PMC-Sierra: Adaptec Series 6Q RAID Controller

PMC-Sierra, Inc. announced the Adaptec Series 6Q with maxCache 2.0 SSD caching designed to accelerate data centre and cloud computing application performance.

pmcsierra_adaptec_series_6q

Using SSDs to cache frequently accessed data, maxCache 2.0 employs an intelligent, learned-path algorithm to improve performance of HDD-based arrays. PMC’s second-generation SSD caching solution, maxCache 2.0, adds support for write caching to expand the application workloads that can benefit from this technology. The Series 6Q with maxCache 2.0 improves quality of service, offers up to 13 times improvement in IOPS and a 13 times reduction in application latency.

The latency reductions delivered with maxCache 2.0 provide an end-user benefit for data centres. For example, Shopzilla reports that a five second speedup results in a 10 percent increase in revenue and a 50 percent decrease in hardware, while large financial institutions are making record profits off of a 0.5 second speed advantage. From another perspective, Amazon cites that every 100 milliseconds in latency can result in a one percent drop in sales.

"Data centres have multi-faceted needs that PMC uniquely addresses through our innovative solutions and ability to work with customers to optimize our products in their environment for their application," said Jared Peters, vice president and general manager of PMC’s Channel Storage Division. "With the introduction of the Series 6Q, PMC has reinforced its commitment to deliver intelligent solutions that address the distinctive pain points of data centres."

The Series 6Q with maxCache 2.0 improves IOPS and allows data centres to perform more transactions with a single server and reduce the overall number of servers required. This reduces capital and operational expenses, including power, cooling and maintenance costs.

"maxCache 2.0 allows enterprise customers to harness the exceptional performance of SSDs and facilitates broader SSD adoption within data centres and other I/O-intensive environments," said Alex Mei, CMO of OCZ Technology Group. "OCZ’s SSD product portfolio provides features, performance and durability that are truly enterprise-class, and together with PMC’s maxCache 2.0 we deliver an easy to deploy, high performing caching solution that addresses the unique requirements of our data centre customers."

The Series 6Q will ship standard with PMC’s second-generation, patented supercap backup solution, Zero Maintenance Cache Protection, which eliminates the maintenance and environmental costs of lithium ion battery-based solutions. With the elimination of lithium ion batteries and the reduction in power and cooling possible with maxCache 2.0, the Series 6Q is a ‘green’ SSD caching solution.

"As a member of The Green Grid, PMC is embracing our mission and the goal of standardizing more efficient use of resources in data centres," said Mark Monroe, executive director, The Green Grid. "The Green Grid’s mission is to improve resource efficiency in business computing, which incorporates technology that can reduce energy consumption and lower environmental impact."

In addition to the Series 6Q with maxCache 2.0, PMC is releasing the Series 6T RAID controllers with recessed top-mounted connectors that enable maximum installation flexibility in dense form-factor servers found in data centre applications.

All products are currently available for evaluation.

Adaptec Series 6Q with maxCache 2.0
and Zero Maintenance Cache Protection