Microchip SmartRAID 3254-8i /e SAS Controller

Marketing Information

Maximum Performance and Security With Tri-Mode Functionality

The Adaptec® SmartRAID 3200 family is the industry's most versatile, fully featured and secure full RAIDenabled Tri-Mode SAS/SATA/NVMe server storage performance solution for server OEM, storage systems, data center and enterprise customers.

The SmartRAID 3200 series of PCIe® Gen 4 to Tri-mode RAID adapters come in a wide range of performance optimized configurations optimized for the lowest possible cost.

Built on Microchip's proven 5th generation storage controller, the SmartROC 3200, the SmartRAID 3200 product supports both x8 and x16 PCIe Gen 4 host interface adapters with 32, 16, and 8 media facing port variants for both internal and external... Tri-mode connectivity. The SmartRAID 3200 Ultra products are specifically designed for the most demanding NVMe and multi-port SAS SSD applications. The SmartROC 3200 integrated PCIe Switch enables DirectPath technology - the industry's lowest latency and high bandwidth NVMe solution and the flexibility to support x1, x2, x4, and x8 wide NVMe SSDs.

These industry first 24G SAS adapters support SAS-4 connectivity as well as Microchip's Dynamic Channel Multiplexing (DCM) technology that aggregates expander attached SAS or SATA hard drives onto 24G SAS infrastructure with near 100% link efficiency for unparalleled throughput. Native host adapter modes, RAID mode and mixed (RAID and HBA/raw devices) for all media types are also supported.

Microchip's Trusted Platform support delivers a new level of compute and supply chain security based on a hardware root of trust that is aligned with the Open Compute Security Project. Microchip has expanded on its unique maxCrypto™ Controller-Based Encryption (CBE) solution to support SAS, SATA, and now NVMe media.

Best-in-Class Ultra Performance

The SmartRAID 3200 series delivers a comprehensive feature set for best-in-class performance. The distinctly labelled SmartRAID Ultra adapters offer a x16 host interface that doubles bandwidth to 29.6 GB/s, 4x the previous generation. Non-ultra adapters still double bandwidth compared to previous generations due to the Gen 4 PCIe interface. While SmartRAID adapters commonly use 72-bit high-speed DDR4 3200 MHz, SmartRAID Ultra boards ship with either 144-bit or 72-bit DDR4 3200 MHz memory, enabling the highest throughput on redundant RAID writes and NVMe ControllerBased Encryption (CBE). The 144-bit boards are marked with a "p" for performance (for example, SmartRAID 3258p-16i) and support up to 11.7 GB/s throughput on RAID5 redundant writes, which is 45% higher than 72-bit products and 17 GB/s throughput on NVMe CBE-enabled LDs using maxCrypto™ Technology.

maxCrypto Controller-Based Encryption

The SmartRAID encryption enabled adapters (denoted by /e) provide the industry's only data-at-rest CBE solution now enabled for NVMe in addition to SAS and SATA devices. maxCrypto technology encrypts data on RAID arrays and single-drive RAID 0 with AES 256 encryption. It is accelerated by silicon engines with all NVMe, SAS and SATA devices that are supported in RAID (SSDs and HDDs). It supports local encryption key management and is FIPS 140-2/Level 1 certification ready, providing a superior solution over self-encrypting drives.

Specifications
Manufacturer: Microchip Technology Inc.
Manufacturer Part Number: 3254C8IXS
Manufacturer Website Address: http://www.microchip.com
Brand Name: Microchip
Product Line: SmartRAID
Product Series: 3200
Product Model: 3254-8i /e
Product Name: SmartRAID 3254-8i /e SAS Controller
Product Type: SAS/SATA/NVMe Controller
Technical Information
Host Interface: PCI Express 4.0 x8
Controller Type: 24Gb/s SAS
RAID Supported: Yes
RAID Levels:

• 0
• 1
• 5
• 6
• 10
• 50
• 60
• 1 Triple
• 10 Triple

Device Supported:

• Server
• Storage System

Operating System Supported:

• Windows Server
• Windows 10
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• CentOS
• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server
• Ubuntu Linux
• Debian
• Oracle Linux
• Citrix XenServer
• Solaris
• FreeBSD OS
• VMware ESXi

Features:

• S.M.A.R.T. Support
• Online Capacity Expansion (OCE)

Memory
Cache Memory: 4 GB
Interfaces/Ports
Total Number of SAS Ports: 8
Number of SAS Ports (Internal): 8
SAS Connector Details: SlimSAS (SFF-8654)
Physical Characteristics
Height: 68.8 mm
Length: 167.6 mm
Form Factor: Plug-in Card
Card Height: Low-profile
Miscellaneous
Platform Supported:

• PC
• Linux

Environmental Compliance: Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)