PCIe3 SAS RAID card comparison

This table compares the main features of PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe3) SAS RAID cards.

Table 1. PCIe3 SAS RAID controller cards
CCIN (custom card identification number) 57B1 57B4 57CE 57D7 57D8 57DC
Description PCIe3 12 Gb Cache RAID+ SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8 PCIe3 12 GB Cache RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8 PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
Form factor PCIe3 x8 PCIe3 x8 PCIe3 x8 Planar-unique PCIe3 x8 Planar-unique PCIe3 x8 Planar-unique PCIe3 x8
Adapter failing function code LED value 2D22 2D11 2D21 2D35 2D36 2D36
Physical links 16 (four mini SAS HD 4x connectors 16 (four mini SAS HD 4x connectors) 16 (four mini SAS HD 4x connectors) 16 (internal connection to directly attached SAS drives) 16 (internal connections to directly attached SAS drives and remote adapter link) and 4 (one mini SAS HD 4x connector for external SAS attach) 16 (internal connections to directly attached SAS drives and remote adapter link) and 4 (one mini SAS HD 4x connector for external SAS attach)
Supported RAID levels RAID 0, 5, 6, 10, 5T2, 6T2, and 10T2 RAID 0, 5, 6, 10 RAID 0, 5, 6, 10, 5T2, 6T2, and 10T2 RAID 0, 5, 6, 10 RAID 0, 5, 6, 10, 5T2, 6T2, and 10T2 RAID 0, 5, 6, 10
Write cache size Up to 12 GB (compressed) Up to 1 GB (compressed) (disabled for HA RAID configurations) Up to 12 GB (compressed) Up to 1 GB (compressed) Up to 7.2 GB (compressed) Up to 7.2 GB (compressed)
Cache battery pack technology None (uses supercapacitor technology) None (uses synchronize cache) None (uses supercapacitor technology) None (uses synchronize cache) None (uses supercapacitor technology) None (uses supercapacitor technology)
High-availability (HA) two-system RAID No Yes4 Yes No Yes No
HA two-system JBOD No No No No No No
Auxiliary write cache (AWC) support No No No No No No
HA single-system RAID Yes Yes4 Yes No Yes No
Requires HA RAID configuration Yes No Yes No Yes No
JBOD SAS disk support No Yes2 No Yes2 No No
SAS tape support No Yes1 No No No No
SATA DVD support No Yes1, 3 No Yes Yes No
Native 4K block device support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Easy Tier® function No Yes No Yes No
Note:
  1. SAS tape and SATA DVD is only supported in a single adapter configuration and cannot be mixed with SAS disk on the same adapter.
  2. JBOD is not supported on SSDs or if the adapters are configured as high availability (HA) RAID.
  3. SATA DVD is supported on all CCIN 57B4 adapters, except for those with initial part numbers of either 00FX843, 00MH900, 00FX846, or 00MH903.
  4. Feature code EJ0K does not support high-availability (HA) RAID when the adapters are installed in PCIe slots C9 or C12 on 9040-MR9 POWER9™ systems.
Figure 1. CCIN 57B1 PCIe3 12 GB cache RAID+ SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8
CCIN 57B1 PCIe3 12 GB cache RAID+ SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8
Figure 2. CCIN 57B4 PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8, four units
CCIN 57B4 PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8, four units
Figure 3. CCIN 57B4 PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8, two units
CCIN 57B4 PCIe3 RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8, two units
Figure 4. CCIN 57CE PCIe3 12 GB cache RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8
CCIN 57CE PCIe3 12 GB cache RAID SAS adapter Quad-port 6 Gb x8
Figure 5. CCIN 57D7 PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
CCIN 57D7 PCIe3 x8 SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
Figure 6. CCIN 57D8 PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
CCIN 57D8 and 57DC PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
Figure 7. CCIN 57D8 and 57DC PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb
CCIN 57D8 and 57DC PCIe3 x8 Cache SAS RAID internal adapter 6 Gb