Ultra160 SCSI Bus Expander Facilitates Internet, SAN And Clustering Applications

Designed to take full advantage of Ultra160 SCSI performance and distance capabilities, the SYM53C180 is said to be the industry's first Ultra160 SCSI bus expander. This fourth-generation device drives high-availability storage area networks (SANs) by enabling bus isolation in cluster environments.
The SYM53C180 automatically self calibrates to adjust for periodic variations in voltage, temperature and silicon process. It then checks signal tolerances as the signals are received. The signals between buses are regenerated, reshaped and transmitted transparently to the SCSI subsystem and, since bus timing is controlled continuously and automatically, signal integrity is assured under virtually any condition and any configuration, according to the company.
Since the SYM53C180 bus expander creates distinct, electrically isolated bus segments, each SCSI segment within a configuration can be logically disconnected from the others without disrupting SCSI transfers currently in progress. This feature facilitates system maintenance, hot-plugging, diagnostics and upgrades.
The device supports single-ended, high-voltage-differential or low-voltage-differential signaling, making it highly configurable for various system architectures. Single-unit pricing is set at $77.60.