Areca ARC-1686-8I
Areca ARC-1686-8I
Internal 8-Port PCIe Gen 4 Tri-Mode RAID Adapter With 1 x SFF-8654
Areca ARC-1686-8I is an 8‑port PCIe Gen 4.0 tri‑mode RAID adapter that supports 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA and Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe) per drive port.
It uses a Broadcom SAS3908 dual‑core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC and presents to the host over an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 interface.
Management is available in‑band via PCIe and through Universal Bay Management (UBM) and McRAID management utilities.
- Tri‑mode per‑port: 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA, Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe).
- x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface with 16.0GT/s bit rate and 2GB/s per‑lane bandwidth.
- RAID levels 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) and JBOD.
- Form factor LP‑MD2; dimensions 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm.
Category: Tri-Mode RAID PCIe Cards
Brand: Areca Technology
Original price was: £ 620.24.£ 509.95Current price is: £ 509.95. | £ 611.94 inc VAT
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Areca ARC-1686-8I Product Overview
Areca ARC-1686-8I is an 8‑port PCIe Gen 4.0 cost‑effective tri‑mode RAID adapter designed to provide hardware RAID offload and tri‑mode storage interfaces for mixed SAS, SATA and NVMe deployments.
The adapter combines a Broadcom SAS3908 dual‑core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC with an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface to deliver higher host bandwidth and reduce parity computation on the server CPU.
Performance
The controller supports PCIe Gen 4.0 host connectivity and tri‑mode per‑port I/O to 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA and Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe) for improved throughput and mixed‑media performance.
Processor
I/O processing is handled by a Broadcom SAS3908 dual‑core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC dedicated to RAID tasks and tri‑mode translation.
Host Interface
Host connectivity is provided by an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface; PCIe Gen 4.0 characteristics include a higher bit rate of 16.0GT/s, higher bandwidth per lane of 2GB/s and 98.5% encoding efficiency.
Drive Connectivity
Drive connectors are 1 x SFF‑8654 [x8] and 2 x SFF‑8644 [x4], with SFF‑9402 compliant connector pin‑out support for compatible backplanes.
RAID And Data Protection
Supported RAID levels are 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) and JBOD, with features such as configurable stripe sizes up to 1MB, background initialization, online RAID level/stripe size migration, automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding, global and dedicated hot spare support, UNMAP command support and S.M.A.R.T. monitoring.
Management And Software
Management is available in‑band over PCIe and via Universal Bay Management (UBM). Software and utilities include McRAID Storage Manager, McRAID Utility, McBIOS Configuration Utility, a graphical web‑based GUI, command‑line interface and API code support.
Compatibility
Operating system support includes Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux, Centos Linux, SUSE Linux, Fedora, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, FreeBSD, XenServer, unRAID and macOS.
Physical And Power
The adapter uses LP‑MD2 form factor with dimensions 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm, operates from a 12V supply and has a power consumption of approximately 10.2 Watts.
Firmware And Availability
The product provides redundant flash image for adapter availability, flashable BIOS support and a firmware built‑in EFI Shell to launch configuration utilities; the latest listed firmware version is 1.75 (2026/05/27).
Areca ARC-1686-8I Key Features
- The Areca ARC-1686-8I provides a tri‑mode interface at each drive port: 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA and Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe), giving flexible connectivity for mixed media environments.
- Host connectivity is via an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 interface to support higher bandwidth host platforms.
- The controller uses a Broadcom SAS3908 dual‑core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC for hardware RAID offload and parity generation.
- Form factor LP‑MD2 with dimensions 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm suits low‑profile mezzanine slots.
- Drive connectors include 1 x SFF‑8654 [x8] plus 2 x SFF‑8644 [x4] to accommodate diverse backplane designs.
- Power operates from a 12V rail with a power consumption of approximately 10.2 Watts.
- Supports RAID levels 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) and JBOD for flexible data layouts.
- Includes SED support for hardware encryption capable drives and is hardware secure boot ready for enhanced data security.
