Apacer Technology AP-SRFD255AXXXXR-G User manual

Serial ATA Flash Drive
AP-SRFD255AXXXXR-G
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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
RoHS Compliant
Serial ATA RAID Flash Drive
Specifications for SRFD
April 25, 2008
[Preliminary]
Apacer Technology Inc.
9/F, No. 100, Hsin Tai Wu Rd., Hsic i , Taipei Hsien 221, Taiwan
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
www.apacer.com

Serial ATA Flash Drive
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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
Features:
 Interface
– Serial ATA 2.5 (Gen. 2)
– SATA II, 3.0 Gbps
– ATA command set compatible
 Performance
– Burst read/write: 300 MB/sec
 Capacities
– 1 GB+ for eac slot wit Ultra DMA
mode support
 Expansion
– 50-pin CF slot x 2
 Mode
- FAST(RAID-0)
- SAFE (RAID-1)
 OS Support
- Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP
 Auto Standby and Sleep modes
supported
 Temperature ranges
– 0°C ~ 70°C for operation
– -40°C ~ 100°C for storage
 Supply voltage
– 5.0 V ± 5%
 Form factor
– 2.5 inc
– 7-pin SATA male connector
– 15-pin SATA power connector
 Low power consumption
– 510 mA (typical)
 RoHS compliant

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
Table of Contents
1 General Description 4
1.1 Functional Block Diagram .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Appearance ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Mode Configuration ........................................................................................................................................ 6
1.3.1 Definition ................................................................................................................................................. 6
1.4 L D Mode ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
2 Functions 8
2.1 Overview......................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Intelligent SATA RAID Processor Unit.......................................................................................................... 8
2.3 SATA .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.4 Architecture..................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.5 Applications .................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.6 Virtualization .................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.7 Modes.............................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.7.1 Fast (RAID-0) Mode ................................................................................................................................ 9
2.7.2 Safe (RAID-1) Mode................................................................................................................................. 9
2.8 RAID-1 Racing ............................................................................................................................................. 10
2.9 Sector Recovery and Disk Rebuild ............................................................................................................... 10
2.9.1 Sector Recover ...................................................................................................................................... 10
2.9.2 Disk Rebuild........................................................................................................................................... 11
2.9.3 Disk Verif .............................................................................................................................................. 11
3 Pin Assignments 12
4 Environmental Specification 14
5 Physical Characteristics 15
5.1 Dimension ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
6 Product Ordering Information 16
6.1 Product Code Designations......................................................................................................................... 16

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1.
..
. General Description
T e Apacer 2.5” SRFD is t e first SATA RAID Flas Drive introduced to t e market. SRFD increases data
reliability and security by utilizing an SATA interface and saving data into two CompactFlas cards. It offers
capacity expansion, ultimate performance, reliability and simplicity wit a variety of ardware RAID modes.
1 1 Functional Block Diagram
T e Functional Block SATA RAID Flas Drive (SRFD) contains a SATA RAID Processor Unit, two CF media
slots wit PATA interfaces and a SATA interface to t e Host.
Figure 1-1: Functional block diagram

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1 2 Appearance
T is section describes t e appearance of t e SRFD. It contains t e LED indication, mode configurations,
expansion slots, and interfaces.
SATA connector
Power connector
R/W LED (D2)
Link LED (D1)
RAID Mode
Configuration
Table
CF Slot 2

