12 Gb/s SAS Data Storage Interface at the Forefront of the 13th SCSI Trade Association Plugfest Event

Physical level testing of 12 Gb/s SAS technology unveils the ability of this higher performance storage interface to speed access to data in critical applications

SAN FRANCISCO – September 5, 2012 — With a focus on the emerging 12 Gb/s SAS storage interface that provides a roadmap to higher performance, the SCSI Trade Association (STA) today announced the successful completion of the13th Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Plugfest held August 20-24, 2012, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). STA is a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology. Twenty-one companies, including both STA members and non-members, participated in the Plugfest event.

“This was the first Plugfest event that took a deep look at 12 Gb/s SAS capabilities and the various 12Gb/s SAS connections emerging in the marketplace,” said Marty Czekalski, president of the SCSI Trade Association and Interface and Emerging Architecture Program manager, Seagate. “12 Gb/s SAS addresses the explosive growth of data in cloud and enterprise datacenters by doubling the bandwidth of current 6Gb/s SAS solutions while offering investment protection through compatibility and interoperability with previous generations of SAS.”

All Plugfests have consistently provided the means to preserve existing storage investments, deliver a favorable end-user experience, demonstrate interoperability and support both forward and backward compatibility. STA expects the release of 12 Gb/s SAS products in production volumes in 2013.

13th STA Plugfest Highlights:

In addition to bringing together the next generation product components for standardized testing, no Plugfest can be successful without the latest generation SAS testing and analyzer equipment, and this event was no exception. The 13th STA Plugfest was also highlighted by the following activities:

• Physical level testing of 12Gb/s SAS technology
• Interoperability testing of SFF-8680 dual port 12Gb/s SAS backplane connectors
• Testing of SFF-8630 MultiLink SAS™ and the SAS portion of the SFF-8639 multi-function backplane connectors
• Compatibility testing of host and solid state disk (SSD) and hard disk drives (HDD) target devices linking up and running at 12Gb/s SAS

“It was exciting to see 12Gb/s SAS technology deliver the performance to support increased scaling of traditional hard disk drives as well as unlock the full potential for enterprise solid-state storage devices,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, Engineering Fellow, Toshiba America Electronic Components and chairperson of the SAS Plugfest Technical Committee. “The capability to maximize link utilization and the connectivity improvements supported by 12Gb/s SAS are also particularly notable.”

The following companies attended the August, 2012 Plugfest:

† Non STA Members

The next Plugfest is scheduled for the week of Feb. 18, 2013. Please visit http://www.scsita.org/sas-plugfest-program.html for Plugfest updates throughout the year.

About STA
The SCSI Trade Association (STA) (http://www.scsita.org/) was established in 1996 to provide a focal point for members to communicate the benefits of SCSI to the industry. STA promotes the understanding and use of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) technology and influences the evolution of SCSI standards to meet future industry needs. The Association has a nine-member Board of Directors, which oversees the Marketing Communications and Technology Committees and all STA activities. To subscribe to Serial Storage Wire, STA’s free Serial Attached SCSI newsletter, please visit: http://www.scsita.org/serial-storage-wire/. For more information, please visit the STA web site at http://www.scsita.org, send an email to info@scsita.org or call the STA office at (415) 561-6273.

Media Contact:
Linda Capcara
Global Connect Communications
480.229.7090
linda@scsita.org