SerialTek Adds Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Support for BusXpert Analyzers

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SerialTek, a leader in storage protocol analysis, improves upon the capabilities of its analysis solutions for PCI Express® (PCIe®) technology today with the announced availability of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) support.  Unlike the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (ATA) storage specifications designed for spinning drives, NVMe is a high performance protocol architected specifically for devices and systems that utilize flash and other solid-state memory storage.

SerialTek offers two analysis solutions for PCIe 3.0 technology that incorporate NVMe support.  The BusXpert Pro supports data rates up to 8 lanes at 8.0 GT/s.  The new smaller form factor Micro supports 4 lanes at 8.0 GT/s.  At 4.5 lbs, the Micro is the smallest and lightest analyzer of its class.  The optional 144 GBs of trace buffer on the Pro is many times larger than that offered on competing solutions.  Best-in-class instruments, SerialTek's analyzers for PCIe solutions are well-suited for today's demanding applications.

"With the growth of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) technology redefining the storage industry, we are excited to see the industry continuing to develop tools that enhance NVMe testing capabilities," said Jim Pappas, Director of Technology Initiatives, Intel Corporation. "The development of NVMe test capabilities is crucial in ensuring a robust interoperable ecosystem of NVMe products -- SerialTek's announcement further augments this ecosystem."

Native NVMe support permits NVMe commands contained in PCIe packets to be presented and decoded.  Software options allow the user to hide non-NVMe data in order to focus on just the traffic of interest.  Further, the BusXpert's powerful seven-level trigger sequencer has been enhanced to support NVMe events. 

"Apeiron Data Systems provides the Big Data industry's highest performance density flash storage system used to accelerate NOSQL databases for real time OLTP and analytics.  Apeiron's architecture incorporates NVMe technology and delivers industry leading latency and $/IOPs", said Larry Lomelino, VP of Engineering at Apeiron. "SerialTek's BusXpert Pro analyzer has been critical to our development.  Its ease of use and PCIe 3.0 capture features would be a benefit to anyone doing PCIe and NVMe development."

"PCI Express has evolved over time to meet the demand for newer server and storage applications.  NVMe is a specification for defining interoperability between a PCI Express bus and solid state drives (SSDs)," said Carrie Zhou, Software Test Engineering Manager at Seagate Technology Services.  "SerialTek's BusXpert analyzers for PCI Express technology offer native NVMe triggering, capture and decode capabilities, providing SSD engineers and technicians designing products with technologically important tools to drive higher levels of product quality and speed development cycles."

SerialTek also announced future PCIe and NVMe support in the SpecView specification interface.  At present, SpecView supports the latest SAS and SATA standards.  This interface provides a bridge from the BusXpert trace data to a number of supported protocol specifications. It is designed to help Engineers and Developers confirm product conformance to the latest specifications.  Using SpecView, a user can immediately access the most relevant portion of the specification from different BusXpert views.  SpecView is bundled with BusXpert software and is available to customers at no additional cost.

"The enhanced PCIe 3.0 and NVMe technology support for SpecView benefits device and system makers who need confidence that their products will interoperate in real-world deployments," said Steve Wong, Director of Marketing at SerialTek. "SerialTek's analysis and test solutions are the choices for many leading storage manufacturers to validate design and speed time to market."

SerialTek is showcasing the BusXpert's NVMe support at the NVMe Plugfest held this week at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory. 

The company offers no cost, no obligation evaluation systems to qualified customers. For more information on the new NVMe support for PCIe technology, please contact us at [email protected].  Please also visit us on the web at www.serialtek.com.

About SerialTek

SerialTek is a provider of innovative data storage test tools and solutions since 2007.  Leading storage manufacturers depend on our products to improve product quality and drive time-to-market requirements.  The company was founded with the goal of making test and measurement solutions more powerful and fast yet easier to use.  SerialTek's engineers include the original inventors of many of the popular features found in protocol analyzers, including hardware indexing during capture, buffer segmentation with auto-re-arm, ultra-fast histograms and multiple trigger sequencers.  Our solutions support the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), SATA (Serial ATA), PCI Express (PCIe), Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) and Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) protocols.

PCI-SIG, PCI Express, PCIe and M-PCIe are trademarks or registered trademarks of PCI-SIG.

SOURCE SerialTek

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