Intel ICH9 features SATA Port Multiplier

Intel Rapid Recover Technology enables fast and easy recovery in the event of a hard drive failure. Intel Rapid Recover Technology allows the user to maintain a complete copy of their primary drive on a second hard drive, the Recovery Drive. The Recovery Drive can be updated in various user-defined scenarios. If the system hard drive fails, either from a mechanical failure or the result of a virus, recovery is as simple as booting from the Recovery Drive.

Until now Serial ATA (SATA) connectivity between drives and controllers has been an effective point-to-point relationship; a single drive connected to a single controller port via a single cable. The maximum number of drives in an array was predicated on the controller’s port count. The SATA Port Multiplier permits a change to that point-to-point relationship with the introduction of port multiplication technology which allows an up to fifteen SATA devices connection by a single cable, being cost-effective as well as expanding drive scalability to storage systems.

SATA Port Multiplier has two paradigms, command-based switching and FIS (Frame Information Structure)-based switching. Each paradigm offers unique capabilities suited for particular environments.