Hardware User's Guide

28 Intel® RAID Controller RS25AB080 Hardware User’s Guide
Operating Certifications
The RAID controller in this document is qualified to get Microsoft Windows* Winqual
certification (WHQL) at product launch.
Supported Device Technology
The various device technologies supported by the Intel
®
RAID Controller RS25AB080 is
described in the subsections that follow.
Support for Hard Disk Drive Devices
The Intel
®
RAID Controller RS25AB080 integrates eight internal high-performance
SAS/SATA III ports that support SAS and enterprise-class SATA hard drives. Each port
supports both SAS and SATA devices using the SAS Serial SCSI Protocol(SSP), Serial
Management Protocol (SMP), and Serial Tunneling Protocol (STP). The SSP protocol
enables communication with other SAS devices. STP allows the SAS RAID controller to
communicate with SATA devices using the SATA commands.
SAS Expander Support
The Intel
®
RAID Controller RS25AB080 supports LSI* expanders, Vitesse SAS
expanders, and PMC expanders that are used as a component in Intel and 3rd party
enclosures. Other expanders may be supported post launch, based on market conditions
and customer requirements.
Support for Non-Hard Disk Drive Devices
Selected non-hard drive devices are supported for use with this controller. For information
on support for non-hard drive devices, see this RAID controller’s Tested Hardware and
Operating System List.
Enclosure Management Support
The Intel
®
RAID Controller RS25AB080 SES2 enclosure management in-band to
expander-based backplanes and out-of-band to direct-connect backplanes. These RAID
Controllers also support the internal SAS sideband signal SFF-8485 (SGPIO) enclosure
management interface.