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SeriTek/2ME4-E Direct Connect Performance

SeriTek/2ME4-E + Dual miniSwap/ES Enclosures + SSD = 997MB/s RAID Performance
The FirmTek SeriTek/2ME4-E provides outstanding performance when used with the miniSwap/ES enclosure and OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE Solid State Drives. With four 200GB SSD devices mounted in dual miniSwap/ES enclosures using two SeriTek/2ME4-E controllers, RAID 0 average write performance of 851MB/sec. and average read performance of 997MB/sec. can be achieved.







Area Full
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
empty
223 - 249
444 - 501
691 - 783
852 - 995
10%
223 - 249
446 - 499
688 - 783
852 - 997
20%
223 - 249
444 - 497
690 - 780
852 - 1000
30%
223 - 249
445 - 498
688 - 779
851 - 1000
40%
222 - 246
445 - 499
688 - 781
851 - 996
50%
221 - 246
445 - 497
691 - 783
852 - 997
60%
221 - 246
446 - 498
689 - 781
849 - 997
70%
221 - 246
445 - 497
689 - 780
851 - 998
80%
222 - 248
445 - 500
689 - 781
853 - 996
90%
222 - 248
445 - 498
690 - 781
852 - 994
100%
223 - 248
445 - 499
693 - 785
852 - 998
Average
222 - 248
445 - 499
690 - 782
851 - 997
Configuration
Single Disk
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
Volume Size
186GB
372GB
774GB
774GB
Table 1 Testing Detail: The SeriTek/2ME4-E SATA controller was tested in slot 4 of the 2009 Apple Mac Pro 2.26 running Mac OS X 10.6.4 in 64-bit mode. 200GB OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro RE Solid State Drives were mounted in miniSwap/ES enclosures and connected to the FirmTek SeriTek/2ME4-E with driver version 6.0.0fc18 installed. A single drive, dual drive RAID 0, four drive RAID 0 and a four drive RAID 0 mounted on two SeriTek/2ME4-E cards were performance tested. DiskTester 2.0 10GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test to provide the results in MB/s.


SeriTek/2ME4-E + SeriTek/2eEN4 = Great 4-Drive 3.5" SATA RAID Performance
The FirmTek SeriTek/2ME4-E also provides excellent performance with Samsung F3 1TB model HD103SJ SATA hard disks. With four 1TB Samsung F3 SATA hard disks mounted in the direct connect SeriTek/2eEN4, the SeriTek/2ME4-E provided RAID 0 average write performance of 445MB/sec. and average read performance of 432MB/sec. As individual 3.5" SATA hard disks become even faster, the high bandwidth capability provided by the SeriTek/2ME4-E can support RAID speeds in excess of 700MB/sec. for blazing direct connect performance.







Area Full
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
empty
150.1 - 143.4
294 - 289
420 - 410
560 - 548
10%
149.5 - 142.1
274 - 270
393 - 383
524 - 506
20%
144.3 - 137.4
263 - 261
383 - 376
513 - 499
30%
135.7 - 131.3
249 - 249
369 - 366
497 - 484
40%
132.2 - 128.3
241 - 239
356 - 351
476 - 465
50%
120.1 - 117.5
234 - 236
339 - 337
456 - 446
60%
121.3 - 115.8
229 - 224
329 - 326
440 - 429
70%
115.5 - 110.6
204 - 203
307 - 302
411 - 399
80%
105.7 - 100.9
200 - 199
289 - 277
388 - 375
90%
90.6 - 86.8
179 - 177
256 - 247
343 - 334
100%
80.5 - 76.7
153 - 150
212 - 208
280 - 271
Average
122 - 117
229 - 227
332 - 326
445 - 432
Configuration
Single Disk
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
Volume Size
931.2GB
1.82TB
2.73TB
3.64TB
AJA Test
Table 2 Testing Detail: The SeriTek/2ME4-E SATA controller was tested in slot 4 of the 2009 Apple Mac Pro 2.26 running Mac OS X 10.6.4. Samsung F3 model HD103SJ hard disks were mounted in the direct connect FirmTek SeriTek/2eEN enclosure. Single disk, dual drive RAID 0, three drive RAID 0 and a four drive RAID 0 configurations were created with Disk Utility. DiskTester 2.0 10GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test to provide the results in MB/s.

SeriTek/2ME4-E + SeriTek/5PM Port Multiplier Enclosure = Virtually Unlimited Data Storage
The combination of a single FirmTek SeriTek/2ME4-E and multiple SeriTek/5PM enclosures can achieve excellent performance. With ten 1TB Samsung F1 SATA hard disks mounted in two SeriTek/5PM enclosures, FirmTek obtained RAID 0 average write performance of 413MB/sec. and average read performance of 493MB/sec. With four SeriTek/5PM enclosures and twenty hard disks in a RAID 0, average write performance increased by 58% to 637MB/sec. and average read performance increased by 52% to 751MB/sec. with the SeriTek/2ME4-E controller installed in slot 4 of the 2009 Mac Pro.

