IBM 8231-E2B Manual page 77

The adapter is a 64 bit, 3.3 V, bootable SAS adapter that provides RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10 capability, and
system level mirroring via the operating system. The adapter provides both single and dual RAID
controller configurations. Dual controller configurations (dual storage IOA) must run RAID. JBOD (512
byte) functionality is supported only in a single controller configuration based on the operating system.
Best performance is achieved when multiple RAID sets are configured and optimized under a pair of
adapters in a high availability, multi-initiator RAID configuration (dual storage IOA) which allows for an
Active-Active mode of operation.
The adapter support a maximum of 98 attached disk devices that depends on the drive enclosure
attached. A maximum of 48 devices can be solid-state devices (SSDs). Externally attached devices are
designed to run at a maximum data rate of 6 Gbps for SAS disk devices and 3 Gbps for SAS tape
devices. This adapter supports RAID and non-RAID DASD, and SAS tape devices. Specific device
attachment support rules apply. This adapter supports the multi-initiator and high availability (dual
storage IOA) configurations in AIX, IBM i, and Linux partitions.. This adapter enables configuring the
SAS drives as dedicated hot-spares with equal or higher capacity.
Important: See the SAS RAID controllers for AIX, SAS RAID controllers for Linux, or SAS RAID
controllers for IBM i topics for more information and important considerations for multi-initiator and
high availability or dual storage IOA configurations
Figure 23 shows the adapter. The connector plug (A) is installed in an empty port and prevents damage
to that port whenever a cable for the adjacent port connectors is plugged-in or removed.
Figure 23. PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter
65
Managing PCI adapters