Adaptec Introduces New Ultra320 RAID Cards

Adaptec today introduced a family of four Ultra320 SCSI RAID controllers, including two zero channel solutions, that take aim at the high-density server market’s growing need for affordable low-profile cards that streamline data storage and reduce related costs.

“Adaptec’s Ultra320 SCSI RAID controllers deliver the performance and data protection companies need to minimize their server and storage system space requirements and IT costs as they manage ever-increasing amounts of data,” said Steve Cochran, vice president of Adaptec’s Storage Solutions Group. “This complete family of Ultra320 SCSI RAID solutions extends Adaptec’s RAID leadership as we combine the most robust RAID capabilities available with Ultra320 SCSI for video editing, streaming video and audio applications and other environments where performance and reliability are paramount.”

The family includes a single- and two-channel controller — the Adaptec SCSI RAID 2120S and 2200S, respectively — with advanced features that simplify storage management to lower total cost of ownership. With two of these features, RAID-level migration and Online Capacity Expansion, administrators can reconfigure fault-tolerance settings and increase storage array capacity on the fly, a flexibility that enables customers to seamlessly meet their expanding storage needs.

Designed for pedestal and rackmount servers, the Adaptec SCSI RAID 2200S and 2120S controllers allow full-capacity use of drives of different sizes mixed in a RAID so the array can be upgraded with higher-capacity drives without wasting the extra storage space. Competing products limit use of disk drive space to the smallest-capacity drive in an array.

Adaptec’s Ultra320 zero channel RAID cards — the Adaptec SCSI RAID 2015S and 2010S controllers — feature Adaptec’s EMRL (Embedded RAID Logic) technology and other advanced logic that allow the controllers to leverage the Adaptec SCSI channels on the motherboard, eliminating the need for channels on the cards themselves to reduce size and cost. The cards combine the cost advantage of a built-in RAID on the motherboard solution with the flexibility of an add-on card, and their small form factor designs and power-efficient microprocessors are ideal for high-density servers.

The four cards are managed under Adaptec’s new management software — Adaptec Storage Manager – Browser Edition — to simplify RAID management and reduce related costs by allowing system administrators to remotely manage, monitor and configure RAID subsystems through convenient password-protected web access. All feature Adaptec’s Seamless Streaming technology to optimize Ultra320 SCSI data transfer rates. Prices for the cards, which will be available in September, start as low as $275 for the 2015S rising to $799 for the 2200S.