Chapter 1. Introducing the 3ware® SATA RAID Controller
2
3ware Serial ATA RAID Controller User Guide
System Requirements
3ware 9650SE, 959SE, and 9550SX model RAID controllers have the
following requirements:
Motherboard and Slot Requirements
A workstation-class or server-class motherboard, with slots that support the
specific 3ware RAID controller model, as shown in Table 2.
Drive Requirements
Depending on the particular model, the 3ware RAID controller may be
connected to two, four, eight, twelve, or sixteen SATA drives using the
supplied interface cables.
Drives must meet SATA-1 (1.5 GB/s) or SATA-2 (3.0 Gb/s) standards.
A list of drives that have been tested is available at
http://www.3ware.com/products/compatibility_sata2.asp
Drives may be of any capacity or physical form factor.
The length of shielded and unshielded interface cables may not exceed 1M
(39”) for Serial ATA controllers.
Table 2: Required Slots for 3ware RAID Controller Models
Controller Model
PCI-E X1
PCI-E X4 PCI-E X8
PCI-E x16
PCI-X (64-bit)
9650SE-2LPML
Y
ES
Y
ES
Y
ES
Yes
No
9650SE-4LPML
N
O
Y
ES
Y
ES
Yes
No
9650SE-8LPML
N
O
Y
ES
Y
ES
Yes
No
9650SE-12LPML
N
O
N
O
Y
ES
Yes
No
9650SE-16LPML
N
O
N
O
Y
ES
Yes
No
9590SE
N
O
Y
ES
Y
ES
Yes
No
9550SX
N/S
N/S
N/S
N/S
Yes
Notes:
3ware 9650SE and 9590SE RAID controllers
must
be installed in a PCI Express
slot that complies with PCI 1.0 or later standards.
The 3ware 9550SX Controller performs best when installed in a PCI-X 133MHz 64-
bit slot. However, it can also operate at 66MHz or 100MHz.
PCI Slots used for the 9550SX controllers must comply with PCI 2.2 or later
standards and must meet the Plug and Play and PC99 specifications.
