HighPoint 8-Bay SSD6780 Series RAID External Enclosures Add 120TB of Gen4 NVMe Storage and 28Gb/s of Transfer Speed to any PCIe 4.0 Platform

HighPoint Technologies, Inc. launches the SSD6780 Series (SSD6780A and SSD6780M), an external 8-channel NVMe RAID solutions with dedicated end-to-end PCIe Gen4 x16 connectivity.

SSD6780 Series front and rear

The compact RAID enclosures can host upwards of 120TB of U.2, U.3 or M.2 NVMe RAID storage, at speeds up to 28,000MB/s, and can be integrated into any x86 Intel/AMD or ARM platform with a free PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. Due to the external connectivity and Windows, Linux and macOS^(*) device driver support, SSD6780 series enclosures can be shared between multiple computing platforms, even those based on different hardware platforms.

SSD6780 Series open

Measuring 4.5” in height, SSD6780 enclosures are a compact 8-bay storage solution. The vertically aligned 2.5” drive trays allow for a marked reduction in chassis height and mass. The small hardware footprint is for applications that require a portable, easily serviced high-speed mass storage solution.

Industry proven NVMe RAID engine
SSD6780 series enclosures are powered by the the company’s NVMe RAID stack, and are capable of supporting 1 or more RAID-0, 1 and 10 arrays alongside single SSDs. This versatile technology enables administrators to configure storage for any application, and tuned to optimize for performance, security or a balance of the 2. RAID-1 mirroring protects data vs. the risk of device failure by creating a hidden duplicate of the target SSD, and is for bootable volumes. Up to 8 SSDs can be configured into a RAID-0 stripe array to maximize storage performance and capacity. RAID-10 provides a mix of security and performance, as it combines the speed of a stripe array with the mirrored data protection of a RAID-1 array.

Storage performance
The SSD6780 series’ flexible, performance-focused backplane architecture leverages intelligent PCIe switch technology to allocate x4 lanes of host bandwidth to each NVMe SSD. This enables each enclosure to deliver up to 28,000MB/s of transfer performance using just 4 or 5 NVMe SSDs.

Single-cable connectivity solution: The cabling solution requires only a single connection between the enclosure and host platform. The external 1-meter CDFP cable was engineered to make installation a snap, while guaranteeing a stable, secure x16 lanes of dedicated connectivity between the NVMe SSDs and the host platform’s PCIe 4.0 host bus.

Multi-CPU/Core performance optimizer: While multi-core/Multi-CPU platforms have plenty of resources, they may not be properly allocated to the target application and NVMe media. The company’s HPT-Optimize utility simplifies the complicated tuning process for all multi-core platforms.

End thermal throttling! SSD6780 series’ advanced cooling system ensures NVMe media performs optimally 24/7
In an effort to protect the integrity of hardware, Gen4 NVMe SSDs will employ a technique known as ‘thermal throttling’ when a temperature threshold has been crossed. Thermal throttling, as the name implies, will adjust the drives output (transfer speed) to keep the media within the manufacturer’s recommended threshold, essentially putting a ‘brake’ on performance. Ensuring NVMe media stays cool, even under heavy load, is an essential part of any performance-focused NVMe solution. The SSD6780 series enclosures take a no-holds-barred approach to thermal throttling.

The aluminum enclosures employ a pair of low-decibel cooling fans to ingest cool air from the outside environment and circulate it throughout the interior of the chassis. Waste heat is then drawn away from the SSD media and critical RAID controller componentry and dispensed through the ventilated drive trays.

The dedicated cooling hardware is bolstered by a real-time monitoring system that incorporates full fan control with LED indication, an audible alarm, and the firm’s SHI technology. SHI (Storage Health Inspector) enables administrators to monitor the temperature of each NVMe SSD in real time, and configure warning thresholds to correspond with each make and model, via the WebGUI and CLI software suites.

Keep tabs on critical storage assets with simple glance
The SSD6780 series features a self-diagnosing LED notification system and sensor suite that actively surveys and reports enclosure and SSD temperatures, status of the host to device cable connection and PCIe lane assignment, and the condition and status of RAID arrays. These services were designed to work in conjunction with the the company’s SHI (Storage Health Inspector) feature of the WebGUI and CLI management utilities, and are compatible with Linux, macOS and Windows based computing platforms.

Integrated hot-plug and hot-swap capability streamlines field service and maintenance workflows:
Unlike the vast majority of NVMe based storage solutions, SSD6780A RAID enclosures feature Hot-Plug and Hot-Swap capability. Hot-Swap capability is a huge boon for NVMe technology, as it can streamline service and upgrade workflows.

Administrators can add or remove one or more NVMe SSDs on the fly, as necessity demands. This includes RAID and single-drive configurations. The SSD6780A will automatically notify the OS of any changes, in real time – no reboot required.

Pricing and availability
SSD6780 series NVMe RAID enclosures are set to launch in June 2023, and will be available direct from company’s E-Store and certified global resale and distribution partners.