To help server OEMs and cloud operators deliver high performance in designing storage platforms for next-generation data centers, Microchip has released two Smart Storage PCIe Gen 4 Tri-Mode SmartROC (RAID-on-Chip) 3200 and SmartIOC (I/O Controller) 2200 storage controllers. These smart storage stack management tools can deliver up to three times higher performance compared to the competing solutions available in the market. Moreover, they provide proven security and manageability features for the most demanding server storage applications.
These controllers include support for a PCIe Gen 4 interface with DirectPath technology for low-latency NVMe transactions, and 24G SAS with Dynamic Channel Multiplexing (DCM) for more efficient aggregation of lower-speed SAS or SATA hard drives onto 24G SAS infrastructure. Both SmartROC 3200 and SmartIOC 2200 controllers support x8 and x16 PCIe Gen 4 host interfaces and offer up to 32 lanes of SAS/SATA/NVMe connectivity. It’s their support for up to 8 GB of on-board cache that triples the RAID performance. The DCM delivers link efficiency of greater than 99% and ensures full interoperability with existing legacy SAS/SATA infrastructure.
These tools help in simplifying integration and enhancing product flexibility for system integrators. The new smart storage products support SFF's Universal Backplane Management (UBM), Intel Virtual Pin Port (VPP) for intelligent backplane management, and DMTF’s standards-based Platform Level Data Model (PLDM)/Redfish Device Enablement (RDE) specification simplifying the implementation of out-of-band management over Management Component Transport Protocol (MCTP)/Baseboard Management Controller (BMC). Additionally, these tools deliver a new level of compute and supply chain security based on a hardware root of trust that is aligned with the Open Compute Security Project.
The new tools from Microchip are supported by the company’s common set of deployment tools viz. maxView storage manager, ARCCONF management tools, DMTF’s standards-based PLDM/RDE, and ChipLink diagnostic tools. Featuring up to 32 ports of SAS/SATA/NVMe connectivity, the SmartROC 3200/SmartIOC 2200 storage controllers are available in volume production quantities from the company website or Microchip sales representatives or authorized worldwide distributors.
