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June 1, 2007
High Performance PCIe 8x SATA Host Adapter
A Review of the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 Four Port PCI Express SATA II Host Adapter
By Arthur Whalem
DAT Optic is shipping the eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter. This eight lane, four port, SATA port multiplier compatible PCIe controller normally sells for $189. However, users that purchase a DAT Optic Sbox-R ($549), Sbox-P ($485), Sbox-X ($799), Sbox-4e ($299) qBOX-S ($159), qBOX-P ($285), RM5_S2P ($499), RM12_S2P ($1199) or the RM15_S2P ($1499) have the opportunity to bundle the eSATA_PCIe8 with their purchase for only $130. This deal provides significant savings on the purchase of a DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter for users that also need a SATA enclosure.
The DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter supports Mac OS X, Windows and Linux computers with an available PCIe slot. It utilizes a serial to parallel PCI bridge interface that allows the Silicon Image SiI-3124 chip to function with a PCIe bus. Four external eSATA data ports are mounted on the rear of the card for use with external SATA hard drive enclosures. When using four, 5-bay port multiplier enclosures the eSATA_PCIe8 can support up to twenty hard drives. The purpose of this review is to determine how the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 will perform with the Apple Mac Pro.
System Requirements
Mac OS X Version 10.4 or a Windows/Linux operating system.
Requires a computer with an available PCIe slot.
Supports up to 4 external SATA hard drives using a direct connect enclosure.
Supports up to 20 external hard drives using multiple, 5-bay SATA PM enclosures.
InstallationPCI Express also known as PCIe, communicates using 250MB per second data lanes. PCI Express bandwidth is determined by the number of data lanes that the device can accommodate. One lane, four lanes, eight lanes, or 16 lanes are some of the typical PCIe configurations available. The DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter is an eight lane card that is also compatible with four lane slots. In an Apple Mac Pro the eSATA_PCIe8 is provided with 8x bandwidth when installed in slot 4, which is an eight lane slot by default. Mac Pro users will need to install the Silicon Image SiI3124 32-bit universal Mac OS X 10.4.x BASE driver in order for the Mac Pro to recognize the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter.
The Apple Mac Pro has four PCI Express slots. It utilizes the "Expansion Slot Utility" to configure the speed of the PCIe slots. The Expansion Slot Utility can be found within Mac OS X at Macintosh HD: System:Library: CoreServices: Expansion Slot Utility. It will usually automatically launch when it detects that a card has been installed in a slot that is slower than the cards maximum speed.
In the example above, the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 is installed in the top slot of an Apple Mac Pro which is slot 4. There are four configurations that the Expansion Slot Utility allows the user to select. However, most users will want to maintain the video card in a 16 lane slot. With that being the case, only the first two configurations maintain a 16 lane video card setup. When using more than one four lane SATA host adapter, the second Expansion Slot Utility configuration allows PCIe slots 3 and 4 to both provide four lane performance.
The Apple Expansion Slot Utility displays the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 as an eight lane device. In order to determine if the eSATA_PCIe8 will perform different in a four lane bus versus an eight lane PCIe bus, a ten drive striped RAID set was utilized to test both configurations.
PCI Express 8 Lane vs 4 Lane
Two 5-bay SATA PM enclosures with five Maxline III 300GB model 7V300F0 hard drives installed in each enclosure were attached to two ports on the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 which was mounted in a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz using the Silicon Image 2.0.3 Mac OS X driver. DiskTester 2.0 was used to measure the striped RAID set performance. Using the command: ./disktester run-area-test --chunk-size 128M --test-size 10G --delta-percent 10 DriveName, displays how the 10 drive striped RAID set performed when empty, 10% full, 20% full and so on.
eSATA_PCIe8 Ten Drive Maxline III 7V300F0 Striped RAID set
| Area Full |
4x Slot
|
8x Slot
|
||
|
Write
|
Read
|
Write
|
Read
|
|
| empty |
418
|
466
|
419
|
465
|
| 10% |
420
|
466
|
425
|
466
|
| 20% |
420
|
466
|
425
|
466
|
| 30% |
420
|
466
|
425
|
466
|
| 40% |
420
|
465
|
425
|
466
|
| 50% |
422
|
465
|
424
|
465
|
| 60% |
422
|
465
|
424
|
465
|
| 70% |
420
|
466
|
426
|
464
|
| 80% |
421
|
466
|
426
|
463
|
| 90% |
421
|
445
|
427
|
438
|
| 100% | 376 | 375 | 374 | 377 |
| Average |
416
|
456
|
420
|
455
|
| RAID Size |
2.73TB
|
2.73TB
|
As you can see in the table above, using the default Mac Pro PCIe eight lane configuration with the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 installed in slot 4 can slightly enhance write performance. However, the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 works great whether it is installed in a 4 lane or an 8 lane PCIe slot.
