Most people probably don’t think about the protocol that connects their storage device to a PC or server.  However, NVMe has changed that and become one of the storage buzzwords of 2018.  But what about existing devices not using NVMe?  SAS or Serial Attached SCSI has been a mainstay of storage connectivity for 20 years.  With 12Gb/s throughput, SAS provides back-end connectivity for almost all the enterprise storage arrays on the market today.

The SAS protocol continues to be developed, with 24Gb/s speeds due in 2019.  However, SAS is not all about speed, as we find out when Chris and Martin talk to Rick Kutcipal, President of the SCSI Trade Association.  In fact, the SAS protocol has evolved with features to improve reliability and scalability.  New features are addressing storage technologies like SMR and HDD multi-actuator.

As a technology we take for granted, there’s a lot more going on than we realise.  SAS will still have a future in the data centre, as it offers performance, reliability and possibly most important, scalability for vendors to build out large-scale storage solutions.

You can find out more about SAS, at the SCSI Trade Association website or follow them on twitter at @sas_storage.

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Timeline

* 00:00:00 – Intro

* 00:01:30 – What is the SCSI Trade Association?

* 00:02:40 – What is a plugfest?

* 00:03:40 – What is SAS (Serial Attached SCSI)?

* 00:05:50 – SAS-4 is due – 24Gb/s throughput

* 00:07:30 – Where does SAS fit in, with the emergence of NVMe?

* 00:09:50 – Is SAS still good enough for most storage requirements?

* 00:11:00 – When will 24Gb SAS be available and what will it give?

* 00:12:15 – New encoding scheme 8b/10b to 128b/150b.

* 00:13:30 – New storage intelligence features

* 00:15:30 – Do end users and buyers care about this level of detail?

* 00:18:00  – Protocol changes will come for SMR and multi-actuator support

* 00:19:30 – So how should we position SAS, SATA and NVMe?

* 00:21:00 – Call to Action – where to find out more?

* 00:21:50 – Wrap Up

Related Podcasts & Blogs

* #61 – Introduction to NVM Express with Amber Huffman

* #59 – Ethernet vs Fibre Channel

* One (Storage) Protocol to Rule Them All?

* NVMe over Fabrics – Caveat Emptor?

Rick’s Bio

Rick Kutcipal – President, SCSI Trade Association; Marketing Manager, Data Center Storage Group, Broadcom Inc.  Currently serving as a Marketing Manager in the Data Center Storage Group at Broadcom, Rick is a 25-year computer and data storage business veteran. He coordinates the majority of standards activities for Broadcom worldwide and serves at the President of the SCSI Trade Association. Rick received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Utah.

Copyright (c) 2016-2018 Storage Unpacked.  No reproduction or re-use without permission. Podcast Episode IJ10.