HighPoint RocketStor 654x Series External PCIe 4.0 NVMe RAID Storage 4-Bay and 8-Bay Enclosures

HighPoint Technology, Inc. unveils the RocketStor 654x Series, a line of external NVMe RAID enclosures designed to elevate Gen4 storage applications to heights by effectively packaging x16 transfer performance and nearly ½ petabyte of storage capacity into compact external form factor that can be integrated into any x86 platform with a free PCIe x16 slot; designed for industrial and edge computing platforms and professional workstation environments.

Available with 4 or 8 hot-swappable, vertically aligned 2.5” drive bays, and powered by the company’s PCI Switching Architecture and RAID technology, RocketStor 654x series enclosures can deliver up to 28GB/s of transfer bandwidth and support up to 8 DC and enterprise class U.2 and U.3 media configured into as many as 4 independent RAID-0, -1 or -10 arrays.

4-bay model front and rear

The ability to fully optimize x16 lanes of Gen4 upstream or direct CPU bus bandwidth, combined with self-bifurcation (managing and distributing x48 lanes of internal host bandwidth), is a gamechanger. This architecture enables each RocketStor 654x enclosure to reach its performance and capacity potential, while allowing for a compact 4.84” chassis; making them solutions for applications that must rapidly access, transfer and process large volumes of data, such as AI training, M&E post production, and medical imaging or diagnostic platforms.

8-bay model front and rear

Storage performance
RocketStor 654x enclosures deliver what no other external NVMe storage solutions can; uncompromised, host-to-device PCIe x16 connectivity. Each component has been engineered to maximize the performance and reliability of data transfer; from the compact 8-bay low-profile chassis, to the CDFP 400Gb/s cabling solution and discreet PCIe x16 adapter card.

The integrated PCIe switching technology enables RocketStor 654x enclosures to maximize data transfer speed by utilizing all x16 lanes of PCIe bandwidth provided by the host platform. Both the enclosure (device-side) and PCIe adapter (host-side), are equipped with dedicated PCIe switch ICs.

This enables each solution to provide x16 lanes of dedicated PCIe Gen4 upstream bandwidth and x4 lanes of dedicated downstream bandwidth to each U.2 or U.3 SSD. The architecture also serves to minimize latency and enhances signal integrity to streamline I/O transmission between the host computer and NVMe storage.

Scalability and upgrade pathways
The external form factor enables administrators to expand or upgrade storage capacity for any PC platform with PCIe Gen4 x16 connectivity.

RocketStor 654x series enclosures are for space-constrained industrial and edge computing platforms, as they enable such systems to employ large configurations of enterprise grade 2.5” NVMe media without compromising the compact hardware footprint.

Administrators need only install the discreet low-profile PCIe adapter card into the host platform.

The compact device has been engineered to comply with industry standard tower and rackmount architecture, including platforms that rely on riser cards for PCIe connectivity.

Integrated NVMe hot-swap capability and industry standard 2.5” removable drive bays make adding and removing NVMe media a simple task. Individual SSDs and entire RAID configurations to be changed or serviced on the fly without powering down the host platform or rebooting the OS.

Compact and lightweight construction enable RocketStor 654x enclosures to be moved between different servers or workstations as needed. The discreet PCIe x16 adapter included with each enclosure is available as an accessory and can be installed into multiple platforms to facilitate collaborative work and data sharing.

Workload segregation enhances efficiency and serviceability
The external form factor makes it to allocate storage to a specific task or application. And thanks to the dedicated PCI switch architecture, resource allotment is all handled outside of the primary computing environment.

Storing or processing data assets via an external NVMe RAID enclosure can optimize platform performance by isolating these workflows from the host hardware environment. The RocketStor 654x’s dedicated PCIe switch architecture directly manages all I/O between hosted NVMe, freeing up CPU resources for other critical tasks.

Reduces power consumption: These external NVMe enclosures have dedicated external power supplies to which offset power consumption from the host platform.

Offloads waste heat management from host platform: The external form factor eliminates the need for additional internal 2.5” drive bays and requisite cabling accessories. Not only does this free up considerable interior volume, it can improve the reliability of the entire platform by reducing power consumption and ensuring that waste heat generated by storage media never enters the computing environment. RocketStor 654x enclosures are equipped with low-decibel cooling fans engineered to ensure NVMe performs optimally in the most grueling working environments. Full manual fan-control enable administrators to adjust the cooling system based on ambient conditions, including an option to disable the fan for workflows that demand complete silence.

Advanced Gen4 data security suite
RocketStor 654x series RAID enclosures are protected by the company’s Gen4 Data Security Suite, which includes SafeStorage, a data encryption solution for OPAL SSC compliant SED drives and arrays. Stored data is automatically locked down whenever storage is unplugged from the AIC, effectively preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information should physical disks be misplaced or stolen. Integrated Hardware Secure Boot capability prevents unauthorized code, such as a rootkit or ransomware, from executing during the system’s boot-up sequence.

NVMe storage management and maintenance solutions
RocketStor 654x series NVMe RAID Enclosures are compatible with the firm’s NVMe monitoring, and management suite for Windows and Linux. The software solution includes a range of graphical and command line interfaces, for use within and outside of an OS, and enable administrators to configure and maintain the platform’s NVMe storage ecosystem with a few clicks and commands.

Proven RAID technology empowers administrators with the flexibility to tailor unique storage configurations for a wide range of applications, and maximize storage performance with RAID-0 striping, enhance reliability with RAID-1 mirroring technology, or take a balanced approach with RAID-10. A single RocketStor 654x enclosure is capable of hosting up to 4 separate RAID arrays, which will be automatically recognized by the host OS as ordinary, single physical disks, and can even be used to host bootable volumes.

Shipping and availability
RocketStor 654x series NVMe RAID enclosures will begin shipping in September 2024, and will be available WW direct from the company’s E-Store and approved global resale and distribution partners.

• RocketStor 6542AW 8-Bay PCIe 4.0 x16 external NVMe RAID enclosure MSRP: $2,299.00

• RocketStor 6541AW 4-Bay PCIe 4.0 external NVMe RAID enclosure MSRP $ TBA