StarTech PEXSAT34RH 4 Port PCI Express 2.0 SATA III 6Gbps RAID Controller Card

4 Port PCI Express 2.0 SATA III 6Gbps RAID Controller Card with HyperDuo SSD Tiering

Add 4 Internal SATA III (6Gbps) ports to a computer through a PCI Express x2 slot

The PEXSAT34RH 4-Port PCI Express 2.0 SATA Controller Card with HyperDuo adds 4 AHCI SATA III ports to a computer through a PCIe slot (x2), delivering multiple internal 6Gbps connections for high-performance hard drives and Solid State Drives (SSDs).

Featuring HyperDuo technology, the SATA card offers SSD auto-tiering which lets you balance the performance advantages of SSD storage with the cost-effectiveness and large capacity of standard hard drives. By combining SSD and HDD drives into a single volume (up to 3 SSD + 1 HDD), HyperDuo discreetly works in the background to identify and move frequently accessed files to the faster SSD drive(s) for improved data throughput - up to 80% of SSD performance! (Note: The HyperDuo automatic storage tiering feature is compatible with computers that use a BIOS.)

The PCIe SATA controller card supports Port Multiplier (PM), enabling multiple SATA drives to be connected to one port over a single cable, for a total of 7 drives (Up to 4 drives through PM on one port, and a single drive to the remaining 3 ports). Plus, the SATA controller card offers an effective hardware RAID solution, with native RAID (0, 1, 1+0) support.

Throughput Benchmark

Drive configuration

• 1 x HDD
• 1 x SSD
• 1 x HDD + 1 x SSD HyperDuo (Safe Mode)
• 1 x HDD + 2 x SSD HyperDuo (Safe Mode)

Throughput Drive size

• 112.81 MB/s 2 TB
• 490.28 MB/S 120 GB
• 489.28 MB/s 2 TB
• 715.13 MB/s 2 TB

Drives Used:

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 Series 2.5” 120 GB (VTX3-25SAT3-120G)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 3.5” 2 TB (WD20EARS)

Software Used:

IO Meter, 256KB Sequential Read, queue depth = 10

This PCIe SATA 6gbps card is backed by a 2-year StarTech.com warranty and free lifetime technical support.

Applications:

• Use SSD tiering to optimize your system for I/O intensive applications such as Office Suites, Photo/Video Editing and Media Players
• Provide optimized off-site back-ups/vaulting, through built-in RAID 1 capability
• Perfect for multi-drive internal RAID storage solutions
• Upgrade an older PCIe-based system to SATA 6Gbps capability, to better utilize faster SATA drives
• Add more internal SATA ports to a computer system, to connect additional storage drives and/or optical drives

Features:

• Supports HyperDuo SSD auto-tiering
• 4 AHCI SATA III (6Gbps) ports through PCI Express x2
• Fully compliant with SATA 3.0 specifications and backward compatible with SATA I/II (1.5/3.0Gbps) drives
• Supports hardware RAID 0, 1, and 1+0 modes configured through BIOS
• Compliant with PCI Express 2.0 standards
• Port Multiplier FIS-based and Command-based switching supported
• Natively supported single chipset design
• Simple HyperDuo configuration via card-BIOS level or intuitive GUI console (Windows only)
• Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and ATA/ATAPI commands
• Includes Low Profile/Half-Height installation bracket
• Supports HDDs/SSDs/Optical/Blu-Ray drives
• LED headers for HDD activity LED indicators

The StarTech.com Advantage:

• Leverage SSD performance and standard HDD capacity with HyperDuo technology
• Maximize system capability with SATA III connection speeds
• Fit any standard or low profile chassis with included brackets

Full specification and details can be found in the PDF file

A user manual can be found in the PDF file