Serial Attached SCSI versus Parallel SCSI

The Serial Trend in Computing

The move to serial Input/Output (I/O) storage in computing has been steady for some time. In
addition to the large install base of FibreChannel (FC) in Storage Area Networks (SAN), the
advent and adoption of Serial ATA (SATA) and now Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) has almost
completely displaced parallel technologies in storage. Most new desktop and server board
manufacturers have removed all but perhaps one Parallel ATA (PATA) storage channel and all
U320 Parallel SCSI channels, replacing them with multiple SATA and/or SAS ports. Many current
designs are also missing legacy floppy drives and parallel ports, replacing them with Universal
Serial Bus connections. This trend towards serial I/O has increasing benefits the past few years
including performance, reduced complexity, and superior cabling which impacts enclosure cooling
and reliability of signal. More details on the reasons for switching to SATA over PATA are
discussed in Alliance Systems Technology Report: Serial ATA.

SAS technology is specifically designed to replace parallel SCSI in high-end enterprise external
and internal server storage. The same reasons for moving from PATA to SATA are almost
identical to the advantages of SAS over Parallel SCSI. There are some additional advantages for
switching to SAS, including dual-porting, better RAID maintenance, and SAS expansion.

Parallel SCSI in Server Storage

Parallel SCSI has been the primary enterprise server storage I/O technology for much of the past
15 years. Much of this market dominance is because the interface has had no rival in terms of
reliability, ruggedness, performance, and cost over this time. The only other high-end storage
interface has been FibreChannel. FC has primarily been utilized in SAN environments. Even
though FC is a serial technology that is high speed, very reliable, scalable and robust, it is also
very expensive to implement. FC storage has been more expensive than SCSI and FC requires
external enclosures, expensive FC HBAs, and FC switches. It is complex enough that SANs using
FC typically require a dedicated SAN administrator.

Parallel SCSI has been a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) technology that is easy to install and
maintain as well as having a relatively low $/GB compared to FC. After the adoption of the Single
Connector Attachment (SCA) addendum to the SCSI specification, parallel SCSI has been able to
support a hot-swap design required for highly reliable RAID applications. SCSI drives also
provide a greater Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) (~1,000,000 Power On Hours at near full
usage) and faster spindle speeds (10,000 to 15,000 RPM) than is usually available in Parallel ATA
(PATA) and Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives. The clear differences in performance and reliability
between SCSI and PATA/SATA combined with the lower cost of SCSI as compared to FC have
helped leverage SCSI technology as the primary choice for DAS in the server market.

The SAS Advantage

As mentioned previously, SAS offers many of the same benefits over parallel I/O interfaces as
does SATA. These include a point-to-point architecture that removes the bus arbitration
overhead, improved signal control and clocking which allows for higher frequencies and a lower
risk of signal skew, an improved resistance to cross talk, improved system cooling due to lower
profile cabling, and higher I/O throughput for multiple disk configurations.

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Features

Figure A: Feature Comparison

Interface PATA SATA (3.5 inch) Parallel SCSI FC SAS (3.5 inch)
Performance 7200RPM 7200RPM 10,000RPM 10,000RPM 15,000RPM
15,000RPM 15,000RPM
100/133MB/s 300MB/s 320MB/s 200/400MB/s 300MB/s
(600 planned)
Max Capacity 750GB 750GB 300GB (10K) 300GB (10K) 146GB
146GB (15K) 146GB (15K)
Availability No hot-swap Single ported Single ported Dual ported Dual ported
Hot-swap Hot-swap Hot-swap Hot-swap
Connectivity Parallel bus Single host Parallel bus Multi-Initiator Multi-Initiator
point-to-point point-to-point point-to-point
40” internal 3’ internal cable 3’ internal or 45’ external 3’ internal or
cable external cable cable 24’ external
cable
2 devices per 1 device per 15 devices 127 devices 16,256
bus port per bus with FC loop devices with
extenders +
edge
connectors
(128 devices
per port)
MTBF 700,000 POH @ 750,000 POH @ 1,300,000 1,300,000 1,300,000
25% duty 25% duty POH @ 100% POH @ 100% POH @ 100%
cycle** cycle** duty cycle** duty cycle** duty cycle**
Cost* $0.50/MB* $0.50/MB* ~$5/GB* $5.50/GB* ~$6/GB*
(15K) (15K)
~$3/GB*
(10K)

Performance
Today, SAS is available at 300 MB/s per port versus 320 MB/s in U320 parallel SCSI. Using
multiple point-to-point SAS ports, we get an aggregate I/O speed for all 300 MB/s drive channels
as compared to a single parallel SCSI bus channel speed of 320 MB/s for all drives attached to
that channel. Moving from SCSI to SAS will move the bottleneck from the drive channel to the
PCI Express (PCI-E) Bus, thus greatly increasing the overall disk I/O possible in a single system.
Because the PCI-E has a very large I/O bus width, the aggregate I/O throughput from multiple
SAS drives will begin to overtake the total SCSI specified throughput after just two hard drives
(600 MB/s versus 320 MB/s wire speed). See the PCI Express Whitepaper for more information
on how PCI-E impacts disk I/O.

