2PB SSD storage in your computer? Why not — storage firm debuts tech that can support up to 32 drives, perfect if you want to use 61.44TB Solidigm SSDs or even bigger PCIe 5.0 ones in the future

HighPoint has unveiled the industry’s first 8-Channel PCIe Gen5 x16 NVMe Switch and NVMe RAID product lines. 

Powered by Broadcom’s PEX89048 IC, these are designed to cater to high-demand, data-intensive applications and integrate Broadcom’s Gen5 PCIe switching technology to utilize x16 lanes of Gen5 host bandwidth, direct from the CPU, across Intel and AMD platforms.

HighPoint says this unique architecture enables each AIC/Adapter to maximize transfer performance for up to 8 independent device channels, and support as many as 32 NVMe devices via backplane connectivity.

Synthetic Hierarchy

The Rocket 1600 series NVMe Switch uses native inbox drivers, meaning that a 2PB solution is possible using Solidigm 61.44TB SSDs, providing they already work with the system in question. 

HighPoint’s PCIe Gen5 NVMe AICs high-performance switching architecture integrates Broadcom’s 48-Channel PEX89048 switch IC to provide x16 lanes of dedicated PCIe Gen5 upstream bandwidth, ensuring x4 lanes of downstream bandwidth are available for each NVMe device channel. HighPoint says “The innovative hardware architecture enables our Gen5 NVMe product series to deliver up to 64GB/s of transfer bandwidth, minimize latency, facilitate consistent, robust I/O throughput.”

The PCIe Gen5 and Gen4 Switching Architecture employs a technique known as a “Synthetic Hierarchy” to isolate the host system’s operating system from any PCIe physical changes. It enables the AIC/Adapter to directly manage resource allocation to the downstream PCIe channels and provide true hot-swap /hot-plug capability.

The NVMe Switch Series consists of the Rocket 1628A, which is a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 4-MCIOx8 NVMe switch adapter, the Rocket 1608A, a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 8-M.2×4 NVMe switch AIC, and the Rocket 1528D, a PCIe Gen4 x16 to 4-SlimSASx8 NVMe switch adapter.

HighPoint’s RocketRAID 7600 PCIe Gen5 NVMe RAID AICs and Adapters are built on the foundation of the Rocket 1600 Switch series, and provide RAID capabilities using HighPoint’s drivers, which are compatible with qualified NVMe drives from the company’s ecosystem partners. The Rocket 7600 Series AICs/Adapters can directly support up to eight M.2 or U.2/U.3/E3.S NVMe SSDs.

The NVMe RAID Series includes the Rocket 7628A, a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 4-MCIOx8 NVMe RAID adapter, the Rocket 7608A which is a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 8-M.2×4 NVMe RAID AIC, and the Rocket 7528D, a PCIe Gen4 x16 to 4-SlimSASx8 NVMe RAID adapter.

HighPoint says its PCIe Gen5 NVMe AICs will begin shipping globally in Q3 2024.

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