Overview : SAS Technology

SAS Technology

The SAS technology lets you use the SAS devices, SATA II and III devices, and the Nytro Flash module devices within the same storage infrastructure. Individual characteristics make each of these devices a more suitable choice, depending on your storage needs. The Nytro MegaRAID card lets you combine these two similar technologies on the same controller, within the same enclosure and in the same Nytro cache drive.

*NOTE  Carefully assess any decision to combine the SAS and SATA drives within the same Nytro Cache drive. Avoid mixing the drives; this applies to both HDDs and Nytro Flash module.

The Nytro MegaRAID cards are based on the LSI® first‑to‑market SAS IC technology and proven MegaRAID technology. As second‑generation PCI Express RAID controllers, the Nytro MegaRAID cards address the growing demand for increased data throughput and scalability requirements across midrange and enterprise-class server platforms. The Nytro MegaRAID cards address the requirements of both the internal and external solutions.

The Nytro MegaRAID cards support the ANSI Serial Attached SCSI standard, version 2.1. In addition, the card supports the SATA II and III protocols defined by the Serial ATA III specification. Supporting both the SAS and SATA II and III interfaces, the Nytro MegaRAID card supports both the server environments and high-end workstation environments.

Each port on the Nytro MegaRAID card uses the following protocols to support SAS devices or STA III devices:

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SAS Serial SCSI protocol communicates with other SAS devices.

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SATA II and III communicates with other SATA II and III devices.

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Serial management protocol communicates the topology management information directly with an attached SAS expander device.

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Serial tunneling protocol communicates with a SATA II and III device through an attached expander.