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
1 3 Mode Configuration
Apacer SRFD supports 4 static pins t at can be used to program a normal operating state. T e configuration
of eac node uses a combination of t e Configuration pins and t e Pus button (Reset) pin.
Table 1-1: Mode Configuration
1 3 1 Definition
T e following met od can be used to define t e configurations.
Configuration pins set to FAST (RAID-0), SAFE (RAID-1):
A. W ile t e system is powered-up
I. Any configuration c ange is ignored
II. P ysical drive c ange rules: no drivers accepted; in SAFE (RAID-1) mode, a single driver c ange
will be accepted wit normal driver rules (larger or equal to existing drive)
B. Upon power-up, but wit no pus button (reset) press
I. Any configuration c ange is ignored
II. P ysical drive c ange rules: no drivers accepted; in SAFE (RAID-1) mode, a single driver c ange
will be accepted wit normal driver rules (larger or equal to existing drive w ic must be present)
C. Upon power-up and momentary pus button (reset) pressed
I. Only new configuration c anges are explicitly accepted (if possible) and all new drives are explicitly
accepted if t ere is a new configuration
Configuration Pin
1 2 3 4 Mode Example
0100 0 1 0 0 RAID 0
1100 1 1 0 0 RAID 1

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1 4 LED Mode
T e following table s ows LED Mode status and descriptions.
Table 1-2: LED Status
H/D Signal Color Indication Description
D1 Red SATA Link SATA Link ready
Host
D2 Green Read/Write Host/device Access (active)
D3 Yellow LED_D0_N1
CF 1
D4 Green LED_D0_N0
See table as below
D5 Yellow LED_D1_N1
CF 2
D6 Green LED_D1_N0
See table as below
Table 1-3: CF 1 and CF 2 LED
Description LED_Dx_N1
(D3/D5)
LED_Dx_N0
(D4/D6)
Device Unplugged / No Power Blink Blink
Device Plugged (Idle) On Off
Device Plugged (Activity) On Flas (On)
Disk Rebuild (A P ysical Partition is being Rebuilt; Safe
Mode (RAID-1)) Blink On
Disk Rebuild-Verify (A P ysical Partition is being Verified;
Safe Mode (RAID-1)) On Flas (ON)
Will appear as On
Error State: Incorrect Serial Number Blink Blink

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2. Functions
2 1 Overview
 Compatible wit SATA Gen1 and Gen2 ost controllers
 OS independent, Driverless, Auto Configuration
 FAST (RAID 0), SAFE (RAID 1) support
 Embedded fast RAID Processor
 Virtualization engine to simplify and improve utilization of storage devices
 Ultra-fast 3Gbps ost and device port capability
2 2 Intelligent SATA RAID Processor Unit
 Automatic Failover in RAID 1 mode
 Automatic Rebuild in RAID 1 mode
 Automatic RAID mode configuration
 100GB/ r Rebuild speed wit out Host CPU loading
 Hig performance, reliability and simplicity wit ardware RAID 0, 1 options
 Virtualized multiple storage devices into one or many storage units, e.g. multi-drive spanning, drive
partitioning
 Hig -speed, native SATA II connection to ost and device
 Device-to-device(s) copy to off-load ost during rebuild
 LED drivers for status reporting
 Drive Splitting for multi-RAID partitions on a single volume wit PM Aware Host
2 3 SATA
 1x2 Port Multiplier Functionality
 1.5Gpbs or 3Gpbs link rate wit auto-negotiation
 Supports ot plug, drive roaming
 Supports ost control of ard disk drive staggered spin-up
 Host side NCQ support
2 4 Architecture
 Features independent 8-KByte FIFO per Device Serial ATA c annel for reads and writes
 Hig Performance data movement between all SATA Generation 2 ports
 Greater t an 110MBps sustained reads in RAID 1 mode (limited by drives)
 Support store and forwarding
2 5 Applications
 PC
 DVR
 PVR
 Video Editing Systems
 eSATA Storage Target/Host

