14 DAY TRIAL // HighPoint Technologies just announced that it has begun shipping the RocketRAID 2782 PCI Express x16 host bus adapter (HBA), which can support up 32 (24 internal and eight external) SAS 6Gbps storage devices.
The RocketRAID 2782 was unveiled at the beginning of May and is HighPoint's most powerful HBA solution launched until now, as the adapter is, in theory, capable of providing up to 19200MB/s worth of bandwidth.
In order to take advantage of the throughput of the PCI Express x16 slot, HighPoint had to use an innovative approach when designing the RocketRAID 2782.
Compared to its competition, that tries to cram as many drives as possible on a single controller chip, HighPoint's latest HBA solution integrates four SAS controllers, which are than linked together to the PCI Express x16 interface via a PLX bridge chip.
This enabled the company to deliver increased performance even when fast 15K RPM HDDs or solid state drives are being used and also allowed it to benefit from the bandwidth available to the PCI-E x16 interface.
Outside of its impressive performance, the new RockedRAID HBA series also comes with a complete real-time software management suite, which HighPoint calls a “System Management Interface,” AISM for short.
Thanks to this software, the administrator can actively monitor the temperatures of the hard drives and also set safety thresholds for all the storage enclosures connected to the HBA.
The RocketRAID 2782 directly supports up to 24 SAS/SATA drives, via six internal Mini-SAS port connectors, for host-side configurations, and 8 external drives via two more such connectors placed on the rear I/O bracket.
According to HighPoint, the RocketRAID 2782 SAS 6GB/s host bus adapter is available immediately from the company's worldwide network of distribution and reseller channels. The recommended retail price is set at $849.00 US.