology enables SCSI interface solutions beyond Ultra320 to the next-generation Direct Attach Storage (DAS) enterprise server, storage systems, and high-performance workstation markets while retaining device-level backward compatibility. The SAS standard defines a device-level enterprise storage interface incorporating SCSI command sets, serial point-to-point interconnections, dual porting, increased addressability and the ability to scale to small form factors. Small form factor drives, with their 70 percent reduction in volume and lower power consumption, drive significant customer value in dense compute and storage environments. Because the SAS physical layer is compatible with Serial ATA (SATA), users will have the choice of populating their systems with SAS or SATA hard disk drives, or a combination of both.

In addition to the SAS specification, the LSISAS1078 complies with the PCI Express 1.0a specification and supports 8 PCI Express lanes at 2.5Gb/s for an aggregate bandwidth of up to 4GB/s. PCI Express technology is the next- generation serial based I/O host interconnect that removes any I/O bus bottleneck from server systems.

About LSI Logic

LSI Logic Corporation focuses on the design and production of high- performance semiconductors for Consumer, Communications and Storage applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. LSI Logic engineers incorporate reusable, industry-standard intellectual property building blocks that serve as the heart of leading-edge systems. LSI Logic serves its global OEM, channel and distribution customers with Platform ASICs, standard-cell ASICs, standard products, host bus adapters, RAID controllers and software. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1621 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035. http://www.lsilogic.com/

Notes to Editor:
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http://www.lsilogic.com/.
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Source: LSI Logic Corporation

CONTACT: Jon Carlson of LSI Logic Corporation, +1-719-533-7982 or
jcarlson@lsil.com; or Jay Russo of LVA Communications, +1-860-739-5598 or
Jay@lva.com, for LSI Logic Corporation

Web site: http://www.lsilogic.com/

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