When users examine the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter with Mac OS X System Profiler they will find that it is displayed as a PCI to PCI Bridge. The image above shows an example of this configuration in slot 4.
Features
The DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter provides PCIe users with the ability to utilize the Silicon Image SATALink SiI3124 chip via a serial to parallel PCI bridge interface. The development of the eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter is based on the Silicon Image PB3124X8-4ESATA300 reference design. This eight lane physical PCI-express hardware allows the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 to provide exceptional performance when twenty hard drives are attached to the host adapter. Using the four external eSATA data ports on the eSATA_PCIe8 with four 5-bay SATA PM enclosures allows this high speed 8x PCIe SATA host adapter to provide a large capacity, high performance data storage system.Silicon Image claims that, with 20 hard drives attached to the four port PB3124X8-4ESATA300 reference design they can obtain a sequential read speed of 889MB/s, enabling up to four uncompressed HD streams to be played simultaneously. The model of hard drives used with the test and the PC platform is not disclosed in the article.
The SiI-3124 provides Serial ATA II technology capable of running SATA second generation speeds of 3Gbps. It supports FIS-based switching for enhanced port multiplier performance. It also supports NCQ, spread spectrum clocking to reduce EMI and provides four independent DMA channels with 2KB FIFO per channel. The eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter supports deep sleep, hot swap and works with Disk Utility to format hard drives and create RAID sets.
No Boot or SMART Capability
The Silicon Image 2.0.3 Mac Pro driver does not provide boot capability. FirmTek is the only company that is currently shipping a PCI Express SATA host adapter for the Macintosh that supports booting. It is the two port SeriTek/2SE2-E model. However, the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 provides four high speed (8x) ports while the SeriTek/2SE2-E only has two (1x) ports.
In addition, the Silicon Image driver lacks SMART data support with Disk Utility. Users can verify this by connecting a hard drive to the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter and launch Disk Utility. Select a hard drive on the left side of the Disk Utility window that is mounted using the eSATA_PCIe8. Disk Utility will display that SMART data is not supported.
Energy Usage
According to the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor, the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter hardware requires approximately 8 watts while idle when installed in a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz model. This was determined by measuring the energy usage with and without the card installed while the computer was idle for at least 10 minutes. The difference between the two readings is 8 watts. SATA host adapters that utilize the Intel serial to parallel PCI bridge interface like the eSATA_PCIe8 and the NORCO-4629, require a little more energy to power them than the Sonnet Tempo E4P and the HighPoint RocketRAID 2314.
Enclosures
As the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter is an external eSATA solution, users will need an enclosure for mounting SATA hard drives. DAT Optic sells several different types of enclosures that are designed to work with the eSATA_PCIe8. The $130 bundle price for the eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter when purchased with a DAT Optic enclosure provides an interesting value option.
The DAT Optic Sbox-P ($485) is a 5-bay SATA PM enclosure that utilizes hot swap aluminum trays and provides LED activity and power lights. It also displays hard drive temperatures and the drive tray fan RPM speed on the front of each hot swap tray. Each drive bay has its own locking mechanism which supports a key. The enclosure measures 16.75" deep, 10.7" high and 7.5" wide. A single DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter can support up to four Sbox-P enclosures, with each enclosure containing up to five SATA hard drives. The AMUG Sbox-P review is available on-line for users wanting more information about this enclosure.
DAT Optic also sells the new Sbox-R ($549) which is very similar to the Sbox-P except that it uses the Silicon Image SiI-4726 port multiplier. The advantage that the Sbox-R provides is the ability to be configured as a hardware RAID or a software RAID. The hardware RAID function supports RAID 0, 1 and 1/0. Users configure the hardware RAID with a SATA PM compatible host adapter like the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8. However, once configured the RAID can be moved to any SATA connection or it can be used with the Addonics USB 2.0 to eSATA Adapter (AAU2ESA) with a USB 2.0 port.
The Sbox-R hardware RAID has many possible uses. Imagine a five drive Sbox-R RAID 0 or 1/0 connected to a digital video recorder or use the extra SATA ports on the Apple Mac Pro motherboard with the Sbox-R. The eSATA Extender ($24.95) allows users to convert these internal ports to external eSATA connections. Using 750GB hard drives inside the Sbox-R could provide a whooping 3.75TB (RAID 0) or 1.5TB with hot swap spare (RAID 10). With that kind of storage available a large archive could be created. Having the ability to utilize the Sbox-R with any SATA connection creates addition configuration options. An up coming AMUG review of the Sbox-R will provide more information on this multi-functional enclosure.
