LSI LSI00132 User Manual

LSI off ers the most complete line of adapters, spanning all key RAID levels 

and connector confi gurations; and is a leader in the SAS/SATA Host Bus 

Adapter marketplace. Recently, Adaptec released their 2 Series SAS/SATA 

Hardware RAID adapters and compared them to the LSI MegaRAID Entry 

Line which actually employs Host-Based RAID technology.  In doing 

so, they fail to discuss the strengths of host-based RAID technology 

(sometimes called Software RAID) and also fail to mention the LSI 

Host Bus Adapter (HBA) products altogether, which are Hardware RAID 

like the Adaptec 2 Series. As a proven solution, LSI HBAs deliver the 

performance, availability and connectivity options that customers desire, 

at an optimal price point, and should be considered as an alternative 

the Adaptec 2 Series. 

In order to better understand how these three product lines stack up against each other, we will 

now compare LSI Host Bus Adapters, the LSI MegaRAID Entry Line, and the Adaptec 2 Series:

If you plan to employ JBODs (Just a Bunch Of Disks) or external SAS RAID enclosures (RBODs), 

the main considerations for a storage adapter are the number of physical devices supported and 

interoperability with the SAS expander. Both LSI HBAs and the Adaptec 2 Series support at least 122 

physical devices, JBOD mode, and utilize Hardware RAID technology. In addition to scalability, LSI 

is the market leader in both SAS HBAs and SAS expanders. These expanders are built to work with 

LSI SAS/SATA Host Bus Adapters, thus removing the inevitable interoperability road blocks that are 

associated with utilizing separate vendors in one storage system. 

The MegaRAID entry line should be considered only if scalability is not a necessity in your 

environment, as these adapters do not support JBOD mode or more than eight physical devices.

Low-Cost SAS/SATA PCI Express Storage Adapters: 
A Comparison of LSI Host Bus Adapters, the LSI MegaRAID® Entry Line, 
and the Adaptec 2 Series 

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