3Ware 3W-6800 - Escalade 6800 RAID Controller, User Manual

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Introduction
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Introduction
Escalade Storage Switches allow you to use low-cost IDE/ATA
drives in your storage system and still achieve performance levels
and fault tolerance capabilities typically found in more expensive
SCSI systems. Escalade Storage Switches are available as two, four
or eight port configurations, as well as a shortened four or eight port
versions designed for higher density rack-mounted applications.
StorSwitch

architecture for scalable performance
The StorSwitch Architecture, found only in 3ware products, accel-
erates your storage system’s performance by speeding data into sys-
tem memory. Each drive has its own dedicated AccelerATA data
IDE port, maximizing drive and system throughput.
RAID increases performance and adds redundancy
Escalade Storage Switches use Redundant Array of Inexpensive
Disks (RAID) to increase your storage system’s performance and
provide fault tolerance. The storage switches offer RAID 0 variable
striped arrays for performance; RAID 1 mirrored arrays for fault
tolerance; variable striped mirrored RAID 10 arrays for fault toler-
ance and performance; and RAID 5 arrays for fault tolerance, high
capacity and storage efficiency.
RAID 0 arrays maximize performance and capacity
When drives are configured in a striped disk array (see Figure 1),
the Escalade Storage Switch distributes large files across the multi-
ple disks using RAID 0 techniques. Striped disk arrays achieve high
transfer rates because they can read or write data on more than one
drive simultaneously. Striped disk arrays give exceptional perfor-
mance, particularly for data intensive applications such as video
editing, computer aided design and geographical information sys-
tems. Striping your disk array concatenates each drive’s capacity