DAT Optic also sells the qBOX-P ($285) SATA enclosure. The DAT Optic qBOX-P is a compact SATA PM hard drive enclosure with a black case. It mounts up to four hard drives using a SiI-3726 port multiplier. This enclosure is also available with a multilane interface. The qBOX-P measures 10.4" deep, 7.25" high and 5.3" wide. It weighs approximately 6 pounds when empty and 11 pounds with four Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA hard drives installed. A single DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 host adapter can support up to four qBOX-P enclosures, each containing up to four SATA hard drives for a total of sixteen SATA hard drives. If sixteen hard drives are mounted on the eSATA_PCIe8 in a striped RAID set configuration, the eight lane PCIe design can provide outstanding performance.The DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter supports both port multipliers and individual SATA hard drive enclosures. As such, it will work with any external SATA enclosure that supports eSATA data connections.
The SATA port multiplier standard also known as "SATA PM" allows up to five hard drives to be connected using a single eSATA data cable. Port multiplier enclosures utilize fast FIS-based switching to interface with the hard drives. Even though port multipliers have some bandwidth limitations, I usually find that a five drive SATA PM enclosure can out perform a four drive direct connect striped RAID set once the volume is 50% full or more. While a SATA PM enclosure may not perform as fast when empty as a direct connect drive setup, it can provide advanced performance stability as the hard drives begin to fill with data.
SATA PM RAID PerformanceThe DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 SATA host adapter was installed in slot 4 configured with eight lanes in an Apple Mac Pro 2.66 GHz with 3GB of memory using the SiI-3124 driver version 2.03 and running Mac OS X 10.4.9. Several five bay port multiplier enclosures were used with the eSATA_PCIe8 for these SATA PM tests. DiskTester 10GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test so that this article could display how the RAID performs. DiskTester is a Terminal application that measures the combined performance of a volume and the Mac OS X operating system. Using the command: ./disktester run-area-test --transfer-size 131072 --test-size 10240 --delta-percent 10 DriveName, puts DiskTester to work testing how the RAID will perform when empty, 10% full, 20% full and so on. The table below displays how the performance of the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 compares against the NORCO-4629, Sonnet E4P and the RocketRAID 2314 using the SiI-4726 based DAT Optic Sbox-R five bay port multiplier enclosure.
Sbox-R SiI-4726 Five Drive Striped RAID Set Host Adapter Comparison
| Area Full | write | read | write | read | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 213 | 236 |
212
|
236
|
218 | 158 | 218 | 247 |
| 10% | 214 | 236 |
214
|
236
|
221 | 160 | 220 | 248 |
| 20% | 214 | 237 |
214
|
236
|
219 | 164 | 220 | 248 |
| 30% | 214 | 237 |
214
|
236
|
220 | 163 | 220 | 247 |
| 40% | 214 | 237 |
214
|
236
|
218 | 169 | 220 | 248 |
| 50% | 214 | 237 |
214
|
236
|
217 | 169 | 220 | 247 |
| 60% | 214 | 236 |
214
|
235
|
217 | 172 | 220 | 247 |
| 70% | 213 | 235 |
214
|
235
|
220 | 167 | 220 | 245 |
| 80% | 214 | 234 |
214
|
233
|
218 | 163 | 220 | 244 |
| 90% | 213 | 227 |
213
|
226
|
217 | 150 | 218 | 227 |
| 100% | 182 | 185 | 182 | 185 | 178 | 134 | 180 | 185 |
| Average | 211 | 231 |
211
|
230
|
215 | 161 | 216 | 239 |
| Size | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | ||||
| MSRP | $189 | $189 | $299.95 | $200 |
As you can see in the results above, all of the SATA host adapters provide good performance except the Sonnet Tempo E4P. The Sonnet version 2.1 Mac Pro driver has significant read performance issues with enclosures that utilize the SiI-4726 port multiplier. Sonnet has informed AMUG that they are working on a fix for this issue. It is nice to know that the DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 works great with the Sbox-R.
In the table below, the same performance test was completed using the DAT Optic Sbox-P ($485) which is a 5-bay SATA PM enclosure based on the SiI-3726 port multiplier chip.
