We are seeing a rapid transition of SAS and SATA storage architectures to NVMe-based architectures. As part of this transition, companies like AIC are releasing solutions for more complex deployment scenarios such as high-availability head units. The AIC J2024-04 is a 2U dual-controller NVMe high-availability solution. The AIC J2024-04 can handle 24x dual port U.2 NVMe SSDs.
The AIC J2024-04’s four PCIe x16 slots connect to 4x Broadcom BCM58800 NetXtreme S-Series PCIe storage adapters. The Broadcom BCM58800 NetXtreme series combines a 100GbE NIC with high-speed (3.0 GHz) A72 ARM cores which allow it to support ultra-high performance high availability (HA) storage applications involving all-flash appliances. Using 24x NVMe SSDs and the Broadcom controllers, the AIC J2024-04 JBOF is capable of >10M IOPS of sustained NVMe over fabric (NVMeoF) performance.
AIC J2024-04 Key Features
Here are the key features of the AIC J2024-04:
• 2U 24-Bay NVMe All Flash Array
• Performance up to 6 times faster than SATA SSD, 3 times faster than SAS 12G SSD
• Designed for low latency and high-performance applications
• PCIe interface to support NVMe over fabrics (3rd party cards)
• Hot-swap design for easy maintenance and management
• Intelligent Enclosure Management
• Tool-less tray design
AIC J2024-04 Specs
Here is a quick spec sheet from AIC on the unit:
| General |
| Number of Controller: 2 |
| PCIe Switch: Broadcom PEX 9765 |
| Host/Expansion Interface: Optional |
| Drives Supported |
| Drive Interface: SFF-8639 |
| Form Factor: U.2 |
| Administration / Management |
| Admin/Firmware Upgrade: • Serial port interface • IEM port |
| LED Indicators, Audible Alarm: Yes |
| Hot swap & Redundancy |
| Drive Bays: 24 |
| Cooling: 4 x 6056 hot swap fans |
| Power Supply: 1300W 1+1 hot swap redundant 80+ Platinum |
| Power Entry: Dual AC Inlet |
| Controller: Dual |
| Electrical & Environment |
| Universal A/C Input:100~240V AC Full Range |
| Operating Environment: Temperature : 0ºC to 35ºC Relative humidity : 20% to 80% |
| Non-operating Environment: Temperature : -20ºC to 60ºC Relative humidity : 10% to 90% |
| Physical Specification |
| Dimensions (W x D x H): • mm: 435 x 681 x 88 • inches: 17.1 x 26.8 x 3.5 |
| Gross Weight (w/ PSU; w/o Rail & Disks): • kgs: 23 • lbs: 51 |
| Packaging Dimension (W x D x H): • mm: 603 x 922 x 322 • inches: 23.7 x 36.3 x 12.7 |
| Mounting: • Standard: 28” tool-less rail |
You can learn more about the AIC J2024-04 JBOF here.
Is the RJ45 on the back of each controller a serial port? To complete the system, do you add 100Gbe NICs, Ethernet switches and does NVMeoF look similar to an iSCSI mount on various systems? I haven’t seen a complete primer on NVMeoF technology yet and how it can fit into existing architectures.