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2 6 Virtualization
Virtualization is a mec anism, w ere t e HBA can ave an alternate view of t e p ysical drives. T e RAID
Processor allows various access strategies to t e connected Hard Disks and may be configured to represent
n-drives as m-drives to t e user. T is provides t e user wit a simple way of partitioning storage resources
according to use. For example, t e processor could represent one drives as a single, large drive. Anot er
option would be to make virtual storage resources according to reliability or performance requirements. One
virtual target could be a mirrored set consisting of drives 1 and 2, or could be a striped set consisting of drives
1 and 2. Representing multiple device targets may only be performed wit port multiplier aware ost
controllers.
2 7 Modes
SRFD supports 2 modes: Fast (RAID-0) and Safe (RAID-1).
2 7 1 Fast (RAID-0) Mode
RAID 0 - RAID Level 0 is not redundant, ence does not truly fit t e "RAID" acronym. T is met od splits t e
data over numerous drives but is seen as one drive by t e operating system. If one drive fails t oug , all data
becomes inaccessible. T is level is commonly referred to as striping.
T e RAID Processor supports a definition of Fast (RAID-0) set. T e stripe size (c unk size) is set to 8 KB. T e
HBA (Host Bus Adapter) does not need to know anyt ing about t e p ysical arrangement of t e data. To t e
HBA, t e virtualized drive be ind RAID Processor is a simple (normal) drive t at just appens to be faster. All
error andling etc. is managed by t e Processor. T e advantage of striping is double t e data transfer
t roug put of a single p ysical drive. T is applies to bot read and write operations.
2 7 2 Safe (RAID-1) Mode
RAID 1- Mirrored Set (2 disks minimum) wit out parity. RAID-1 set is a combination of two p ysical partitions,
w ere t e data is “mirrored” among t em. Provides fault tolerance from disk errors and single disk failure.
Increased read performance occurs w en using a multi-t readed operating system t at supports split seeks,
very small performance reduction w en writing. Array continues to operate so long as at least one drive is
functioning.

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T e RAID Processor supports a definition of Safe (RAID-1) set. T e HBA (Host Bus Adapter) does not need
to know anyt ing about t e p ysical arrangement of t e data. To t e HBA, t e virtualized drive be ind RAID
Processor is a normal drive t at just appens to be safer (fault tolerant). All error andling and Data rebuild is
managed by t e RAID Processor. T e two p ysical partitions used for mirroring must reside on two different
p ysical disks, as t ere is no benefit of mirroring t e data on t e same drive. T e advantage of mirroring is
essentially safeguarding t e data in case of a single p ysical drive failure. For a read operation, t e RAID
Processor decides w ic p ysical partition to read from and for write, t e data is written to bot drivers. Note:
T ere is no benefit of performance due to mirroring. Often t e performance may suffer slig tly, as t e data will
be transferred to t e least common denominator of t e two p ysical drives. T e two p ysical partitions used
for mirroring must reside on two different p ysical disks, as t ere is no benefit of mirroring t e data on t e
same drive.
2 8 RAID-1 Racing
T e Storage Processor improves t e speed of RAID 1 (SAFE) mode by introducing RAID 1 drive racing.
W en reading a sector, bot mirrored drives race and t e first one to get t e data supplies t e information,
lowering t e average seek time.
2 9 Sector Recovery and Disk Rebuild
For Safe (RAID-1) volumes, t e firmware implements t ree additional features to make t e data more reliable,
Sector Recovery, Disk Rebuild and Disk Verify.
2 9 1 Sector Recovery
For Safe (RAID-1) volumes, at any time, if t e Storage Processor detects any read or write error, it
automatically (wit out ost intervention):
 Take t e P ysical Partition Off-line
 Attempt to copy t e respective data from t e ot er mirrored Partition (if available).
 If t e re-write is successful, t en t e problem is solved before it got to be catastrop ic.
 Bring t e P ysical Partition On-Line.
In case t e problem still persists after re-write (Read-Verify fails), t en it is assumed t at P ysical Partition on
t e P ysical Disk is bad (and all spare sectors implemented by t e HDD itself are depleted). In t is event, t is
P ysical Partition (wit Error) will stay off-line. Ot er P ysical Partitions on t is HDD are still good and stay
on-line. In addition, t at HDD’s LED will s ow t e Error State. In t e rare case, if t ere is anot er sector

