HighPoint's SATA 3.0 Host Adapter Has RAID 5 Capability

HighPoint has announced a host-based RAID controller that will double the data rate for high bandwidth PC applications such as gaming, video and audio applications, as well as video streaming and graphics applications. The RocketRAID 620 series is a user-friendly and economical way to optimize performance to capacity ratio by supporting port multiplier devices.

The RocketRAID 620 is touted as “the industry's first SATA 3.0 host adapters with RAID 5 capability.” This product increases the data rate for the aforementioned high bandwidth PC applications from 3Gb/s to 6Gb/s, even while being backwards compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and 1.5Gb/s interfaces. The support for multiplier devices makes the new device a low-cost solution for optimizing performance, especially considering that users can migrate their existing SATA cables and connectors, as well as hard disks, to the new controllers.

The line is made up of the RocketRAID 620 and the RocketRAID 622, which are based on PCI Express gen 2 host interface technology. The point-to-point connectivity provided by these adapters is excellent for solid state drives (SSDs) and SATA 6Gb interfaces storage, as each 600MB/s lane is tuned for optimum performance. In addition, the smart-fan connectivity even enables drive scalability up to 5 SATA drives through a single 600MB/s eSATA channel.

The smart and robust “performance companion” comes with the Rocket Raid Management Suite for major OSes. This suite contains a comprehensive web-based management interface which incorporates the company's SHI (Storage Health Inspector) technology. This feature supports all major operating systems, such as Windows 7, Linux and FreeBSD, and enables the maintenance of storage integrity through early-warning features.

RocketRAID 620 (MSRP $69.99) and RocketRAID 622 (MSRP $79.99) will start shipping around mid January. They will provide redundancy with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD and will be exclusively available through HighPoint's channel distribution partners, namely Bell Micro, D and H, MaLabs, and ASI.