Adaptec 1420SA vs. Promise TX4300: SATA Controller Performance

P E R F O R M A N C E C O M PA R I S O N DA S H B O A R D
Adaptec 1420SA vs. Promise TX4300:
SATA Controller Performance Comparison
The Adaptec Serial ATA II RAID 1420SA PCI-X controller was used in this benchmark versus the Promise TX4300 to compare random
READ and WRITE performance for typical 4KB transfer sizes.
• The Adaptec 1420SA is faster for RAID 0, 1, 10 and JBOD.
• The 1420SA excels tremendously in random READS and WRITES.
• These performance results show that the Adaptec 1420SA provides the excellent performance and data protection for desktops,
workstations, and entry-level servers.
RAID Level Performance
RAID 0
RAID 1
RAID 1 – 2 Drive Random Write 4KB
RAID 0 – Random Write 4KB
Adaptec
1420SA
Adaptec
1420SA
Promise
TX4300
Promise
TX4300
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0
400
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Random Writes in IOs per second
Random Writes in IOs per second
Figure 1: In a four-drive RAID 0 configuration, the Adaptec 1420SA
random writes are 29 percent faster.
Figure 2: RAID 1 protects your data against a drive failure and the
Adaptec 1420SA offers superior RAID 1 performance. The Adaptec
1420SA random write performance on a RAID 1 array is 26% faster than
the Promise TX4300.
RAID 10
JBOD
JBOD – 4 Drive Random Read 4KB
RAID 10 – 4 Drive Random Write 4KB
Adaptec
1420SA
Adaptec
1420SA
Promise
TX4300
Promise
TX4300
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Random Writes in IOs per second
Figure 3: The performance of the Adaptec 1420SA performance scales.
Random writes on a RAID 10 array are 15% faster with the Adaptec
1420SA as compared to the Promise TX4300.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Random Reads in IOs per second
Figure 4: In a JBOD or “Just a Bunch Of Disk” configuration the Adaptec
1420SA performance blows away the Promise TX4300. The Adaptec
1420SA random reads are 46% faster!
P E R F O R M A N C E C O M PA R I S O N DA S H B O A R D
Adaptec 1420SA vs. Promise TX4300: SATA Controller Performance Comparison
2
Test Environment
Features
The following test environment was used:
• CPU: Dual Intel Xeon 3.60Ghz
Adaptec Serial ATA II RAID 1420SA card
• PCI-X host bus interface
• Motherboard: Supermicro X6DH8G2
• Serial ATA and Serial ATA II hard drive support
• Memory: DRAM DDR2-400
• Up to 300MB/s for each SATA II drive port
• HDD: Samsung HD160JJ
• Support RAID level 0, 1, 10 and JBOD
• OS: Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
• Hot swap and hot spare
– Testing Utility: Iometer version 2005.30.07,
queue set to 32 per target
• BIOS booting support (INT13)
• Host adapter information:
• 64bit LBA for over 2TB support
– Adaptec Serial ATA II RAID 1420SA
Device driver: Released Windows driver version
1.1.5719.0 with performence registry file
• Adaptec Storage Manger RAID management software
• Command Line Interface (CLI)
• I2C Enclosure management (requires Adaptec 335SAS
enclosure)
– Promise TX 4300
Device driver 2.7.000.26
• Hard drive activity and Failed LED support
• Operating system support (32-Bit & 64-Bit)
– Microsoft (Windows 2003, 2000, XP)
– Linux Red Hat & SuSe (Advanced versions only)
– Netware 6.5
Comparison Matrix
Adaptec 1420SA
Promise TX4300
General Description
Four port SATA II HBA
Four port SATA II HBA
Host Bus
PCI-X
PCI
Metadata compatibility
Seamless upgrade to Adaptec processor-based RAID products
Metadata not compatible
Check-pointing
Resume data reconstruction from same position ensuring data
integrity after recovery from power failure
NA
Enclosure support
Compatible with Adaptec 335SAS disk drive enclosure
NA
Adaptec, Inc.
691 South Milpitas Boulevard
Milpitas, California 95035
Tel: (408) 945-8600
Fax: (408) 262-2533
Literature Requests:
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Pre-Sales Support: Europe: Tel: (44) 1276-854528 or Fax: (44) 1276-854505
Copyright 2006 Adaptec, Inc. All rights reserved. Adaptec, the Adaptec logo, Snap Appliance, the Snap Appliance logo, Snap Server, Snap Disk, GuardianOS, SnapOS, and Storage Manager are trademarks of Adaptec, Inc.,
which may be registered in some jurisdictions. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, used under license. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.
Information supplied by Adaptec, Inc., is believed to be accurate and reliable at the time of printing, but Adaptec, Inc., assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
Adaptec, Inc., reserves the right, without notice, to make changes in product design or specifications. Information is subject to change without notice.
P/N: 636911-011 Printed in U.S.A. 02/06 4197_1.4