- Management options include Universal Bay Management (UBM), in‑band PCIe management and McRAID Storage Manager for GUI or CLI control.
- Enterprise features include redundant flash image for adapter availability, support for SAS tape devices, and transport layer retries (TLR) for error handling.
Areca ARC-1686-8I Technical Specifications
| Model | Areca ARC-1686-8I |
| Host Interface | x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 |
| PCIe Gen 4.0 Bit Rate | 16.0GT/s |
| PCIe Gen 4.0 Bandwidth Per Lane | 2GB/s |
| PCIe Encoding Efficiency | 98.5% encoding efficiency |
| Tri‑Mode Per‑Port Interface | 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA, Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe) |
| I/O Processor | Broadcom SAS3908 dual‑core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC |
| Drive Connector | 1 x SFF-8654 [x8]; 2 x SFF-8644 [x4] |
| SFF Connector Pin‑Out Compliance | SFF-9402 compliant connector pin‑out |
| Form Factor | LP-MD2 : 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm |
| Operating Voltage | 12V |
| Power Consumption | Approximately 10.2 Watts |
| RAID Levels | 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) or JBOD |
| RAID Features | Configurable stripe size up to 1MB; support HDD firmware update; online array roaming; online RAID level/stripe size migration; online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultaneously; online volume set growth; instant availability and background initialization; support global and dedicated hot spare; automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding; support for native 4K and 512 byte sector SAS and SATA devices; support UNMAP command; S.M.A.R.T. support; multiple pairs SSD/HDD disk clone function; SSD automatic monitor clone (AMC); SED support for hardware encryption capable drives |
| Software Package | Same as ARC-1886 Tri-Mode RAID Adapter |
| Management Port | In-Band: PCIe |
| Enclosure Management Ready | SGPIO, SES2 and UBM |
| Universal Bay Management | UBM management |
| Security Features | Hardware secure boot ready; SED support for hardware encryption capable drives; redundant flash image for adapter availability |
| Support For SAS Tape Devices | Support for SAS tape devices and transport layer retries (TLR) for error handling |
| Operating Systems | Microsoft Windows; Red Hat Linux, Centos Linux, SUSE Linux, Fedora, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux; FreeBSD; XenServer; unRAID; macOS |
| Management Monitor / Utilities | McRAID Storage Manager; Web-based GUI management utility; Graphical-based management utility; McRAID Utility; Command-line interface; API code support; McBIOS Configuration Utility; Legacy configuration utility; Firmware built-in EFI Shell to launch configuration utility; Flashable BIOS support |
| Monitors / Notification | SNMP; SMTP; enclosure management (UBM, SES-2 and SGPIO) ready |
| Latest Firmware | 1.75 (2026/05/27) |
| Specification Document | ARC-1686-8I/8X Specification 1.0 (2022/06/10) |
| User Manual | ARC-1686-8I/8X User Manual 1.2 (2022/11/27) |
| Quick Installation Guide | Quick Installation Guide (2022/07/26) |
| CLI Utility Manual | CLI Utility User Manual 6.0 (2025/09/02) |
| ArcSAP User Manual | ArcSAP User Manual 4.2 (2020/11/03) |
Areca Technology Delivery Information
In general, next working day delivery services (UK Mainland) are available on Areca equipment orders placed before 2pm (subject to stock availability).
We kindly advise you let us preconfigure each Areca RAID (as RAID5, RAID6 etc), so they arrive properly setup, ready to “plug’n’play”.
This is a free service, and takes 1-2 days prior to shipping.
Non-timed deliveries should be delivered between the hours of 9am and 6pm.
Orders placed after 2pm on Fridays and on weekends will be processed as normal the following Monday.
Orders placed on Bank Holidays will be processed the next working day.
If urgent, please call one of our helpful account managers so they may double check everything for you, enabling you to place your order with confidence.
Please note: these product details are for guide purposes only, and may contain errors.
We always recommend double-checking the product specs and features on the the manufacturer website, or contact us if unsure before ordering.