3ware® 9690SA
High-Performance Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID Controller
Product Brief
LSI 3ware 9690SA
K E Y F E A T U R E S
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Scalable to 128 SAS and/or
Serial ATA devices
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PCI Express x8 host interface
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Configuration flexibility with four
configuration options
– 8 internal ports
– 8 external ports
– 4 internal/four external ports
– 4 internal ports
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SAS, SATA, and SATA II features, including
3Gb/s and NCQ
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512MB DDR2 533 ECC protected memory
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Simultaneous double parity generation
to maximize RAID 6 performance
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StorSwitch™ 8th generation non-blocking
switch fabric for maximum controller
throughput
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StreamFusion optimizes I/O accesses to
maximize application performance under
heavy workloads
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StorSave BBU with write journaling
optimizes data protection and
performance; remote battery support
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Low-profile form factor
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RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and
Single Disk
It’s Time for SAS
3ware pioneered the way for SATA and now
capitalizes on time-proven serial storage
expertise to take users from parallel SCSI to
SAS. The 9690SA seizes the moment to enter
the market just as SAS hard drives, expanders
and backplanes are more widely available and
as enterprise infrastructures align to realize the
potential of Serial Attached SCSI. As SAS makes
inroads into the SCSI market, users will look
to SAS to provide expanded connectivity and
greater scalability and to the 3ware 9690SA for
peace of mind.
Connect, Expand, Protect with SAS
End users will enjoy configuration flexibility
with four low profile PCI Express controller
options: eight internal ports, eight external
ports, four internal/four external ports, or four
internal ports. Compatibility with industry
standard SAS expanders will maximize
flexibility. Each 9690SA SAS controller scales
to support 128 SAS and/or SATA devices.
Advanced 3ware RAID architecture and SAS,
SATA, and SATA II performance features, includ-
ing 3Gb/s and NCQ, help rocket the 9690SA to
RAID 5 and RAID 6 performance heights. An
optional Battery Backup Unit with integrated
write journaling and remote battery mounting
capability provides added data protection in the
event of a power outage. The 9690SA supports
RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and Single Disk.
The RAID 6 Difference
RAID 6 eliminates the risk of data loss if a second
hard disk drive fails while the RAID array is
rebuilding. Uniquely, in the 3ware RAID 6
implementation, two sets of parity are simulta-
neously calculated, written, and rotated across
all the drives. This second parity calculation
enables the array to survive up to two drive
failures without losing data, significantly
improving fault tolerance. The 3ware RAID 6
double parity algorithm maximizes RAID 6
throughput, so that the 9690SA controllers
deliver unequaled RAID 6 write performance.
Enterprise-class RAID Storage
SAS is the preferred interface for the direct-
attach server space, SCSI’s former mainstay.
SAS is for mission critical applications that
require higher levels of availability and native
expansion. SAS is optimized for the random
performance requirements of the data
center. The 9690SA’s advanced RAID features,
SAS connectivity, and powerful 3ware
performance architecture make it the ideal
SCSI controller replacement.
The LSI 3ware 9690SA SAS/SATA hardware RAID controllers deliver indus-
try-leading RAID 6 and RAID 5 performance, expanded scalability, robust
fault tolerance, and multi-terabyte capacities. A PCI Express host interface,
StorSwitch™ architecture and sophisticated SAS and SATA II features drive
this unrivaled performance.
Block 10
Block 7
Block 4
P1 Parity
Disk #1
Block 11
Block 8
P2 Parity
Q1 Parity
Disk #2
Block 12
P3 Parity
Q2 Parity
Block 1
Disk #3
Q4 Parity
Block 9
Block 6
Block 3
Disk #5
Striped Data with Distributed Double Parity —
RAID 6
Host Data
P4 Parity
Q3 Parity
Block 5
Block 2
Disk #4
RAID 6:
Two sets of parity data, P + Q, are
striped across disks. RAID 6 safeguards against
data loss during rebuild mode by allowing up
to two consecutive drive failures for maximum
fault tolerance.