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recovery is needed, w ile t e first one is not complete, t en t e new request is converted to a Disk Rebuild
Request.
2 9 2 Disk Rebuild
First of all, t e Disk Rebuild is really a P ysical Partition Rebuild. Only t en t e P ysical Partition spans t e
entire P ysical Disk, t e entire P ysical Disk is rebuilt. Disk Rebuild is a procedure, to copy all of t e contents
from t e “Good” P ysical Partition to t e “Broken” or “New” P ysical Partition.
T is is typically initiated on one of t e following t ree events:
 Power Up (Scan if anyt ing is pending)
 P ysical Disk insertion (Assume, t e inserted P ysical Disk is good and ready to use).
 Anot er Sector Recovery or Disk Rebuild completes. During Disk Rebuild, t e P ysical Partition is
not read from, but all writes are propagated to t e drive.
2 9 3 Disk Verify
In addition to t e Sector Recovery and Disk Rebuild, t e Storage Processor also implements a Data
Verification sc eme. For sector Recovery, t e Data Verification performed by Read-Verify Commands is
automatically and always performed to make sure, t e data is written correctly. In case of Disk Rebuild, t is
Data Verification is optional (selectable by GPI [1]). T e firmware will read t e status of t is GPI pin and if “1”,
it will perform a Verification cycle. Note: T e drive is fully available for reads and writes, during t e data
verification process.

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
3. in Assignments
Table 3-1: Signal segment
Pin Signal Description
S1 Ground
S2 RxP
S3 RxN
Serial Data Receiver
S4 Ground
S5 TxN
S6 TxP
Serial Data Transmitter
S7 Ground

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
Table 3-2: Power segment
Pin Signal / Description
P1 Not Used (3.3V)
P2 Not Used (3.3V)
P3 Not Used
P4 Ground
P5 Ground
P6 Ground
P7 5V Pre-c arge
P8 5V
P9 5V
P10 Ground
P11 Ground
P12 Ground
P13 Not Used
P14 Not Used (12V)
P15 Not Used (12V)

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4. Environmental Specification
T e environmental specification follows t e US Military Standard MIL-STD-801F.
Table 4-1: Environmental Specifications (Plan)
0°C ~ 70°C for operation
Temperature
-40°C ~ 100°C for Storage
Humidity 5% ~ 95%R.H (non-condensing)
Vibration
A) Sine wave: 5~55~5Hz , X,Y,Z axes
B) Random: 10~2000Hz, 16.3g, X, Y, Z 3 axes.
Shock - Operating
A) Acceleration 1,500G , 0.5ms
B) Peak acceleration 50G ,11ms

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5. hysical Characteristics
5 1 Dimension
Unit: mm
Tolerance: ± 0.2

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6. roduct Ordering Information
6 1 Product Code Designations
A P – SRFD 25 5 A XXXX R – G
Housing/OEM
Device
RoHS
Blank = Standard
Product Type
SATA RAID Flash Drive
Apacer Product Code
2 5 inch

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
Revision History
Revision Description Date
0.1 Initial release. Preliminary specification. Jan. 07, 2008
0.2 Updated features and function modes Apr. 25, 2008

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© 2008 Apacer Technology Inc Rev 0.2 (Preliminary)
Global resence
Taiwan (Headquarters)
Apacer Technology Inc
9F, 100, Sec. 1, Hsin Tai Wu Rd.,
Hsic i , 221 Taipei Hsien
Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]
U S A
Apacer Memory America, Inc
386 Fairview Way, Suite102,
Milpitas, CA 95035
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]
Japan
Apacer Technology Corp
5F, Matsura Bldg., S iba, Minato-Ku
Tokyo, 105-0014, Japan
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]
Europe
Apacer Technology B V
Europalaan 89
5232 BC 'S-Hertogenbosc
T e Net erlands
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]
China
Apacer Electronic (Shanghai) Co , Ltd
1301, No.251,Xiaomuqiao Road, S ang ai,
200032, C ina
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]m.cn
India
Apacer Technologies Pvt Ltd
#143, 1st Floor, Ra eja Arcade,
5t Block Kormangala Industrial Layout,
Bangalore - 560095, India
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]