News: HighPoint Releases External RAID Controller

(Milpitas, California--April 1, 2008) HighPoint Technologies announces the availability of the RocketRAID 3522 - PCI-Express x8 hardware RAID controller with two external mini-SAS connectors (SFF-8088) and with Intel IOP 341 I/O Processor. The RocketRAID 3522 is the newest addition to the RocketRAID 3000 series of hardware RAID controllers that offer enterprise level of data protection, performance and manageability.

Enterprise level data protection is offered in the RocketRAID 3522 with RAID 5 (XOR) and RAID 6 (P+Q). By offering 8KB of NVRAM redundant RAID arrays can avoid degraded and out of sync RAID arrays by avoiding WRITE holes due to unexpected power failures. Logs are stored in the NVRAM to let users check their RAID arrays for consistency. To prevent data loss the RocketRAID 3522 offers an optional BBU (battery back up unit) to store unwritten data for up to 72 hours when there is system power failures.

Enterprise level performance is offer in the RocketRAID 3522 by utilizing the Intel IOP341 I/O processor to deliver the performance needed for external storage environments for SD/HD (standard and high definition) video editing. With sustained performance approaching 600 MB/s the RocketRAID 3522 can easily process multiple uncompressed HD video streams. The sustained performance makes the RocketRAID 3522 a good choice for disk to disk back up and restore. The industry standard mini-SAS (SFF-8088) connectors allow users to connect external storage enclosures with (eSATA or Infiniband) connectors.

Enterprise level manageability it offered in the RocketRAID 3522 by utilizing the web GUI management interface to configure, monitor and mange the storage RAID array. Advance manageability in the RocketRAID 3522 is supported through (OBM) Out of Band Management. OBM allows easy integration of adapter information into enterprise management systems. NTP (Network Time Protocol) is also supported for event management by synchronizing the adapter clock to a dedicated time server.

Operating system support for the RocketRAID 3522 include a WHQL certified Windows driver for Vista and Windows 2003. An embedded Linux driver into the main Linux kernel 2.6.24; HighPoint open source drivers are also back ported into Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS distributions. Mac OS drivers for Tiger and Leopard are available and upgradeable EFI firmware in the web management software allows users to boot to Mac OS X.

All RAID functions and manageability are controlled by the HighPoint webGUI / InBand Management utility.

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