Legit Reviews

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, SAN FRANCISCO, August 23, 2005—Promise Technology, Inc., the originator and leading supplier of SATA RAID data protection and storage solutions, today introduced its high-performance, eight-port SuperTrak EX8300 3Gb per second (3Gb/s) Serial ATA (SATA) RAID controller with hardware acceleration designed for RAID 6 data protection. On display at its Storage Community Showcase exhibit at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, Promise will also demonstrate RAID 6 support for multiple drive failures.

RAID 6 is an emerging technology for shared storage systems and high-capacity SATA disk arrays used in many servers today. With double parity coding, RAID 6 provides an extra layer of redundancy, delivering the highest level of reliability and data protection.

A high-performance, eight-port SATA RAID Controller with hardware acceleration provided by the Intel® IOP331 I/O processor with Intel XScale® technology designed for RAID 6 data protection, the SuperTrak EX8300 is suited for high-capacity storage applications such as disk-to-disk backup, NAS and nearline storage, security/surveillance, and video editing.

“Promise is taking a leadership role in its development of RAID 6, offering a level of security and data protection never seen before in storage for servers and external solutions,” said Suresh Panikar, vice president of worldwide channel sales and marketing for Promise Technology, Inc. “Our extensive experience in the SATA RAID market uniquely positions Promise to deliver best-in-class, cost-effective data storage solutions combining superior technology and unmatched reliability for a variety of business needs.”

“Built on the high-performance, low-power Intel XScale microarchitecture, the high integration of the Intel IOP331 I/O processor provides board space and system-level cost savings for IT managers committed to building powerful, cost-sensitive storage for servers and the enterprise.” said Mike Wall, general manager, Intel, Storage Components Division. “We are dedicated to working together with companies such as Promise to advance availability of standards-based building blocks so that companies of all sizes can protect their critical data more effectively.”

Intelligent RAID Architecture

The SuperTrak EX8300 delivers exceptional multi-drive performance by taking advantage of the Intel IOP331 processor based on Intel XScale technology. It offers advanced RAID 6 technology for high fault tolerance, allowing two simultaneous drive failures without downtime or data loss. Designed specifically for RAID 6 applications, the highly integrated Intel IOP331 I/O processor with Intel XScale technology includes an 800MHz CPU, PCI-X bus, dual-ported memory controller, and an integrated P+Q acceleration engine.

Key Features of SuperTrak EX8300 with RAID 6 Capability

Offering high port counts and support for RAID 6, the SuperTrak line consists of cost-effective, high-performance, high-capacity SATA 3Gb/s RAID controllers for demanding server and storage applications. The key features of the SuperTrak EX8300 include:

--8-Port, 3Gb/s low-profile SATA RAID controller with PCI-X host bus interface

--Full open source Linux driver architecture

--Support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD

--Intel IOP331 I/O processor with Intel XScale technology

--Multiple logical drive and multiple LUN support, enabling users to combine different

RAID levels on one set of disks

--Multiple application and OS support on the same storage system

--Automatic/manual rebuild of hot spare drive

--PerfectRAID technology for robust error handling and recovery

--Online array expansion, RAID level migration add capacity when and as needed

--Optional battery backup module to protect cached data

--Web-based Promise Array Manager (WebPAM) software for easy, browser-based storage management



Among the products and technology to be demonstrated at IDF are a high-performance RAID 6 solution for maximum data protection, SATA 3Gb/s, and iSCSI and FC arrays:

--RAID 6 maximum reliability demo featuring the new high-performance Promise SuperTrak™ EX8350 8-port RAID controller with Intel IOP333 processor and PCI-Express host interconnect

--7.5TB iSCSI hardware-accelerated, high-capacity Vtrak™ M-Class RAID array

--Serial attached SCSI (SAS) JBOD technology demonstration

--Also on display will be the new VTrak™ M-Class RAID storage systems, as well as FastTrak SX4300 and SX8300 SATA 3Gbs/ controllers featuring Promise’s innovative hardware-assisted RAID architecture.

Through its strategic technology alliance program, Promise partners with leading host adapter vendors such as Alacritech and QLogic, and hard drive vendors Fujitsu, Hitachi, Maxtor, Samsung, Seagate, and Western Digital to offer seamless support and interoperability with the Promise SATA 3Gb/s line of RAID storage arrays.

Price and Availability

The SuperTrak EX8300 will be available in September through the worldwide Promise distribution network, with a suggested list price of $499. The SuperTrak EX8350 is shipping now. The free software upgrade to RAID 6 for both will be available in Q4.

About Promise Technology, Inc.

Promise Technology is the originator and global leader of ATA RAID, using cost-effective ATA technology to design and manufacture fast, reliable data protection and storage alternatives to SCSI RAID systems. With its history of ATA product and technology development, Promise Technology is the recognized world leader in SATA ASICs, host adapters, RAID controllers and RAID subsystems. Promise Technology maintains ongoing product development relationships with leading ATA hard drive manufacturers and server and storage OEMs. Headquartered in Milpitas, CA, the company maintains offices in Europe, Taiwan, and China. For more information, visit Promise Technology's website at http://www.promise.com