Sbox-P SiI-3726 Five Drive Striped RAID Set Host Adapter Comparison
| Area Full | write | read | write | read | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 213 | 228 |
213
|
230
|
208 | 224 | 222 | 236 |
| 10% | 215 | 228 |
214
|
229
|
210 | 226 | 222 | 236 |
| 20% | 215 | 228 |
215
|
230
|
210 | 226 | 222 | 236 |
| 30% | 215 | 228 |
214
|
230
|
210 | 226 | 222 | 237 |
| 40% | 214 | 229 |
214
|
230
|
210 | 227 | 222 | 237 |
| 50% | 215 | 229 |
215
|
230
|
210 | 228 | 222 | 238 |
| 60% | 215 | 229 |
215
|
230
|
210 | 230 | 222 | 240 |
| 70% | 215 | 229 |
215
|
231
|
210 | 231 | 223 | 239 |
| 80% | 215 | 231 |
214
|
233
|
211 | 227 | 221 | 243 |
| 90% | 215 | 226 |
214
|
226
|
211 | 219 | 221 | 226 |
| 100% | 184 | 185 | 184 | 185 | 184 | 184 | 184 | 185 |
| Average | 212 | 224 |
212
|
226
|
208 | 222 | 218 | 232 |
| Size | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | 1.45TB | ||||
| MSRP | $189 | $189 | $299.95 | $200 |
As you can see in the results above, all four host adapters provide excellent performance results with the SiI-3726 port multiplier based Sbox-P. The HighPoint RocketRAID 2314 SATA host adapter was able to provide the highest performance in this five drive test.
The next performance table expands the results to include a ten drive SATA PM striped RAID set configuration using ten Seagate 320GB model 7200.10 hard drives with the Sbox-R and the Sbox-P port multiplier enclosures.
DiskTester Ten Drive Striped RAID Set Host Adapter Comparison
| Area Full | write | read | write | read | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 411 | 452 |
412
|
448
|
406 | 439 | 428 | 462 |
| 10% | 417 | 453 |
415
|
448
|
404 | 447 | 430 | 458 |
| 20% | 417 | 453 |
414
|
448
|
410 | 446 | 430 | 455 |
| 30% | 416 | 453 |
416
|
449
|
405 | 450 | 431 | 467 |
| 40% | 416 | 453 |
416
|
448
|
410 | 447 | 429 | 464 |
| 50% | 416 | 453 |
415
|
449
|
405 | 447 | 429 | 470 |
| 60% | 417 | 454 |
416
|
449
|
411 | 446 | 426 | 468 |
| 70% | 417 | 456 |
416
|
450
|
412 | 432 | 430 | 470 |
| 80% | 417 | 462 |
416
|
455
|
414 | 433 | 425 | 473 |
| 90% | 416 | 449 |
416
|
450
|
413 | 410 | 429 | 445 |
| 100% | 369 | 368 | 360 | 368 | 358 | 345 | 347 | 364 |
| Average | 412 | 446 |
410
|
442
|
404 | 431 | 421 | 454 |
| Size | 2.91TB | 2.91TB | 2.91TB | 2.91TB | ||||
| MSRP | $189 | $189 | $299.95 | $200 |
While the Highpoint RocketRAID 2314 provided the highest performance in the ten drive striped RAID set test, it does not support traditional Mac OS X hot swap. The DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8 provides great hot swap capability and recorded the next best performance results in the ten drive striped RAID test.
The next SATA PM table demonstrates how a fifteen drive SATA PM striped RAID set comprised of Seagate 320GB 7200.10 hard drives performs. Three SATA PM enclosures were used to complete this test.
15 Drive SATA Port Multiplier Striped RAID - DiskTester 10GB Test
| Area Full | write | read | write | read | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 589 | 592 |
565
|
589
|
531 | 590 | 561 | 614 |
| 10% | 602 | 595 |
573
|
597
|
541 | 583 | 562 | 606 |
| 20% | 600 | 591 |
576
|
591
|
543 | 589 | 564 | 617 |
| 30% | 601 | 596 |
572
|
596
|
534 | 593 | 565 | 622 |
| 40% | 603 | 594 |
579
|
595
|
540 | 592 | 559 | 618 |
| 50% | 605 | 601 |
576
|
601
|
546 | 593 | 565 | 621 |
| 60% | 604 | 602 |
579
|
601
|
544 | 593 | 562 | 623 |
| 70% | 605 | 609 |
577
|
609
|
537 | 596 | 562 | 639 |
| 80% | 600 | 605 |
579
|
606
|
544 | 597 | 563 | 638 |
| 90% | 602 | 608 |
574
|
608
|
543 | 578 | 560 | 638 |
| 100% | 544 | 544 | 535 | 543 | 542 | 492 |