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Figure B: SAS I/O Performance***

Figure C: SAS versus SCSI in I/O performance***

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Availability
Unlike parallel SCSI, SAS offers the option of dual-ported connections to each drive, basically
allowing dual-host connections to the same SAS hard drive. This feature enables SAS to become
a fundamental building block for Enterprise SAN storage subsystems by adding basic data
redundancy into the physical storage device for such applications as failover clustering and data
replication.

Scalability
Using SAS expanders and fan-out edge connectors, theoretical limit of 16,256 devices is possible
in a single SAS domain, far exceeding the limit of 15 devices per channel in a parallel SCSI bus.
The use of SAS expanders allows for configurations that also scale to enterprise storage
applications. SAS extended back-end storage combined with 10 Gb Ethernet iSCSI could
supplant FibreChannel (FC) as the preferred Enterprise Storage technology in the near future.

Every SAS port and expander is designed with a worldwide unique SAS ID available in firmware.
That eliminates the need, either manually or through backplane technology, to ID each SAS
device in the domain. SAS also provides a discrete signal path between both ends of a dedicated
bus, removing the need to add termination at SAS end point.

Figure D: SAS Expansion Diagram

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Flexibility
SAS was designed with compatibility to SATA in mind. The SATA and SAS data connectors can
be plugged into the same backplane and, combined with certain SAS HBAs, can support both
types of devices attached to the same controller. This facilitates flexible system deployments
that support both low-duty, near-line storage in the same box as high-duty, highly reliable server
storage.

SAS is being implemented with Small Form Factor (SFF) devices in mind. Following the success
of parallel ATA 2.5 inch hard drives in embedded, bladed and mobile applications, the industry is
poised to eventually move much of their SAS drives to SFF. SFF allows more drives in a server
than 3.5 inch drives.

ƒ Currently, the maximum density of SFF drives is 4 HDDs per one 5.25” drive bay
or 22 HDDs per one Rack Unit. Compare this with 3.5 inch drives which can be
found in a 1.5 HDDs per one 5.25” drive bay or 16 HDDs per two Rack Units.

ƒ SFF drives consume less power than comparable 3.5 inch drives.

ƒ SAS SFF HDDs will be hot-swap and dual ported as compared to parallel ATA SFF
drives that are not.

ƒ For applications that have the same number of drives between SFF and 3.5 inch,
SFF allows more space for airflow and produces less heat in the same system
than with 2.5 inch HDDs.

ƒ More SFF drives per server or storage application mean more spindles equaling
higher I/O performance per U, in many cases.

ƒ SAS SFF HDDs currently support 10K RPM spindle speeds.

ƒ SFF supports future growth to 15K RPM, removing spindle speed as barrier to
implement SFF.

Future of SAS

Cost
Today, 3.5 inch SAS is available in 15K RPM spindle speeds compared to 10K and 15K in parallel
SCSI. While there is almost price parity between 15K models of both parallel SCSI and SAS
(~$5/GB* SCSI versus ~$6/GB* SAS), there is a notable disparity versus the current price of
equal capacity 10K parallel SCSI models (~$3/GB*). 10K parallel U320 SCSI should be available
for another 12 – 18 months to support legacy applications but, as adoption for 15K SAS and SFF
SAS increases, the cost will decrease while legacy SCSI will likely stay flat. There is little doubt
that when 10K SCSI spindles disappear from the market, parallel SCSI will go along with it and
FC may follow.

With the advantage of SAS backplanes and HBAs supporting both SAS and SATA HDDs, comes
the benefit of flexibility when costing reliability against capacity. For applications that don’t
require the enhanced reliability of SAS, there is the lower cost and higher capacity SATA with no
change in the base server architecture. 300 MB/s SATA drives are currently available at total
cost equity with legacy Parallel ATA (~$0.50/MB*) and can provide an excellent lower cost model
for SAS-ready server enclosures. This compatibility built into the SAS specification can allow for
the same base server equipment to scale from high-capacity, near-line, low-duty network storage

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to high-speed, high-duty, highly-available enterprise file server storage. The homogeneity of SAS
will eventually secure its future as the standard for storage subsystems in most all applications.

iSCSI/SAS versus FC
As SAS Extender technology becomes more pervasive and 10 Gb Ethernet iSCSI becomes
available, 2 Gb and 4 Gb FC will slowly migrate to the less expensive Ethernet infrastructure in
traditional enterprise SANs. Today, FC HBAs and switches are at a higher premium than Ethernet
while costs are right in line with SAS. The cost of 15K FC ($5.50/GB*) is right in line with SAS
(*$6/GB) and will level out as SAS adoption increases. 10 Gb Ethernet technology is available
today and will become the standard for high-bandwidth Ethernet switch throughput. This
increase in Ethernet throughput will combine with iSCSI and SAS/SATA to move Enterprise SANs
off of the expense of FC equipment and administration and on to the more highly homogenous
Ethernet networks. When the cost of scalability decreases, the volume of SAS drives sold into
SAN applications will further reduce the overall cost of SAS.

