Adaptec® SmartRAID 4300 Series - NVMe® RAID Storage Accelerator

With the explosive growth of data and the popularity of Gen 5 NVMe SSDs, the demand for enterprise storage solutions has been redefined. Traditional storage architecture is limited by fixed hardware interfaces and PCIe^® bandwidth bottlenecks and cannot meet the needs of modern data centers. SmartRAID 4300 RAID accelerators are designed to address these challenges, delivering transformational storage performance, scalability and efficiency.

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator can manage up to 32 NVMe SSDs, each of which is directly connected to the CPU via an independent channel, eliminating the PCIe bottleneck caused by the traditional single x16 host interface and allowing each SSD to achieve maximum performance. This architecture delivers unprecedented throughput and IOPS, making it particularly suitable for data-intensive enterprise applications.

Performance

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator has been rigorously tested on Gen 5 servers, supporting multiple RAID modes (RAID0/10/5) and demonstrating industry-leading throughput and IOPS. Its hardware RAID offload design moves RAID operations from the host CPU to dedicated hardware, freeing up CPU resources to supply low latency and high performance in high-density, performance-sensitive environments.

Best Performance Results

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator hardware RAID offload capability is a key advantage. By offloading RAID processing from the host CPU to dedicated hardware, this frees up valuable CPU resources for application workloads. This not only improves overall system efficiency but also delivers consistent, low-latency performance even under heavy I/O loads.

Rebuild Performance

Rebuild operations are critical for maintaining data integrity and availability in enterprise environments. SmartRAID 4300’s architecture is designed to minimize the performance impact during RAID rebuilds:

These results demonstrate that the Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator sustains robust performance even during rebuild scenarios, yielding minimal disruption to ongoing I/O operations and maintaining high service levels.

Software-Defined Storage (SDS) Architecture vs. Traditional In-Line Storage vs. Software RAID

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator adopts software-defined storage (SDS) architecture to decouple storage management from hardware, supporting flexible deployment and rapid integration of modern management tools. Compared to traditional in-line storage and software RAID, SmartRAID 4300 has:

• Direct connection between CPU and SSD that eliminates PCIe bottlenecks
• Hardware RAID offloading to reduce CPU usage
• The architecture that can scale with hosts, connections and NVMe endpoints without PCIe generation dependency
• Flexibility to connect 8/16/24/32 SSDs

Enterprise Feature Set

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator delivers a robust set of enterprise features designed to meet the high-performance, scalability and security requirements of modern data centers.

High-Performance RAID Acceleration

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator supports multiple RAID levels (RAID0, RAID10, RAID5), delivering industry-leading IOPS and throughput across a range of workloads and SSD configurations. For example, with 32 NVMe SSDs, SmartRAID 4300 achieves up to 27,200,000 IOPS for 4KB random reads and 263,000 MBps for 256KB sequential reads, providing rapid data access and processing for enterprise applications.

Scalability and Flexibility

The architecture supports configurations with 8, 16, 24 or 32 NVMe SSDs, allowing enterprises to scale their storage infrastructure as the data requirements grow, without compromising performance.

Optimized for Modern Server Platforms

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator is validated on the latest Intel and AMD server platforms (Gen 4/Gen 5), allowing compatibility and exceptional performance with current-generation hardware which can be deployed across multiple generations of PCIe, increasing versatility and lifespan.

Consistent and Predictable Performance

The solution demonstrates near-linear performance scaling with the number of SSDs, providing predictable and reliable performance as storage capacity increases.

Enterprise-Grade Reliability

The product is engineered for mission-critical environments, offering robust reliability and data integrity, making it suitable for continuous operation in enterprise settings.

Comprehensive Workload Support

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator delivers high performance across a variety of workloads, including random and sequential read/write operations, making it versatile for diverse enterprise use cases.

Advanced Security Functions

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator incorporates a suite of advanced security features to protect enterprise data and system integrity, including:

• Secure Boot: Ensures only trusted firmware and software are loaded during system startup.
• Secure Firmware Update: Provides mechanisms for authenticated and verified firmware updates, reducing the risk of malicious code injection.
• SPDM (Security Protocol and Data Model): Supports secure device authentication and attestation, enabling verification of device identity and integrity.
• Attestation: Allows for the validation of system components and firmware, ensuring compliance with enterprise security policies

These security features are critical for protecting sensitive enterprise data and maintaining compliance with industry standards. Many competitors lack this comprehensive security suite, making SmartRAID 4300 a differentiated solution for security-conscious organizations.

Management Utilities

A comprehensive suite of management utilities provide significant advantages for administrators and IT teams:

• maxView™ Storage Manager: A web-based graphical user interface (GUI) that simplifies storage configuration, monitoring and management tasks. This utility allows for intuitive, centralized control of storage resources, making it easier to deploy and maintain SmartRAID 4300 solutions.
• ARCCONF Command-Line Interface: Enables advanced users to script and automate storage management tasks, providing flexibility and efficiency for large-scale or repetitive operations.
• UEFI BIOS and HII-Based Configuration Utilities: These tools support both local and remote configuration, allowing administrators to set up and manage storage directly from the system BIOS or through a human interface infrastructure (HII), streamlining initial deployment and troubleshooting.
• Cross-Platform Support: SmartRAID 4300’s management utilities are compatible with both Windows and Linux operating systems, allowing broad applicability across diverse IT environments.
• Remote and Local Management: The utilities support both local and remote management, enabling administrators to monitor and control storage systems from anywhere, which is essential for distributed or cloud-based infrastructures.

Power/Thermal

The SmartRAID 4300 is engineered to deliver exceptional performance while maintaining optimal power efficiency and thermal management, delivering reliability and longevity in demanding enterprise environments. With a typical power consumption of just 20.75W, it operates efficiently, drawing 1.72A at 12V and 57mA at 3.3V. The controller is designed to function reliably within an operating temperature range of 0°C to 55°C, with a recommended airflow of 300 LFM to maintain ideal cooling. With a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 3 million hours at 40°C, the SmartRAID 4300 is well-suited for long-term, continuous operation, making it a good choice for mission-critical applications.

Conclusion

The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerator establishes a new benchmark for enterprise NVMe RAID acceleration by delivering exceptional performance, robust security and a flexible software-defined storage (SDS) architecture. With its dedicated RAID offload capabilities, consistent high throughput and comprehensive enterprise-grade features, it is an excellent solution for organizations investing in Gen 5 NVMe storage. As data center requirements evolve, the SmartRAID 4300 provides the scalability, efficiency and security necessary to support next-generation storage solutions.

Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerators are available for production integration. Contact a Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor for details and download our sell sheet today.