Smart Array P220I

SAS-SATA Controller - Smart Array P220I

Overview

SAS-SATA controllers are essential components in server infrastructure, enabling reliable and high-performance data storage solutions. These controllers facilitate the connection between a server's motherboard and storage drives, specifically designed to manage data flow between Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA) devices. With their advanced capabilities, these controllers are ideal for managing large-scale storage environments that require high-speed data transfer, scalability, and fault tolerance.

Key Features of Smart Array P220I

• Dual Port Connectivity – The P220I offers dual-port connectivity, providing redundancy for improved data protection and ensuring uninterrupted access to storage resources.
• Performance Optimization – With support for high-speed SAS and SATA drives, this controller ensures optimal performance, making it an excellent choice for demanding applications.
• Advanced RAID Support – The Smart Array P220I supports multiple RAID levels (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10), providing flexible options for data redundancy, performance, and fault tolerance.
• Cache Protection – Equipped with cache protection technology, the P220I minimizes the risk of data loss in the event of a power failure, offering an added layer of security for critical data.
• Ease of Integration – The Smart Array P220I is designed to seamlessly integrate with HP ProLiant servers, ensuring compatibility and ease of setup in enterprise environments.

Supported Storage Devices

Compatibility with SAS Drives

The Smart Array P220I controller is fully compatible with SAS drives, which provide superior performance and scalability compared to traditional SATA drives. SAS drives offer faster data transfer speeds, higher reliability, and the ability to scale to larger storage capacities. This makes the P220I an ideal choice for environments that require high availability and large amounts of data storage, such as data centers, virtualization systems, and enterprise applications.

Support for SATA Drives

In addition to SAS drives, the Smart Array P220I also supports SATA hard drives. SATA drives are more cost-effective compared to SAS drives, offering a balanced performance for storage environments where high throughput is not the primary concern. The P220I's compatibility with both SAS and SATA drives provides flexibility for enterprises to choose the appropriate storage solution based on their budget and performance requirements.

Hot Plug and Hot Spare Support

One of the standout features of the Smart Array P220I is its support for hot plug and hot spare functionality. Hot plugging allows you to replace or add drives without powering down the server, minimizing downtime and ensuring that operations continue smoothly. The hot spare functionality automatically replaces a failed drive with a backup drive, further enhancing system reliability and uptime.

RAID Capabilities of Smart Array P220I

RAID 0 - Stripe Configuration

RAID 0 offers striping without parity or mirroring, delivering maximum performance by splitting data across multiple drives. This RAID level provides high read and write speeds, making it ideal for environments where performance is more critical than data redundancy.

RAID 1 - Mirroring

RAID 1 offers data redundancy by mirroring the data across two drives. This RAID level is commonly used in systems where high availability is necessary. The Smart Array P220I provides hardware-level RAID 1 support, ensuring that if one drive fails, the data remains accessible on the other drive.

RAID 5 - Striping with Parity

RAID 5 combines the benefits of striping and parity, offering both performance and fault tolerance. Parity is distributed across the drives, allowing for the recovery of data if one drive fails. The Smart Array P220I offers full hardware RAID 5 support, making it an excellent choice for businesses that require a balance between performance, data redundancy, and storage efficiency.

RAID 6 - Double Parity

RAID 6 extends RAID 5 by adding an additional parity block, providing fault tolerance for two drive failures. The Smart Array P220I supports RAID 6, offering extra protection for critical data in high-availability systems.

RAID 10 - Striped and Mirrored

RAID 10, also known as RAID 1+0, combines the benefits of RAID 1 (mirroring) and RAID 0 (striping). It provides both high performance and high data redundancy. The Smart Array P220I offers full support for RAID 10, making it an ideal choice for systems that require both fast data access and data protection.

Advanced Features

Smart Array Advanced Features

• Advanced Data Integrity – The P220I includes support for advanced error detection and correction, ensuring data integrity during transmission between the controller and drives.
• Battery-Backed Write Cache – The controller includes a battery-backed write cache to protect data in transit, ensuring no data loss in case of power interruptions.
• Drive Rebuild – The P220I supports fast drive rebuild, allowing for quick restoration of RAID arrays after a drive failure, minimizing downtime and increasing system availability.
• Fault Tolerance and Data Protection – The controller includes features such as array rebuild, RAID migration, and online capacity expansion, all designed to enhance the reliability and fault tolerance of the storage system.

HP Array Configuration Utility (ACU)

The HP Array Configuration Utility (ACU) is a powerful software tool that allows administrators to configure and manage the Smart Array P220I controller. The ACU provides a user-friendly interface for managing RAID arrays, monitoring the health of the storage system, and performing routine maintenance tasks such as firmware upgrades, drive replacements, and disk migrations.

Smart Storage Administrator (SSA)

Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) is another management tool available for the Smart Array P220I. SSA is a web-based interface that enables system administrators to manage and monitor the health of storage devices and arrays remotely. With SSA, administrators can easily monitor the status of drives, configure RAID arrays, and perform troubleshooting tasks from any device with internet access.

Compatibility and System Requirements

Supported Servers and Platforms

The Smart Array P220I controller is designed for use in HP ProLiant Gen8 and Gen9 servers, ensuring full compatibility with these platforms. It also supports various HP server configurations, including tower, rack-mounted, and blade servers. For those looking to upgrade their existing server infrastructure, the P220I offers an easy installation process and seamless integration with supported HP server models.

Software and Firmware Requirements

To ensure the best performance and reliability, the Smart Array P220I requires compatible firmware and software versions. The latest version of the controller's firmware can be easily obtained through HP’s official support portal, and it is highly recommended to keep the firmware up to date to take advantage of the latest enhancements and bug fixes. Additionally, the P220I is compatible with various server management tools, including HP Systems Insight Manager and HP OneView, providing comprehensive monitoring and management capabilities for system administrators.

Drive Compatibility

The Smart Array P220I is compatible with a wide range of SAS and SATA drives, including enterprise-grade hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs). When selecting drives for your system, it is important to ensure that they meet the specifications and performance requirements for your particular use case, whether that be high-performance storage, high-capacity storage, or a balance of both.

Performance Considerations

Data Throughput and Latency

The performance of the Smart Array P220I is significantly impacted by the type of drives used, the RAID configuration, and the system's overall workload. SAS drives offer superior data throughput and lower latency compared to SATA drives, making them ideal for high-performance applications that demand fast read and write speeds. RAID configurations like RAID 0 and RAID 10 maximize throughput, while configurations like RAID 5 and RAID 6 focus on balancing performance with data protection.

Scalability

The P220I is highly scalable, allowing businesses to expand their storage systems as their needs grow. It supports multiple drive bays and can manage large-scale storage arrays with ease. The ability to scale your storage solution is critical for businesses experiencing growth, and the P220I offers the flexibility to add drives as needed to meet future demands.