I/O Roadmap
The roadmap for SAS specification has a clear path to 1200 MB/sec, far exceeding the
expectations of any other I/O media device available on the market today. With the ever
increasing throughput of SAS along with other I/O and computing technologies, this will be the
main enterprise hard disk technology for the foreseeable future.

Figure E: SAS Throughput Roadmap

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Notes
(* Costs for 3.5 inch hard drives are approximated average retail prices of the following hard
drives from the top drive manufacturers: 160 GB ATA/100 PATA, 160 GB SATA/300, 146 GB U320
10K SCA SCSI, 146 GB U32015K SCA SCSI, 146 GB 15K FC, 146 GB 15K SAS.)

(** MTBF figures given are approximated average performance statistics of the following hard
drives from the top drive manufacturers: 160 GB ATA/100 PATA, 160 GB SATA/300, 146 GB U320
10K SCA SCSI, 146 GB U32015K SCA SCSI, 146 GB 15K FC, 146 GB 15K SAS.)

(*** The throughput testing was performed on an Alliance Systems I-6000 R2 with up to six 3.5
inch 15K RPM SAS drives and a PCI-E SAS RAID HBA. The test application was IOMeter version
2003.12.16. The individual tests are described below):

Figure F: IOMeter Test Explanation

Definitions

(Definitions Copyright, 2006 Jupitermedia All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from
http://www.internet.com)

Input/Output (I/O): The term I/O is used to describe any program, operation or device that
transfers data to or from a computer and to or from a peripheral device.

Throughput: The amount of data transferred from one place to another or processed in a
specified amount of time. Data transfer rates for disk drives and networks are measured in terms
of throughput. Typically, throughputs are measured in Kb/ps, MB/ps and GB/ps.

Serial I/O: I/O that is processed one by one. Serial data transfer refers to transmitting data one
bit at a time. The opposite of serial is parallel, in which several bits are transmitted concurrently.

Parallel I/O: I/O that is processed simultaneously. Devices are said to be either parallel or serial.
Parallel means the device is capable of receiving more than one bit at a time (that is, it receives
several bits in parallel).

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS): An evolution of parallel SCSI into a point-to-point serial peripheral
interface in which controllers are linked directly to disk drives.

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SCSI: Short for Small Computer System Interface, SCSI is a parallel interface standard used by
Apple Macintosh computers, PCs, and many UNIX systems for attaching peripheral devices to
computers.

Parallel ATA (PATA): ATA is short for Advanced Technology Attachment. Parallel ATA refers to
the parallel disk drive implementation that integrates the controller on the disk drive itself.
PATA/100 (Parallel ATA/100) is the most common implementation of ATA where there are two
devices allowed per ATA bus and the maximum I/O allowed is 100MB/s.

Serial ATA (SATA): Serial ATA is disk drive implementation that specifies a serial link which
creates a point-to-point connection between devices.

FibreChannel (FC): A serial data transfer architecture developed by a consortium of computer and
mass storage device manufacturers and now being standardized by ANSI.

Storage Area Networks (SAN): A high-speed sub-network of shared storage devices.

Direct Attached Storage (DAS): Term used to differentiate non-networked storage from SAN and
NAS. In direct attached storage, the hardware is connected to an individual server. There may be
more than one server but storage for each server is managed separately and cannot be shared.

Single Connector Attachment (SCA): A type of disk drive connector that includes connection pins
for the power cables as well as the data wires.

Spindle Speed (RPM): The spindle speed of a magnetic disk drive is the rate (Revolutions per
Minute) that the disk platter can spin in order to read or write information to the platter.

Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): The average time a device will function between failures.
MTBF ratings for disk drives are often measured in Power on Hours. The Duty Cycle of an MTBF
rating specifies the % of time the drive is actively performing I/O during the test cycle.

PCI Express (PCI-E): An I/O interconnect bus standard (which includes a protocol and a layered
architecture) that expands the data transfer rates of original PCI.

SAS Expanders: Devices that enhance the capabilities of a SAS Delivery Sub-System by enabling
more SAS/SATA devices to be connected to a SAS HBA. There are two types of SAS Expanders:
Fan-out Expanders and Edge Expanders. Fan-out Expanders are the only such kind of expander
per SAS domain, supports up to 128 devices and supports direct and table routing attributes.
Edge Expanders supports up to 128 devices and supports direct, subtractive and table routing
attributes.

Small Form Factor (SFF): Refers to any of several physically compact device designs that have
been developed for use in computing. In this context, SFF refers to a hard drive form factor of
2.5 inch in width.

iSCSI: An IP-based standard for linking data storage devices over a network and transferring data
by carrying SCSI commands over IP networks.

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Bibliography

http://www.t10.org/

http://www.scsita.org

http://www.fujitu.com

http://www.seagate.com

Serial Attached SCSI - General Overview

by Rob Elliott
HP Industry Standard Servers
Server Storage Advanced Technology
September 30th 2003

Serial Attached SCSI - Architecture

by Rob Elliott
HP Industry Standard Servers
Server Storage Advanced Technology
September 30th 2003