Adaptec Unified Serial® Series 5 and Series 5Z RAID Controllers vs

COMPETITIVE DASHBOARD
Adaptec Unified Serial® Series 5 and Series 5Z
RAID Controllers vs. LSI 3ware RAID Cards
Adaptec RAID
3ware RAID
Linux (in-box driver) – Kernel 2.4.x / 2.6.xx
Yes
Yes
VMware (in-box driver) – ESX 3.x, ESXi 3.x and vSphere 4
Yes
No
Unix (in-box driver) – SCO Unix, UnixWare and Open Server
Yes
No
Microsoft (in-box driver) – 2003/2008/Vista/XP
Yes
No
Operating System Support
Competitive Matrix Model
Technology
Adaptec Series 5Z
Adaptec Series 5
Unified Serial® (SATA/SAS)
Unified Serial® (SATA/SAS)
Max Performance
LSI 3ware RAID 9650SE LSI 3ware RAID 9690SA
SATA Only
SAS/SATA
1.2 GB/s
1.2 GB/s
700 MB/s
650 MB/s
Port Flexibility
4–8
4–28
4–24 internal only
4–8
Max. Devices Connected
256
256
24
128
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
RAID 1E, 5EE, 60
Yes
Yes
No
No
Battery Backup Unit
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Zero Maintenance Cache Protection
(Flash-based)
Yes
No
No
No
Automatic Copyback Hot Spare
Yes
Yes
No
No
Optimized Disk Utilization
Enclosure Management
XOR Engine
Processor Speed
Yes
Yes
No
No
SES & SAF-TE
SES & SAF-TE
SAF-TE
SES
IOP348
IOP348
G133e
G133e
1.2 GHz Dual Core
1.2GHz Dual Core
266 MHz
266 MHz
Adaptec RAID Product Line
LSI 3ware RAID Product Line
Unified Serial Architecture
Yes, all Series 5 controllers support both SATA and SAS devices and
have tested compatible with over 300 devices.
– Only the 9690 architecture allows support for SAS and SATA
devices. 9650 supports only SATA drives.
Zero maintenance cache protection
(via NAND Flash)
–
–
–
–
Yes, set it and forget it. Stores protected data for up to 10 years.
No shutdown required for battery replacement.
No batteries of which to dispose.
RAID performance optimized immediately – charges in minutes
instead of hours.
– Always-on protection and performance.
No, Li-Ion batteries are used for cache protection.
ROC (RAID on Chip) technology
Yes, controller is built on ROC architecture for improved reliability.
No
Intelligent Read Ahead Caching
Yes, controllers have fast read ahead caching algorithms to support
sustained read transfer speeds under Linux and Windows.
No
Intelligent Power Management
Reduces storage energy consumption by as much as 70% without
compromising application performance. Users can minimize power
consumption by alternating between 3 modes: 1) Normal operation,
2) Standby, 3) Power-off.
No
Support for SAS Tapes
Yes, controller supports SAS tapes and ATAPI devices.
No
Support for SAS Expanders
Yes, SAS expanders are supported providing connectivity up to 256
devices seamlessly.
Only the 9690 supports SAS expanders connecting up to 128
devices.
Feature & Function Comparison
Adaptec, Inc.
691 South Milpitas Boulevard
Milpitas, California 95035
Tel: (408) 945-8600
Fax: (408) 262-2533
World Wide Web: www.adaptec.com
Pre-Sales Support: US and Canada: 1 (800) 442-7274 or (408) 957-7274
Pre-Sales Support: Europe: Tel: (44) 1276-854-500 or Fax: (44) 1276-854-505
Copyright 2009 Adaptec, Inc. All rights reserved. Adaptec, the Adaptec logo, Storage Manager, and Storage Manager Pro are trademarks of Adaptec, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and Windows 2000, 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.
Part Number: 637126-011 Printed in U.S.A. 05/09 6513_1.2