Seagate ST973401SS High-Capacity RAID Revolution (94K, PDF) - Page 2

SATA at Center Stage With its modern serial architecture, superior throughput (3 Gbits/sec) and lack of master/slave headaches, SATA has quickly superseded its parallel predecessor both on the desktop and in some low-end server applications. Some IT managers, under growing pressure to reduce costs, contemplated SATA's blend of performance and low cost-per-GB and quickly concluded that SATA drives are ideally suited for high-capacity RAID-based applications. However, many experienced IT professionals have been more circumspect, troubled by factors less immediately obvious but nevertheless crucial in determining SATA's RAID storage value proposition. Despite myriad technological advancements over their venerable forebearers, typical SATA drives remain at their core desktop-class devices. As such, they are designed for eight-hours-per-day, five-days-per-week deployment with light workloads, rather than the 24x7 demands of enterprise-ready RAID storage. With this last point in mind, would low initial expenditures on desktop-class SATA drives be counterbalanced by higher rates of drive failure and the attendant costs of RAID volume rebuilds, downtime and diminished productivity? Such a scheme significantly decreases storage efficiency...and demands a better alternative. RAID-Ready SATA Advantages The solution is high-capacity SATA drives specifically designed for use in RAID and other multi-drive systems. As one would expect, such drives deliver the exceptional enhanced reliability that 24x7 capacity-intensive applications demand. In addition to RAID multi-drive firmware features that increase system uptime, optimize performance and ease management, these drives offer even more value thanks to their compatibility with Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). SAS retains the proven strengths of its predecessor (rock-solid reliability, a rich and mature command set) while achieving blazing throughput and remarkable scalability. Equally compelling, SAS/SATA compatibility enables performance (SAS) and capacity (SATA) applications to be addressed within the same SAS domain, even the same enclosure. And unlike SATA cabinets/enclosures, SAS hardware is specifically designed to meet the density requirements (for example, vibration and temperature management) of enterprise environments. As can be seen, the theoretical benefits of deploying high-capacity SATA solutions are substantial and far-reaching. Seagate® has created the Barracuda ES drives to make those benefits a reality. Seagate Barracuda ES1 Barracuda ES is a new class of enterprise storage developed in response to the growing need for cost-effective multi-drive storage. Purpose-built for the demands of capacity-intensive 24x7 applications, Barracuda ES drives deliver an unprecedented blend of enormous capacity, superior reliability and high performance in tightly packed multi-drive systems. Barracuda ES drives enable RAID systems that perform more reliably and are easier to build and support. Incorporating industry-leading, multi-drive features, such as Error Recovery Control, One-Step Microcode Download and Write Same, Barracuda ES drives speak the language of complex system controllers and hosts, simplifying system integration, improving RAID performance and reducing drive failures. Barracuda ES drives include additional features to ensure they meet the stringent requirements of 24x7 RAID storage applications: • The highest capacity, with up to 750GB per drive-50 percent more than other drives of the same class. • High tolerance to rotational vibration makes NL35 Series drives ideal for closely-packed RAID system designs. • Protection by the unparalleled Seagate 5-Year Warranty Available in 250GB, 400GB, 500GB and 750GB capacities, Barracuda ES drives boast the industry's highest capacity, maximizing scalability in dynamic, capacity-intensive RAID systems. Hundreds (even thousands) of Barracuda ES drives can be deployed and managed within a single SAS domain, enabling highly scalable, cost-effective storage solutions for capacityhungry applications. 1 Fibre Channel versions available through leading storage system manufacturers 2