ACS-61100 User’s Manual
SERIAL ATA (Serial advanced technology attachment)
The ACS-61100 is designed for use with the latest Serial ATA II hard disk drives. Serial ATA
(often abbreviated as SATA or S-ATA) allows data transfer up to 3 Gbps and is compatible
with older Parallel ATA standards. It has additional advantages over parallel ATA regarding the
cables used: they are thinner, so airflow within computer cases is less impeded, and they can
be up to one meter in length (compared to only 40 cm for parallel ATA).
PCI-EXPRESS X 8
Developed by Intel in 2002, PCI-Express has been developed to match the speed of CPUs. It
provides a serial communications channel of up to 2.5 Gbits/sec in each direction of a pair of
wires. The 8 refers to the number of pairs of wires, so PCI-Express X 8 therefore allows a
maximum of 20 Gbits/sec transfer.
FIRMWARE
Appropriate firmware must be loaded into the card for it to function. The ACS-61100 is
shipped with firmware preloaded. Check the installation disk that came with the package to
find a backup firmware copy. You can also periodically check the vendor’s web site to find the
latest firmware version for use with the card.
BIOS and EFI
The ACS-61100 contains an internal BIOS and EFI which can be used to configure a RAID
Array instead of using the RAIDGuard X GUI. The BIOS and EFI are accessed as the card
boots up and contains all the functionality of the RAIDGuard X GUI. The BIOS and EFI may
be upgraded using the RAIDGuard X GUI. See
www.accusys.com.tw
for upgrades.
SGPIO
The ACS-61100 uses the SGPIO (Serial General Purpose Input Output) bus to monitor drive
status and control LEDs efficiently. The SGPIO standard is maintained by the SFF Committee.
8
Summary of Contents for ACS-61100
Page 5: ...5 Introduction...
Page 16: ...ACS 61100 User s Manual 16 Installing the Card...
Page 21: ...21 Card Configurations...
Page 25: ...25 Card BIOS and EFI...
Page 35: ...35 Appendices...
