HighPoint has introduced its new SSD7749M2 RAID card, which can accommodate up to 16 M.2 SSDs and add up to 128TB of flash storage to a typical desktop workstation. The card offers sequential read/write performance of up to 28GB/s over a PCIe Gen4 x16 interface. Those are pretty massive performance specs that come at a pretty hefty price.
HighPoint’s SSD7749M2 SSD RAID card is based on the company’s PCIe “x48 Lane PCIe Switching Technology,” which could be a very advanced PCIe switch (or multiple PCIe) that allocates x16 lanes of upstream bandwidth to connect to the host platform and provides x2 lanes of dedicated downstream bandwidth to each SSD. This configuration provides decent signal integrity, minimizes latency, and enables the SSD7749M2 to deliver impressive data throughput, achieving real-world transfer speeds of up to 28 GB/s, according to HighPoint.
A notable design feature of the SSD7749M2 is double-sided, vertically aligned M.2 bays that can accommodate up to 16 drives in the M.2 2280 form factor on one side of the PCB. This allows an SSD7749M2-based storage subsystem to be installed in regular desktop PCs and simplifies maintenance. The beauty of this orientation is that these SSDs can carry a heat spreader to ensure this consistent performance; the downside is that compatibility is limited to multiple drives. HighPoint recommends using Samsung 990 Pro or Sabrent Rocket 4Plus drives.
Speaking of cooling in general, the SSD7749M2 SSD RAID card has an active cooling system for its PCIe switch (or switches?) and two high-pressure fans to cool the drives. Of course, this means the storage subsystem is likely to be noisy, but when you need 128TB of 28GB/s NAND storage, there are downsides.
The SSD7749M2 is not necessarily intended for gaming desktops, but rather for workstations and servers. The device features an advanced NVMe storage management and monitoring suite that allows administrators to configure and manage the platform’s NVMe ecosystem. It treats RAID arrays as individual physical disks and can be used versatilely as application drives, scratch disks, data archiving, or to host bootable operating systems and virtualization platforms.
In addition, the SSD7749M2 is secured by the Gen4 Data Security Suite, which offers SafeStorage encryption and hardware-secured boot to prevent unauthorized access and protect against malicious code during system boot. This ensures security even if the physical disks are lost or stolen.
The SSD7749M2, HHighPoint’s RAID add-in card (AIC), will begin shipping in late August 2024. The base model will cost $1,999. Additional configurations, including pre-installed SSDs such as the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus and Samsung 990 PRO, will be available, but exact pricing has not yet been announced.
