S A S
E N D - U S E R G U I D E
• Make the best use of your Fibre Channel investment by offloading less-valuable data
to a high-performance, high-reliability system with SAS and/or SATA drives and a
Fibre Channel HBA interface.
• Get more storage in the same space with higher-density solutions, made possible since
four small form-factor SAS drives will fit into the same enclosure that today holds
only three drive bays.
• Integrate low-cost SATA drives into your SAS-based solutions and still take advantage
of the performance and reliability of the SAS connection for more cost-sensitive
situations.
When to Choose SCSI, Fibre Channel, or SAS?
Although SAS will become the dominate standard, and should become part of your
storage plan, for the foreseeable future, SCSI, Fibre Channel, and SAS will co-exist. As we
have done during previous technology transitions, Adaptec will continue our industry-
leading support for both the existing and new technologies.
Figure 3: SAS will become the technology of choice for most storage needs, while coexisting
with FC and SATA for very high end, or very cost-conscious requirements.
If you have invested in a Fibre Channel infrastructure, beginning your transition to SAS
enclosures now allows you to increase storage scalability and flexibility, while
maintaining Fibre Channel connectivity to the network.
If you have invested heavily in an extensive parallel SCSI infrastructure that you are
looking to maintain, for the moment, it makes sense to continue to rely on your trusted
SCSI solutions.
Think about transitioning to SAS sooner rather than later if you
• Want to simplify the datacenter — standardize on a SAS-based server or storage
chassis
• Are seeking a long-term strategic storage solution
• Need a lower TCO
• Need high-performance, enterprise features and value pricing
• Are ready to transition to networked storage for the first time
• Are ready to adopt the new standard instead of investing further in an Ultra320
standard that has reached the end of its development
• Need the flexibility of SAS for a multi-use storage solution
Serial Attached SCSI Implementations
SAS components will be available from all of the major disk drive vendors, host adapter
suppliers, storage suppliers, chipset manufacturers, large computer makers, and many
other companies. With these solutions, you can take advantage of the increased flexibility,
reliability and performance of SAS components. This section gives you a glimpse into the
types of solutions that will be available using SAS components.
High-End
Low-end
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
Fibre Channel (FC)
Serial ATA (SATA
Enterprise Storage Continuum
5
Putting Serial Attached SCSI to Work for You
