Serial Cables Updated JBOD and Test Box Platform

Serial Cables LLC has updated JBOD and Test Box platform to include SFF-8639 based PCIe Gen3 and NVMe support; including SRIS, and hot-plug device support.

Incorporating two low-latency, non-blocking, 64 lane, PLX Capella 2 ExpressFabric switches in each platform; the Serial Cables Test Box and JBOD’s are for performance and functional test scenarios in large and small scale environments. Each switch conforms to the PCIe Base 3.0 specification and is used to connect one PCIe Host to 12 SFF-8639 devices, or two hosts to all 24 SFF-8639 devices in the Test Box or JBOD. All ports are capable of full line-rate (8GT/s each) I/O, ensuring the Test Box and JBOD are not a performance bottle neck. Additionally, Serial Cables designed both systems with high-quality connectors, cables, dielectrics, and power to provide a robust, yet dense, NVMe drive test environment.

In addition to the standard JBOD capabilities, The Test Box’ 24 SFF-8639 drives are inserted into individual tool-less 2.5″ drive fixtures, where users can control power (on/off), measure voltage and current, and control other test box parameters to each drive individually using the command line interface (CLI) via USB, Telnet, or Ethernet. Each drive fixture supports drives up to 15mm height or smaller, and incorporates individual activity LED’s.

“With the recent influx of SFF based NVMe SSD products in the market there’s been a real shortage of qualified systems to test those devices in” says Paul J. Mutschler, CEO, Serial Cables. “One to many PCIe/NVMe connectivity and testing along with hot plugging support has been very difficult for developers, especially in the SFF form factor to accomplish, until now.“

Stand-alone switches are available as well as 24 port test boxes. 24 port JBOD‘s will be available by June 15, 2015 on a first come first serve basis and are available for pre-purchase.