PMC-Sierra Delivers maxSAS Reference System for Enterprise SATA/SAS St

PMC-Sierra Delivers maxSAS Reference System for Enterprise SATA/SAS Storage Enclosures

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors
    Storage Networking World Spring 2005


    SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2005--PMC-Sierra, Inc. (NASDAQ:PMCS) today announced the availability of the PM2319-KIT maxSAS(TM) Reference System for fabric attached and server attached SATA/SAS disk array enclosures. The Reference System, combined with the SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) Software Development Kit (SDK) significantly reduces development costs while accelerating time-to-market for storage equipment vendors.
    The reference system utilizes PMC-Sierra's PM8387 SXP 36x3G or PM8388 SXP 24x3G high port count expander switches for SATA and SAS Hard Disk Drive interconnect. Both devices integrate a MIPS-Powered(TM) programmable storage enclosure processor for managing the enclosure environment through the standards-compliant SES protocol. The maxSAS(TM) SDK includes SES/SAS firmware libraries, host and embedded programming tools, reference system code and full technical documentation.
    "With the tremendous market opportunities that we see for SAS storage solutions, Promise established a close working relationship with PMC-Sierra very early in our development of our SAS JBOD systems," said Sam Sirisena, Senior Vice President and the General Manager, Advanced Technology Group Promise Technology, Inc. "By combining Promise's expertise in developing external storage products and PMC-Sierra's leadership in the SAS expander technology, Promise expects to be the first to market with highly anticipated SAS JBOD product offerings for OEMs and end users."
    "PMC-Sierra continues to enable the SATA/SAS storage systems market with leading-edge products and design solutions," said Mark Stibitz, Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Storage Division at PMC-Sierra. "The availability of the maxSAS hardware and software design platform, high-density expander switches and multi-vendor interoperability gives our customers the tools to deliver enterprise storage systems with a time-to-market, feature and cost advantage."

    maxSAS(TM) Reference System

    The PM2319-KIT maxSAS Reference System enables customers to immediately begin firmware development. The Reference System is used in conjunction with SATA and SAS hard drives and SAS controllers/initiators. A data generator and checker integrated into the SXP 36x3G and SXP 24x3G devices can also be used for signal integrity measurements. The Reference System can be configured via a USB or serial port connection to a PC, or may be operated in a standalone configuration.

    The maxSAS Reference System's hardware components include:

--	PM8387 SXP 36x3G or PM8388 SXP 24x3G high port count expander
--	SGPIO fan-out FPGA
--	CPLD (for pin configuration, programming SEEPROM and TWI control)
--	Temperature sensor device
--	Fan controller device
--	FLASH (1Mx16-bit)
--	SRAM (1Mx16-bit)
--	Clock circuitry
--	SAS 4X External (SFF 8470) connectors for all high speed serial interfaces
--	DB9 connector for a 16550 UART interface
--	EJTAG connector to the integrated MIPS-Powered processor for software debugging

    The maxSAS Reference System's SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) Software Development Kit (SDK) includes:

    -- Complete SES/SAS protocol stack

    -- Standard SES page support

    -- Target-side framework for rapid prototyping and implementation
    of additional SES pages

    -- Complete enclosure management code examples

    -- Server-side GUI and command-line pmc_scsi tools for rapid
    prototyping, testing and demonstration of new SES pages

    -- Firmware download module

    -- Complete suite of device drivers (TWI/UART/SGPIO) for
    controlling & monitoring peripherals

    Pricing and Availability

    The PM2319-KIT maxSAS(TM) Reference Design is available now and is priced at $6,995 USD. For further information on this reference design and the maxSAS product family, please contact PMC-Sierra at sales@pmc-sierra.com or visit www.pmc-sierra.com/storage.

    About PMC-Sierra's maxSAS Expander Switch Products

    PMC-Sierra has proved multi-vendor interoperability with both SAS and SATA HDDs from Fujitsu, Hitachi, Maxtor and Seagate as well as SAS Host Bus Adaptor's from LSI Logic and Adaptec. The standards-compliant PMC-Sierra maxSAS product family enables a wide range of next-generation tiered storage systems based on both SAS and SATA HDDs. The maxSAS product family includes the following devices:

    -- PM8387 SXP 36x3G - 36 port SAS expander switch with integrated
    storage enclosure processor

    -- PM8388 SXP 24x3G - 24 port SAS expander switch with integrated
    storage enclosure processor

    -- PM8383 SXP 12x3G - 12 port SAS expander switch

    -- PM8381 SXP 6x3G - 6 port SAS edge-expander

    -- PM8380 QuadSMX(TM) 3G - Quad SATA/SAS 2 :1 multiplexer

    -- PM8389 SMC-L - Storage enclosure processor

    PMC-Sierra Storage Products

    PMC-Sierra offers cost-optimized products featuring best-in-class signal integrity, flexibility and diagnostics for increased system performance and management. The company provides 1G, 2G and 4G Fibre Channel disk array and system interconnect products for SAN/NAS storage and switch fabric applications. PMC-Sierra also provides 3G interconnect products for Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial Attached ATA (SATA) storage systems. For more information, visit www.pmc-sierra.com/storage.

    About PMC-Sierra

    PMC-Sierra(TM) is a leading provider of high speed broadband communications and storage semiconductors and MIPS-Powered processors for Enterprise, Access, Metro Optical Transport, Storage Area Networking and Wireless network equipment. The company offers worldwide technical and sales support, including a network of offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the PMCS symbol and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information, visit www.pmc-sierra.com.

    Resources to Extend Your Product Knowledge and Understanding

    PMC-Sierra Storage Products: www.pmc-sierra.com/storage

    PMC-Sierra New Products: www.pmc-sierra.com/products/newProducts.html

    PMC-Sierra Technology Webinars: www.pmc-sierra.com/webinars

    (C) Copyright PMC-Sierra, Inc. 2005. All rights reserved. maxSAS, PMC, PMCS, PMC-Sierra, QuadSMX and "Thinking you can build on" are trademarks of PMC-Sierra, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of the respective owners.

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CONTACT: PMC-Sierra and Europe Editorial Contact: Susan Kirk, 604-415-6065 susan_kirk@pmc-sierra.com or US Editorial: Julie Crabill, 650-429-2732 julie.crabill@edelman.com or China Editorial: Jo Soo, +011-852-2837-4744 jo.soo@edelman.com or Japan Editorial: Toshiyuki Okazaki, +011-81-422-50-1280 okazakit@loomisgroup.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA TRACK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE NETWORKING TRADESHOW PRODUCT SOURCE: PMC-Sierra, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005