Industry Leaders Collaborate on New Choices for Next-Generation Serial Architectures for Server Storage

Palo Alto and Santa Clara, Calif., June 10, 2002 - Dell, HP and Intel are working together to define complementary and compatible Serial Attached SCSI and Serial ATA storage standard specifications that would offer users more choices in cost and features.

Serial Attached SCSI and Serial ATA are storage interface technologies that enable data to move between PCs or servers and peripherals, such as hard disk drives. The two technologies are intended to replace current parallel versions of SCSI and ATA. Serial technology overcomes the performance barriers forecasted for current parallel technologies. The serial technologies will meet the need for faster data throughput in servers and storage devices over the next decade as new Internet-based applications demand greater bandwidth and performance.

The companies will work with the Serial ATA II Working Group and the SCSI Trade Association, the industry associations responsible for developing and promoting the two interface technology specifications, to create open standard interfaces that give rise to next-generation server storage systems that utilize the benefits these two technologies deliver.

After years of success as parallel interfaces, SCSI and ATA are undergoing transitions to serial architectures to reduce overhead, increase efficiency and accelerate point-to-point connections. The result is better overall system performance at lower costs.

"Serialization is the future for storage interface technologies both inside and outside of the server," said Bruce Bell, vice president of Dell PowerEdge server development. "With parallel SCSI and ATA becoming increasingly complex, a serial architecture provides customers better performance, with greater signal integrity for better reliability, based on industry standard technology."

The companies expect that SATA technology will evolve as a price-performance choice in market segments where cost is a key selection criterion in desktops, servers and storage solutions. Serial Attached SCSI will become a complementary alternative with a robust feature-set for mainstream server storage solutions.

"By working with leading server and storage vendors in the standards bodies, we're seeking to define options that offer a greater variety of cost-efficient solutions and flexible migration paths between the two storage technologies," said Mike Wall, general manager of Intel's Storage Components Division.

"HP will continue its longstanding commitment to driving the benefits of standards-based computing to the industry through the development and promotion of next-generation Serial Attached SCSI and SATA technologies," said Ron Noblett, vice president , Server Storage & Infrastructure, HP Industry Standard Servers global business unit. "This universal capability will provide options that empower HP's server storage customers with unprecedented flexibility by enabling them to choose solutions with the right price, performance and reliability for their businesses and to deploy customized solutions on the same backplane."

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