Avago Technologies MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i - Manual (Page 11)

LSI Corporation
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6Gb/s MegaRAID SAS RAID Controllers User Guide
August 2013
Overview
Summary of 6Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID Controller Characteristics
SAS controllers leverage a common electrical and physical connection interface that is compatible with Serial ATA
technology. The SAS protocols and the SATA III protocols use a thin, 7-wire connector instead of the 68-wire SCSI cable
or 26-wire ATA cable. The SAS/SATA III connector and cable are easier to manipulate, allow connections to smaller
devices, and do not inhibit airflow. The point-to-point SATA III architecture eliminates inherent difficulties created by
the legacy ATA master-slave architecture, while maintaining compatibility with existing ATA firmware.
1.5.1 PCIe Architecture
PCIe is a local bus system designed to increase data transfers without slowing down the central processing unit (CPU).
You can install MegaRAID PCIe RAID controllers in PCIe computer systems with a standard bracket type. With these
controllers in your system, you can connect SAS devices and SATA III devices over the bus.
NOTE This controller is a PCIe x8 card, and it can operate in x8 or x16 slots.
Some PCIe slots, however, support only PCIe graphics cards; if the
remote mount board is installed in one of these slots, the controller
will not function. Refer to the guide for your motherboard for
information about the PCIe slot.
PCIe goes beyond the PCI specification in that it is intended as a unifying I/O architecture for various systems:
desktops, workstations, mobile devices, servers, communications, and embedded devices.
1.5.2 Operating System Support
The MegaRAID 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers support the following operating systems:
 Windows® 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Windows Server® 2003 (x86), Windows Server 2003 (x64),
Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2008, and Window Server 2012
 Red Hat® Linux®
 SuSE® SLES
 Novell® NetWare®
 SCO® OpenServer®
 SCO UnixWare®
 Solaris®
 FreeBSD®
 VMware®
Refer to the MegaRAID SAS Device Driver Installation User Guide for more information about the drivers. To download
the latest operating system drivers, go to:
http://www.lsi.com/cm/DownloadSearch.do .
The MegaRAID 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers use Fusion-MPT architecture for all major operating systems, thinner
drivers, and better performance.
1.6 Summary of 6Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID Controller Characteristics
This section summarizes the features and benefits offered by the MegaRAID 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers. It contains
information on SAS features, SATA features, PCI performance, integration, usability, and flexibility.
The MegaRAID 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers have the following features:
 PCIe x8 lane width (with support for x16 connections)
 PCIe performance up to 5GT/s (4Gb/s) per lane
 Support for a 512-MB DDR2 800-MHz onboard SDRAM for LSISAS2108-based controllers