Hyperscale data center performance

Hyperscale data centers work to solve the challenge of scaling data storage

Scaling storage is a formidable challenge for data centers worldwide as rampant data growth continues, but is even more acute in hyperscale data centers. These web and cloud data centers – infrastructures built with minimalistic, easy-to-scale servers – enable organizations to easily add computing, networking and storage resources to servers in large cluster computing, distributed computing or grid computing environments.

Hyperscale data centers require distinct storage platform architectures for low-latency database transactions, high-capacity data storage, data analytics, protected database storage and replicated bulk storage – all architectures that can drive up connectivity, management and other costs at scale. Because of their sheer scale, even simple matters, such as how to connect millions of hard drives, become sizable challenges.

Host bus adapters enable hyperscale server storage connectivity

The latest generation of host bus adapters supports 12Gb/s SAS as well as lower-bandwidth SAS and SATA connections. Equipped with strong processing power, SAS cards feature fan-out cables and expanders to support hundreds of attached drives, providing hyperscale connectivity and bandwidth. In addition, a wide link PCI Express® 3.0 pipeline to the host system layer ensures that each drive delivers sufficient bandwidth for demanding enterprise applications.

Connecting massive numbers of drives to a host, however, is only part of the hyperscale storage challenge. Each server must connect to a seamless fabric – a capability that SAS features – to enable seamless management of all systems and associated applications and firmware.

HBAs deliver storage connectivity for the most demanding environments

Avago SAS and SATA host bus adapters provide optimal connectivity, scalability, performance and manageability for the DAS architectures that are central to hyperscale data center storage infrastructures. Avago SAS solutions are designed to deliver forward and backward compatibility among product lines and roadmaps for future products.

Avago 12Gb/s SAS technology doubles the data transfer rate of 6Gb/s SAS solutions, allowing SAS infrastructures to deliver more bandwidth than PCI Express 3.0 with a single HBA. The products are designed to maximize storage performance for I/O-intensive applications, web cloud data centers and virtualized server environments. Avago SAS technology unlocks the full performance potential of solid-state and hard disk drive storage.