Introduction

The 6Gb/s Series 6E family of entry-level Unified Serial (SATA/SAS) 6Gb/s RAID controllers deliver affordable true Hardware RAID that outperforms software-based HBAs and SATA controllers
4 internal port, low-profile MD2 - Low Profile (2.535"H x 5.115"L) with PCIe x1, SAS 2.0 and Gen 2 PCI-Express (PCIe) Unified Serial RAID controller with On-Board DRAM and Intelligent Power Management delivers the ideal price/performance and connectivity solution for entry-level server platforms, workstations and desktop systems.

Adaptec Series 6E Unified Serial SATA/SAS RAID controllers deliver the robustness of hardware RAID and the Adaptec RAID Code, enterprise class management features, and full OS support– including open source drivers for Linux and FreeBSD – into the entry-level RAID space. Delivering the same 6Gb/s performance of our Series 6 controllers, the Series 6E are optimized for platforms where a Series 6 controller would not fit in from a price, form factor or host connectivity standpoint.

Series 6E controllers support SATA and SAS devices, and have been qualified with the same systems, motherboards, backplanes and drives as Series 6 controllers. They include the same drivers, BIOS and storage management tools as Series 6 controllers and do not require additional training or qualification. Series 6E controllers have also been thoroughly tested with entry-level storage devices for desktop use and the entry-level server platforms, workstations and motherboards most typically used for basic servers, performance workstations or industrial PCs.

I/O Connectivity and Data Protection
With its entry-level price point, Adaptec Series 6E can be used as a connectivity product, with support for up to 4 SATA & SAS devices, and 128MB of DDR2-800 MHz DRAM cache for device acceleration. At the same time, the Adaptec RAID Code (ARC) delivers maximum reliability with RAID levels 0, 1, 1E, 10 and JBOD. ARC also offers RAID Level Migration (the ability to easily migrate RAID levels), Online Capacity Expansion (expand capacity without powering down the server), and Copyback Hot Spare (when a failed drive has been replaced, data is automatically copied from the hot spare back to the restored drive).

The Case for Cache
The fastest way for a RAID controller to fulfill a read or write request is to serve data out of its cache. Savvy network administrators know that enabling the RAID controller cache offers significant performance benefits, such as reduced latency in I/O requests, bandwidth and queue depths that surpass software application limits, and on-the-fly parity calculations on sequential writes.

Intelligent Power Management
Intelligent Power Management (IPM) slashes power and cooling costs by up to 70% using intelligent I/O caching combined with disk drive power savings via standby and power-off modes.