$169 PCI Disk Array Controller by HighPoint

HighPoint Technologies is announcing the immediate availability of the RocketRAID 3122 – PCI-Express x1 external SATA hardware RAID controller with OS support for desktops and SOHO markets.

The RocketRAID 3122 offers PCI-Express x1 bus connectivity for support every desktop and workstation motherboard available in the industry. PCI-Express is here to satisfy our bandwidth appetites for the next several years as legacy PCI did not provide the necessary bandwidth needed for demanding peripheral cards. The beauty of PCI-Express is the upward compatibility with faster PCI-Express speeds. A PCI-Express x1 peripheral device provides the flexibility to work in a PCI-Express x4, x8 or x16 slots.
 
The RocketRAID 3122 includes two external 3Gb/s external eSATA ports that are compatible with any point-to-point external storage and it capable of connecting to port multiplier (PM) storage devices supporting up to 10 SATA devices. The world’s lowest cost true hardware RAID controller is powered by 400MHz RAID IOP engine with 128MB DDR II of cache memory. RAID support includes RAID 0 for high performance and RAID 1 for data protection.
 
Complete operating systems support is a key benefit of the RocketRAID 3122 for desktop and SOHO environments. There is support for (32 and 64) bit versions of Windows and native support in Linux distributions that include kernel 2.6.25 and FreeBSD 7.0 to offer a peace of mine user experience. Support for Mac OS X includes the added bonus of bootable support in Mac Pro systems.
 
The RocketRAID 3122 is the industry’s lowest costing hardware RAID controller at $169 MSPR and is available today for purchase from one of online reselling partners Newegg.com and from distribution channels (ASI, Bell Micro, D&H and Malabs).