User guide
LSI Corporation
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12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS RAID Controllers User Guide
October 2013
Chapter 1: Overview
General Description
1.2 General Description
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID controllers bring 12Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI and 6Gb/s SATA III performance
to host adapter, workstation, and server designs. The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9341 RAID controllers are based on the
LSISAS3008 PCIe RAID On-a-Chip (ROC) device. The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9361 RAID controllers are based on the
LSISAS3108 PCIe RoC device.
The controllers support internal storage devices and external storage devices, which allow you to use a system that
supports enterprise-class SAS drives and desktop-class SATA III drives. Each 12Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID
controller can connect to drives directly and can use expanders to connect to additional drives. Simplified cabling
between devices is an additional benefit.
These devices are compliant with the Fusion-MPT™ architecture and provides a PCIe x8 interface. Each port on the
MegaRAID SAS controllers supports SAS devices, SATA devices, or both, using SSP, SMP, STP, and SATA. The SSP
protocol enables the MegaRAID SAS controllers to communicate with other SAS devices. The SATA protocol enables
the MegaRAID SAS controllers to communicate with SATA devices.
NOTE All of these RAID controllers provide an x8 PCIe 3.0 interface.
1.3 12Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID Controllers - Detailed Descriptions
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID controllers are described in detail in the following subsections.
1.3.1 MegaRAID SAS 9341-4i RAID Controller and MegaRAID SAS 9341-8i RAID Controller
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9341-4i PCIe 3.0 Low-Profile Serial-Attached SCSI/SATA Disk Array Controller
controls four internal SAS/SATA ports through one SFF-8643 mini-SAS HD-4i internal connector.
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9341-8i PCIe 3.0 Low-Profile Serial-Attached SCSI/SATA Disk Array Controller
controls eight internal SAS/SATA ports through two SFF-8643 mini-SAS HD-4i internal connectors.
1.3.2 MegaRAID SAS 9361-4i RAID Controller and MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i RAID Controller
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9361-4i PCIe 3.0 Serial-Attached SCSI/SATA Disk Array Controller controls four internal
SAS/SATA ports through one SFF-8643 mini-SAS HD-4i internal connector.
The 12Gb/s MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i PCIe 3.0 Serial-Attached SCSI/SATA Disk Array Controller controls eight
internal SAS/SATA ports through two SFF-8643 mini-SAS HD-4i internal connectors.
1.4 Configuration Scenarios
You can use the MegaRAID SAS RAID controllers in three main scenarios:
Low-end, internal SATA configuration: In this configuration, use the RAID controller as a high-end SATA II or
SATA III compatible controller that connects up to eight drives either directly or through a port expander. This
configuration is mostly for low-end or entry servers. An out-of-band I
2
C bus provides enclosure management.
Side bands of both types of internal SAS connectors support the SFF-8485 (SGPIO) interface.
Midrange internal SAS configuration: This configuration is like an internal SATA configuration, but with
high-end SAS drives. This configuration is more suitable for low-range to midrange servers.