StarTech.com 4 Port PCI Express 2.0 SATA III 6Gbps RAID Controller Card with HyperDuo SSD Tiering

The PEXSAT34RH 4-Port PCI Express 2.0 SATA Controller Card with HyperDuo adds 4 AHCI SATA III ports to a computer through a PCIe slot (x2), delivering multiple internal 6Gbps connections for high-performance hard drives and Solid State Drives (SSDs).

Featuring HyperDuo technology, the SATA card offers SSD auto-tiering which lets you balance the performance advantages of SSD storage with the cost-effectiveness and large capacity of standard hard drives. By combining SSD and HDD drives into a single volume (up to 3 SSD + 1 HDD), HyperDuo discreetly works in the background to identify and move frequently accessed files to the faster SSD drive(s) for improved data throughput - up to 80% of SSD performance! (Note: The HyperDuo automatic storage tiering feature is compatible with computers that use a BIOS.)

The PCIe SATA controller card supports Port Multiplier (PM), enabling multiple SATA drives to be connected to one port over a single cable, for a total of 7 drives (Up to 4 drives through PM on one port, and a single drive to the remaining 3 ports). Plus, the SATA controller card offers an effective hardware RAID solution, with native RAID (0, 1, 1+0) support.

Throughput Benchmark

Drive configuration Throughput Drive size 1 x HDD 112.81 MB/s 2 TB 1 x SSD 490.28 MB/S 120 GB 1 x HDD + 1 x SSD HyperDuo (Safe Mode) 489.28 MB/s 2 TB 1 x HDD + 2 x SSD HyperDuo (Safe Mode) 715.13 MB/s 2 TB Drives Used: SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 Series 2.5" 120 GB (VTX3-25SAT3-120G) HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 3.5" 2 TB (WD20EARS) Software Used: IO Meter, 256KB Sequential Read, queue depth = 10

This PCIe SATA 6gbps card is backed by a 2-year StarTech.com warranty and free lifetime technical support.

More from the Manufacturer

• Includes Low Profile/Half-Height installation bracket
• Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and ATA/ATAPI commands
• Simple HyperDuo configuration via card-BIOS level or intuitive GUI console (Windows? only)
• Natively supported single chipset design
• Compliant with PCI Express 2.0 standards
• Port Multiplier FIS-based and Command-based switching supported
• Supports hardware RAID 0, 1, and 1+0 modes configured through BIOS
• Fully compliant with SATA 3.0 specifications and backward compatible with SATA I/II (1.5/3.0Gbps) drives
• 4 AHCI SATA III (6Gbps) ports through PCI Express x2
• Supports HyperDuo SSD auto-tiering