Accelerators address storage bottlenecks

Microchip Technology Inc. has launched the Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 series of NVMe RAID storage accelerators, targeting AI data centers that need NVMe storage to support demanding workloads while providing maximized system performance.

Microchip said the SmartRAID 4300 family takes a new approach to NVMe RAID by disaggregating the company’s Smart Storage platform into separate software and hardware components. With Microchip’s PCIe storage controllers helping to provide CPU offload and RAID acceleration, the accelerators separate the storage software stack to utilize the expanded host PCIe infrastructure for optimized data flows and connectivity.

Microchip Technology's Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 series of NVMe RAID storage accelerators.

(Source: Microchip Technology, Inc.)

“With Smart Storage software operating on the host CPU, I/O data flows maximize performance with writes occurring directly from the host CPU to the NVMe endpoints at their respective PCIe generational speeds, while parity-based redundancy (XOR) is offloaded from the host CPU to the accelerator hardware,” Microchip said.

This architecture addresses bottlenecks inherent to traditional in-line storage solutions, according to the company, by enabling the SmartRAID 4300 accelerator to offer high levels of scalability, flexibility, and support for Gen 4 and Gen 5 PCIe host CPUs with up to 32 CPU-attached ×4 NVMe devices and 64 logical drives/RAID arrays.

Internal testing shows that the SmartRAID 4300 family provides up to 7× increase in input/output (I/O) performance gains compared to previous generation offerings.

The SmartRAID 4300 family supports NVMe and cloud-capable SSDs. These accelerators feature techniques such as automatic idling of processor cores and autonomous power reduction capabilities to optimize power efficiency, multiple safeguards for end-to-end data integrity, and security features including hardware root of trust, secure boot/update, attestation and self-encrypting drive (SED) support for enterprise-class data protection.

The SmartRAID 4300 series maintains the advanced features, functionality, and hardware offload of Microchip’s previous-generation of in-line enterprise storage products. It is supported by a suite of host tools. The series is available for production integration.

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