American Megatrends Introduces Space-Saving Enclosure Management Controller Chip

Monday: April 30, 2007

Editorial Summary:

• MegaRAC MG9073S drives LEDs and monitors drive presence for up to 8 SAS or SATA drives
• Features SGPIO enclosure management protocol and SMBus port
• Ideal for OEMs that need a small and powerful controller for server and storage backplanes

American Megatrends, a leader in computing innovations, today introduced a new enclosure management controller chip designed to save board space, the MegaRAC MG 9073S.

AMI experience in designing storage and server system converged in creating a versatile, space-saving and cost effective integrated enclosure management controller chip for storage and server systems.

"After years of designing backplanes for major OEMs, using a combination of off-the-shelf products for enclosure management, we started developing our own chips" said Clas Sivertsen, Engineering Director at AMI. "This is the 3rd generation product, where we have really focused on feature integration, size and flexibility in configurations. With this part we can save the customer cost and space by not having to add external crystal, temp sensor, EEPROM or flash. This is a great product for high-volume OEMs that need a small and powerful controller for server or storage backplanes, as well as smaller companies that need a simple-to-use drop-in part without having to hassle through specs, protocols and trying to get support from HBA-vendors. "

AMI MegaRAC MG9073S drives LEDs and monitors drive presence for up to 8 SAS or SATA drives, supporting drive activity, locate and fail indications. The chip includes 2 SGPIO ports and is equipped with one SMBus channel for connection with a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) or Service Processor. Two MG9073S chips can be cascaded on the same SGPIO channel to support up to 16 drives.

MegaRAC MG9073S brings several advantages to the OEMs and ODMs that integrate it onto their backplanes, helping to optimize backplane layout at contained costs. The chip comes in a very small package, measuring just 9x9 millimeters, and includes one internal temperature sensor. MG9073S does not require an external crystal oscillator, clock, EEPROM, Flash or temperature sensor.

The chip is exceptionally versatile, being pin-configurable for up to 16 configurations. Seven reference configurations are already available from AMI – other solutions can be devised upon OEM needs.

AMI offers also other enclosure management controllers for SAS/SATA backplanes, providing a variety of configurations utilizing the main enclosure management protocols:

• MegaRAC 9070, providing LED management for up to 4 drives, featuring enclosure management protocol SGPIO or Promise Protocol for SATA Host Bus Adapters;
• MegaRAC 9071 providing LED, temperature and fan management for up to 4 drives, with support for SGPIO or SES-2 enclosure management protocol
• MegaRAC 9072 providing LED, temperature and fan management for up to 8 drives, with support for SGPIO or SES-2 enclosure management protocol

AMI has built strong relationships within the storage and server industry along the years, thanks to its successful line of RAID controllers and to continuous technology innovations in the field of server management. Leading HBA vendors, such as Adaptec, AMCC, Intel, LSI Logic, NVIDIA and HighPoint work with AMI to ensure product compatibility.

About AMI : Founded in 1985 and known worldwide for AMIBIOS®, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software, and utilities to top-tier manufacturers of desktop, server, mobile and embedded systems. AMI’s industry leading Aptio® V UEFI BIOS firmware, innovative StorTrends® Network Storage hardware and software products and MegaRAC® remote server management solutions continue to garner industry acclaim and awards around the world. In line with the diversity of its technology and product line, AMI is a member of a number of industry associations and standards groups, such as the Unified EFI Forum (UEFI), the Intel® Intelligent Systems Alliance and the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, AMI has locations in the U.S., China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to better serve its customers.

For more information on AMI, its products or services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com.

Statement of Liability: © 2013 American Megatrends Inc. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. Products mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved. No warranties are made, either express or implied, with regard to the contents of this work, its merchantability or fitness for a particular use. This publication contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. American Megatrends reserves the right to update, change and/or modify this product at anytime.

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