HighPoint Technologies has updated their NVMe switch and RAID solutions with PCIe 5.0, supporting up to eight NVMe drives. The new HighPoint Rocket 1600 (switch add-in card) and 7600 series (RAID adapters) succeed the SSD SSD7500 series adapter cards introduced in 2020. Like its predecessors, the new Rocket series cards are also based on a Broadcom PCIe switch (PEX 89048). The Rocket 7600 series runs the RAID stack on the integrated ARM processor (dual-core Cortex A15).
The PEX 89048 supports up to 48 PCIe 5.0 lanes, of which 16 are dedicated to the host connection in the Rocket adapters. Using a true PCIe switch means the product doesn’t rely on PCIe lane bifurcation support in the host platform.
HighPoint’s Gen 5 stack currently includes two products in both the switch and RAID lineups: an add-in card with support for M.2 drives, and a RAID adapter with four 5.0 x8 SFF-TA-1016 (Mini Cool Edge IO or MCIO) connectors for use with backplanes and setups involving U.2, U.3, or EDSFF drives.
The RAID adapters require HighPoint’s drivers (available for Linux, macOS, and Windows) and support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 arrays. Conversely, the AIC requires no custom drivers, and RAID configurations with the AIC will need to be managed by software running on the host OS. Hardware-wise, all Rocket series members come with an external power connector (as the solution can consume upwards of 75W) and integrate a heatsink. The M.2 version is actively cooled, as the drives are housed within full-height/full-length cards.
The solution can theoretically support up to 64 GBps of throughput, but real-world performance is limited to around 56 GBps using Gen 5 drives. Notably, even Gen 4 drives can benefit from the new platform and deliver better performance with the new Rocket series compared to the older SSD7500 series.
The cards are shipping now, with prices ranging from $1500 (add-in card) to $2000 (RAID adapters). HighPoint is not alone in targeting this HEDT/workstation market. Sabrent has been teasing their Apex Gen 5.0 x16 solution involving eight M.2 SSDs for a few months now (involving a Microchip PCIe switch). Until that solution hits the market, HighPoint appears to be the only game in town for workstation users requiring access to direct-attached storage capable of delivering 50 GBps+ speeds.
