Dell PowerVault MD3200 Series - Controller Architecture and Components

Technical Guide Book for PowerVault MD3200MD3220
5
Key features of SAS 2.0
• 6Gb/s SAS Signaling – doubles the transfer rate from 3Gb to 6Gb
• DFE (Decision Feedback Equalization) – increases cable limit to 10m ( 2 – 4 is typical)
• Supports SAS mini connectors (SFF-8088 and SFF-8087)
• SSC (Spread Spectrum Clocking ) – ease of design implementation – reduce peak amplitude
of radiated emissions
• Supports SED (Self-Encrypting Drive) with Instant Secure Erase
• Delivers 2
nd
generation SAS Discovery
• Standardized Zoning
• Expanded to 256
• Discovery executed by SAS Expanders
• Reduces time to discover large topologies
Figure 1. Controller Architecture
The RAID controllers are the “engines” or the “brains” of the MD3200 and MD3220 storage arrays. They
perform the RAID calculations, control the I/O movement, communicate with the management client, store