SAS & SATA Combine to Change the Storage Market (2011)

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) has become the backbone of enterprise storage deployments. Functioning as both a device level interface and a tiered storage interconnect, SAS has preserved the usability and cost-effectiveness of the SCSI architecture while rapidly evolving by adding new features, capabilities and performance enhancements. The combined legacy and evolution of SAS makes it possible to realize extremely high throughput with standard high-volume components while extending to new technologies of the customer’s choice and allows systems to be built that accommodate large numbers of either SAS and/or SATA hard disk drives.

Intended for OEM, System Builders and End-Users, this tutorial describes the capabilities of the SAS interface, how it’s designed to interoperate with SATA drives, and when combined, how these technologies can be combined to deliver some very compelling storage solutions. The presenters will take a look at the evolution of SAS, how it has expanded beyond traditional DAS usage, discuss the significance of 6Gb/s SAS to SSDs, examine the effect of SAS on bandwidth aggregation and show a detailed comparison of connector types.

To keep attendees current on the most recent technology developments, the tutorial will also provide an up-to-the-minute recap of the latest additions to the SAS standard and roadmaps. It will detail applications and storage deployments requiring Non-volatile memory, faster RAID performance, and enhanced connectivity. The discussion will include an update on the status of 12Gb/s SAS development/standardization efforts, demonstrating how SAS continues to innovate and ultimately protect Enterprise storage investments.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will learn how SAS is growing and thriving based on its evolving capabilities and performance enhancements due in part to its Advanced Connectivity roadmap and how it allows systems to be built that accommodate large numbers of either SAS and/or SATA hard disk drives.
Attendees will learn how SAS provides high-performance, time-to-market solutions for SSD and other low-latency, non-volatile memory solutions. Including the emerging capability offered by MultiLink SAS.
The latest development status, capabilities and design guidelines for 12Gb/s SAS will be revealed and additional details of the ongoing standardization efforts designed to preserve SAS and SATA storage investments will be discussed.