Lenovo ServeRAID M5120, User Manual

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1-4 Overview
1.3 General Description
The ServeRAID-M5120 controller brings 6.0 Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI
and 6.0 Gb/s Serial ATA III performance to host controller, workstation,
and server designs. The controller can connect by cable to an external
enclosure that contains storage devices, allowing you to use a system
that supports enterprise-class SAS drives and desktop-class SATA
drives.
The controller is based on the LSISAS2208 ROC device. This device is
compliant with the Fusion-MPT architecture and provides a PCI Express
x8 interface.
The controller integrates eight high-performance SAS/SATA PHYs and a
PCI Express bus master DMA core. Each of the eight PHYs is capable
of 6.0 Gb/s SAS link rates and 6.0 Gb/s SATA III link rates.
The LSISAS2208 ROC device provides an eight-lane, 5-Gb/s PCI
Express host interface, eight 6.0 Gb/s SAS or 6.0 Gb/s SATA ports, and
a full-featured, hardware-based RAID implementation. The
LSISAS2208 ROC device provides the maximum benefits of a RAID
system and enables you to configure the system to satisfy your system
requirements.
The LSISAS2208 ROC device increases system performance and
provides fault-tolerant data storage. The LSISAS2208 supports data
striping across multiple disks, which reduces disk access time because
multiple disks simultaneously read or write data. The LSISAS2208 ROC
device backs up data with either data mirroring or a parity block. Either
backup method enables you to recover lost data in the event of a disk
failure. You can select the data backup method that best suits your
needs. A hardware RAID assist exclusive-OR (XOR) engine speeds
parity generation and checking and reduces system-access times.
The controller supports the SAS protocol as described in the Serial
Attached SCSI Standard , version 2.0 , and the SATA III protocol defined
by the Serial ATA Revision 3.0 , and the Serial ATA III; Extension to the
Serial ATA Specification, Version 3.0 . SATA III is an extension to
SATA 2.0.