The SeriTek/5PM enclosure provides several interesting advantages.
1. Reduced cable clutter (a single cable per enclosure)
2. Stable RAID performance as the volume fills
3. Raw storage capacity (5x greater than a direct connect configuration)
4. Up to twenty hard disks can be supported with a single SeriTek/2ME4-E






# of Drives
5
10
15
20
Area Full
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
empty
208 - 248
411 - 498
597 - 744
679 - 786
10%
209 - 247
414 - 497
597 - 743
678 - 783
20%
209 - 245
412 - 497
596 - 740
677 - 785
30%
208 - 245
413 - 494
591 - 738
675 - 779
40%
209 - 247
414 - 497
598 - 741
674 - 779
50%
206 - 248
413 - 498
595 - 743
673 - 755
60%
209 - 249
414 - 499
598 - 740
672 - 764
70%
209 - 248
414 - 496
598 - 740
673 - 787
80%
209 - 247
414 - 492
598 - 738
674 - 787
90%
209 - 242
413 - 480
599 - 729
675 - 783
100%
209 - 245
415 - 472
599 - 718
676 - 784
Average
208 - 246
413 - 493
597 - 738
675 - 779
Configuration
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
Volume Size
4.55TB
9.09TB
13.6TB
18.2TB
AJA Test
Table 3 Testing Detail: The SeriTek/2ME4-E SATA controller was tested in PCIe slot 4 with Samsung F1 model HD103UJ 1TB hard disks mounted in FirmTek SeriTek/5PM enclosures. Disk Utility was used to create RAID 0 configurations using a 2009 Mac Pro 2.26 and Mac OS X 10.6.4. DiskTester 2.0 10GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test. Transfer rates are shown in MB/s.

Placing the Samsung hard disks used in Table 2 in the SeriTek/5PM reduces performance as a single port multiplier enclosure is limited to write performance of approximately 210MB/sec. and read performance of approximately 250MB/sec. with the 2009 Mac Pro. The 2006-2008 Mac Pro models can provide slightly higher port multiplier write performance but they are still limited to approximately 230MB/sec. Even so, the SeriTek/5PM has the advantage of supporting up to twenty hard disks. Users looking for raw storage capacity can connect up to 40TB with 2TB hard disks. Performance minded users will find at least two SeriTek/5PM enclosures are required to obtain SeriTek/2ME4-E RAID performance similar to the direct connect SeriTek/2eEN4 enclosure. As expected, using a different model of hard disk will usually provide slightly different performance results.


Up to 1200MB/sec. with Five SeriTek/5PM Enclosures and Dual Controllers!
Combining the SeriTek/2ME4-E with multiple SeriTek/5PM enclosures provides a large variety of possible configuration options. The first row of the table below displays how moving the SeriTek/2ME4-E to PCIe slot 2 (16x) in the 2009 Mac Pro instead of slot 4 (4x) can increase performance. The other three rows demonstrate how installing two SeriTek/2ME4-E controllers in slots 2 and 4 with 16-20 hard disks can also increase RAID performance.







# of Drives
20
20
16
20
Area Full
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
Write - Read
[MB/s]
empty
717 - 800
824 - 991
814 - 960
1031 - 1214
10%
716 - 800
824 - 989
803 - 966
1032 - 1222
20%
715 - 801
823 - 988
810 - 982
1033 - 1226
30%
714 - 804
824 - 987
805 - 980
1029 - 1217
40%
714 - 804
825 - 993
817 - 982
1032 - 1221
50%
713 - 803
823 - 994
811 - 990
1033 - 1224
60%
711 - 801
825 - 992
824 - 994
1030 - 1226
70%
709 - 800
826 - 993
828 - 985
1034 - 1226
80%
708 - 795
826 - 989
827 - 985
1027 - 1222
90%
708 - 798
820 - 971
823 - 982
1034 - 1203
100%
708 - 804
823 - 952
821 - 820
1035 - 1020
Average
712 - 801
824 - 985
817 - 966
1032 - 1202
Configuration
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
RAID 0
Volume Size
18.2TB
18.2TB
14.5TB
18.2TB
AJA Test
Table 4 Testing Detail: Dual SeriTek/2ME4-E SATA controllers installed in slot 2 and slot 4 were tested with Samsung F1 model HD103UJ 1TB hard disks mounted in FirmTek SeriTek/5PM enclosures. Disk Utility was used to create RAID 0 configurations using a 2009 Mac Pro 2.26 and Mac OS X 10.6.4. DiskTester 2.0 10GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test. Transfer rates are shown in MB/sec.

Once four SeriTek/5PM enclosures are configured with 20 hard disks, dropping to sixteen hard disks with four in each enclosure provides minimal performance reduction. If the four removed hard disks (one from each enclosure) are installed in a 5th SeriTek/5PM that is connected to the second SeriTek/2ME4-E in slot 2, RAID performance jumps dramatically. Configuring dual SeriTek/2ME4-E controllers with a single large twenty disk RAID 0 can measurably increase RAID performance. Using five SeriTek/5PM enclosures with twenty hard disks (4 per enclosure) plus dual SeriTek/2ME4-E controllers in slots 2 and 4 provided average write performance of 1032MB/sec and average read performance of 1202MB/sec. when DiskTester 2.0 was used to measure the RAID 0 performance.

This information was produced by FirmTek, LLC for Macintosh users desiring an in-depth analysis of the performance options available with the FirmTek SeriTek/2ME4-E and FirmTek enclosures. We hope you find this data helpful. These tests were only performed with FirmTek enclosures. Results will vary with third party enclosures or with different hard disk models.