Tyan, Part of Mitac, OEM of Dot Hill

In its first major motherboard design win for the RAIDCore Virtual RAID Adapter (VRA) technology this year, Dot Hill Systems Corp. announced that TYAN, server platform provider which is part of MiTAC International Corp., has selected Dot Hill RAIDCore VRA technology to be featured in its newest server platforms.

TYAN is now shipping worldwide six new server platforms based on the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor and AMD SP5100 Southbridge chipset, all of which now include RAIDCore Basic VRA solutions as standard.

With support for Linux and Windows, Dot Hill RAIDCore VRA solutions provide end-user customers with an inexpensive alternative to hardware-based RAID that is built right into the server. Users who want more advanced capabilities can upgrade to the full-featured RAIDCore VST through a simple, software-based licensing scheme. This upgrade, which includes RAID 1n/10n (multi-volume mirroring), distributed sparing and additional migration features, enables full enterprise-class virtual RAID for significantly less than a conventional hardware RAID adapter card.

"TYAN continues to add value to its AMD-based server platform," said Albert Mu, vice president of Enterprise Business Unit of MiTAC International Corporation. "In addition to superior energy efficiency and outstanding performance, the TYAN Six-Core AMD Opteron-based platform now delivers enterprise-level RAID functionality standard through Dot Hill RAIDCore VRA and the ability to easily and inexpensively upgrade to the more sophisticated RAID capabilities of RAIDCore VST."

"Six-Core AMD Opteron processors and the AMD SP5100 Southbridge chip set deliver the performance that makes server-based RAID incredibly practical," said Andy Mills, vice president of marketing, Dot Hill. "TYAN customers can now implement RAID protection for their server storage without sacrificing performance and without investing in a hardware RAID controller."

About TYAN Six-Core AMD Opteron Servers
The TYAN S8208 and YR190 B8208 are ideal platforms for critical workloads, such as social networking, video streaming and search in data center and HPC environments that require high compute density in a limited rack space. The TYAN S8212 and GT24 B8212 are optimized for customers that need more expandability and flexibility for their server environment. The TYAN S8005 and GT14 B8005 address the needs of companies interested in highly efficient performance products.

RAIDCore VRA a Better Alternative
to Hardware- and Software-based RAID
Dot Hill VRA technology enables server, storage and motherboard vendors to integrate RAID technology into their products by leveraging the power of today’s multi-core server CPUs instead of a dedicated RAID CPU-based, add-in board, helping to reduce hardware, power, cooling and support costs. RAIDCore enables host-based RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and 50 directly on motherboard SATA I/O ports, reducing system costs and increasing the reliability of internal disk storage. The same software stack, with additional features enabled, may also be used for higher end SAS disk-based systems that employ a built-in or PCIe host adapter-based SAS/SATA chipset, enabling vendors to maintain compatibility and a consistent look and feel across the entire product line.

The technology leverages a sophisticated RAID software stack, enabling today’s servers to effectively process RAID tasks without compromising performance needed for other operations. RAIDCore rivals the performance of hardware controller-based RAID at a fraction of the cost in addition to offering enhanced functions such as enhanced mirroring schemes to support simple system backup and recovery.

Dot Hill RAIDCore technology key features/functionality include:

• Single, unified O/S driver and single-pane management suite capable of managing RAID sets on different controller vendors
• Spanned virtual RAID arrays, allowing users to create a virtual disk that spans across SAS/SATA I/O controllers and SATA-based core logic chipsets
• Native support for multiple motherboard chipset vendors, including AMD SB600, SB700 and SP5100 core logic chipsets
• Broad Operating system support – Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, Windows 7 – 32 and 64 bit; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5 – 32 and 64 bit; SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and SLES 10 – 32 and 64 bit and Generic Linux SDK for custom integration
• Support for basic RAID 0, 1, 10 features or higher featured RAID 0,1,5,10,50 and 1n,10n via licensing
• N-way mirrored volume copy using RAID 1n, hidden arrays and split mirror
• Hard coded licensing or web enabled software licensing framework that enables easy after-market upgrades and eliminates the need for a hardware-based license key
• Support for mixed capacity drives allowing 100 percent usage of all available disk capacity