Adaptec enters solid state drive space

Innovative new controller speeds performance

Developments of the week in storage

Adaptec this week was the latest vendor to get into the red-hot solid state drive (SSD) market with the introduction of an I/O controller that speeds performance by as much 5x over traditional controller implementations.

Solid State Drives go mainstream

The MaxIQ SSD Performance Cache is a PCI-e based controller that uses Intel X25-E single level cell SSDs to offer 20,000 IOPs and 1.2GBps throughput. When used in a server and in the data path between server and storage the MaxIQ will speed performance for database applications, front end Web servers and virtual environments.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Adaptec this week was the latest vendor to get into the red-hot solid state drive (SSD) market with the introduction of an I/O controller that speeds performance by as much 5x over traditional controller implementations.

Solid State Drives go mainstream

The MaxIQ SSD Performance Cache is a PCI-e based controller that uses Intel X25-E single level cell SSDs to offer 20,000 IOPs and 1.2GBps throughput. When used in a server and in the data path between server and storage the MaxIQ will speed performance for database applications, front end Web servers and virtual environments.

The MaxIQ features 3Gbps Serial Attached SCSI and Serial ATA support and works in Windows and Linux environments.

MaxIQ consists of Intel SSDs and software that can be paired with any Adaptec 5xxx or 2xxx controller. In a configuration with a MaxIQ Intel SSD and 12 Seagate 15,000RPM Serial Attached SCSI drives, testing of random reads showed 11x the performance of a traditionally configured Series 5xxx controller. In the same configuration, testing showed 5x performance increases for Web server workloads and 4x performance for both file server and online transaction processing.

Adaptec showed off the technology at the recent VMworld conference, but also previewed it at CeBIT earlier this year.

The MaxIQ Intel SSD is expected to be available mid-September starting at $1,300.

Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.

Deni Connor is principal analyst for Storage Strategies NOW and host of both the Masters of Storage and Masters of Servers Solution Centers.