PCI-X SAS RAID card comparison

Use the table in this topic to compare the features of the various PCI-X SAS RAID cards for IBM® i. There are also images of adapters for you to view.

Table 1. PCI-X SAS RAID controller card comparison
Features 2BD9 2BE1 572A 572C 572F and 575C 57B8
Description PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter (RAID/cache storage controller) PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter (RAID/cache enablement) PCI-X 266 Ext Dual-x4 3 Gb SAS adapter PCI-X 266 planar 3 Gb SAS adapter PCI-X 266 Ext Tri-x4 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter PCI-X 266 planar 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter
Form factor Planar unique 64-bit PCI-X Planar RAID enablement Low profile 64 bit PCI-X Planar integrated Long 64 bit PCI-X, double-wide card set Planar RAID enablement
Physical links 6 (two 2x wide ports to shared SAS drives and one 2x wide port to 2BE1 adapter) 8 (two 2x wide ports to shared SAS Drives, one 2x wide port to 2BD9 adapter, one physical link to DVD drive, and optionally one physical link to tape drive) 8 (two mini SAS 4x connectors) 81 12 (bottom 3 mini SAS 4x connectors) and 2 (top mini SAS 4x connector for high availability only) 81
RAID levels supported RAID 5, 6, system mirroring RAID 5, 6, system mirroring RAID 53, RAID 63, system mirroring System mirroring RAID 5, RAID 6, system mirroring RAID 5, RAID 6, system mirroring
Write cache size 175 MB 175 MB     Up to 1.5 Gb (compressed) 175 MB
Read cache size         Up to 1.6 Gb (compressed)  
Cache battery pack technology LiIon LiIon     Lithium ion Not applicable2
Cache battery concurrent maintenance No No No No Yes4 Not applicable2
Cache data present LED Yes Yes No No No No
Removable cache card No No No No No No
Auxiliary write cache (AWC) support No No No No Yes Yes
Dual storage IOA configuration Yes Yes No No Yes No
Requires dual storage IOA configuration Yes Yes No No No No
  1. Some systems provide an external mini SAS 4x connector from the integrated backplane controller.
  2. The controller contains battery-backed cache, but the battery power is supplied by the 57B7 controller through the backplane connections.
  3. The write performance of RAID 5 and RAID 6 might be poor on adapters that do not provide write cache. Consider using an adapter that provides write cache when using RAID 5 or RAID 6, or use solid-state drives (SSDs) where they are supported to improve write performance.
  4. The cache battery pack for both adapters is contained in a single battery field-replaceable unit (FRU), which is physically located on the 575C Auxiliary Cache card.

Adapter graphics

View the SAS RAID controllers.

Figure 1. CCIN 572A PCI-X266 External Dual-x4 3 Gb SAS adapter
CCIN 572A PCI-X266 External Dual-x4 3 Gb SAS adapter
Figure 2. CCIN 57B8 planar RAID enablement card
CCIN 57B8 planar RAID enablement card
Figure 3. CCIN 572F PCI-X266 Ext Tri-x4 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter and CCIN 575C PCI-X266 auxiliary cache adapter
CCIN 572F PCI-X266 Ext Tri-x4 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter and CCIN 575C PCI-X266 Auxiliary Cache adapter
Figure 4. CCIN 2BE1 PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS adapter
CCIN 2BE1 PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS adapter
Figure 5. CCIN 2BD9 PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter
CCIN 2BD9 PCI-X266 Planar 3 Gb SAS RAID adapter
Parent topic: Feature comparison of SAS RAID cards
Related concepts:
Dual storage IOA configurations
Dual storage IOA functions
Related information:
SAS subsystem


Last updated: Thu, October 03, 2019