Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) has introduced the Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 series, a new generation of NVMe RAID storage accelerators designed to boost performance and scalability in modern data centers and enterprise storage systems.
Targeting server OEMs, enterprise customers, and AI-powered data environments, the SmartRAID 4300 series offers a high-performance, secure, and RAID-enabled Software-Defined Storage (SDS) solution. The accelerators are specifically optimized for NVMe deployments and address traditional storage bottlenecks by leveraging a disaggregated architecture. This approach separates Microchip’s Smart Storage platform into software and hardware components, enabling advanced CPU offload and RAID acceleration.
The solution uses Microchip’s PCIe storage controllers as hardware support, while the Smart Storage software runs on the host CPU. This architecture facilitates direct data writes from the host CPU to NVMe endpoints, thereby improving I/O efficiency and reducing latency. The system also offloads parity-based redundancy tasks (XOR calculations) to the accelerator hardware, improving workload balance and system performance.
According to Microchip, internal testing of the SmartRAID 4300 series has shown up to a sevenfold increase in I/O performance compared to its predecessor. The new accelerators are compatible with Gen 4 and Gen 5 PCIe CPUs and can support up to 32 x4 NVMe devices and 64 logical drives or RAID arrays.
“Our innovative solution with separate software and hardware addresses the limitations of traditional architectures that rely on a PCIe host interface slot for all data flows,” said Brian McCarson, Corporate Vice President of Microchip’s Data Center Solutions Business Unit. “The SmartRAID 4300 series allows us to enhance performance, efficiency and adaptability to better support modern enterprise infrastructure systems.”
Beyond performance gains, the SmartRAID 4300 family also emphasizes energy efficiency and data security. Architectural features such as automatic processor core idling and autonomous power management contribute to lower energy consumption. Security enhancements include hardware root of trust, secure boot and update, attestation, and Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) support for enterprise-grade data protection.
The series retains the feature-rich functionality of previous Adaptec generations while enabling scalability based on host configuration and interconnect capabilities. It supports both NVMe and cloud-ready SSDs, offering flexibility for diverse deployment needs.
For system integration and monitoring, Microchip provides a full suite of management tools. These include the Adaptec maxView web-based GUI, ARCCONF command-line interface, and plug-ins for both local and remote management. The tools support in-band network access via standard desktop and mobile browsers. For out-of-band management, the SmartRAID 4300 series is compatible with industry standards such as Platform-Level Data Model (PLDM) and Redfish® Device Enablement (RDE) over MCTP protocols.
The Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 accelerators are now available for production use and integration into enterprise and data center platforms.
