Areca ARC-1686-8X
Areca ARC-1686-8X
External 8-Port PCIe Gen 4 Tri-Mode RAID Adapter With 2 x SFF-8644
Areca ARC-1686-8X is an external 8‑port PCIe Gen 4 tri‑mode RAID adapter with 2 x SFF-8644 external ports and an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface.
It uses a Tri‑Mode Dual Core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC to support Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe), 12Gb/s SAS and 6Gb/s SATA devices on the same adapter.
The adapter supports RAID levels 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) or JBOD and includes management tools for both GUI and CLI administration.
- 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 signaling and 2GB/s per lane.
- Form factor LP‑MD2 sized 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm and power consumption approximately 10.2 Watts.
Category: Tri-Mode RAID PCIe Cards
Brand: Areca Technology
Original price was: £ 730.78.£ 604.95Current price is: £ 604.95. | £ 725.94 inc VAT
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Areca ARC-1686-8X Product Overview
Areca ARC-1686-8X is an external 8‑port PCIe Gen 4 tri‑mode RAID adapter designed for mixed NVMe, SAS and SATA environments. The adapter pairs a tri‑mode ROC with an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface to deliver high bandwidth and hardware RAID offload.
The ARC-1686-8X supports a broad set of RAID and management features while keeping a compact LP‑MD2 form factor suited to server and storage appliance integration.
Tri‑mode Drive Interface
Each drive port is tri‑mode and supports 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA and Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe).
Host And Controller
The adapter provides an x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface and uses a Tri‑Mode Dual Core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC as its I/O processor.
PCIe 4.0 Bandwidth Characteristics
PCIe Gen 4.0 operation delivers a higher bit rate of 16.0GT/s, higher bandwidth per lane of 2GB/s and 98.5% encoding efficiency.
Connectors And External Ports
Drive connector options include 1 x SFF-8654 [x8] and 2 x SFF-8644 [x4], with SFF-9402 compliant connector pin‑out; the product configuration for ARC-1686-8X includes 2 x SFF-8644.
RAID Capabilities
Supported RAID levels are 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) or JBOD, with features such as configurable stripe size up to 1MB, online RAID level/stripe size migration and online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultaneously.
Advanced RAID Features
Additional RAID features include online array roaming, online volume set growth, instant availability and background initialization, support global and dedicated hot spare, automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding, support UNMAP command and S.M.A.R.T. support.
Security And Reliability
The adapter is hardware secure boot ready, supports SED for hardware encryption capable drives and provides a redundant flash image for adapter availability.
Management And Monitoring
Management and monitoring include an In‑Band PCIe management port, McRAID Storage Manager, web‑based GUI, graphical management utility, McRAID Utility, command‑line interface, API code support, McBIOS configuration utility, legacy configuration utility, flashable BIOS support and a firmware built‑in EFI Shell to launch configuration utility; notifications support SNMP and SMTP.
Mechanical, Power And Documentation
The ARC-1686-8X uses an LP-MD2 form factor sized 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm, operates from a 12V supply and consumes approximately 10.2 Watts; available documentation and firmware include Specification version 1.0 (2022/06/10), User Manual version 1.2 (2022/11/27), Quick Installation Guide (2022/07/26), CLI Utility User Manual version 6.0 (2025/09/02), ArcSAP User Manual version 4.2 (2020/11/03) and firmware 1.75 (2026/05/27).
Areca ARC-1686-8X Key Features
- Tri‑mode per‑port interface supports 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA and Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe), enabling mixed-drive deployments on the same adapter.
- x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface provides a high‑bandwidth connection to the host system.
- Tri‑Mode Dual Core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC offloads parity and RAID computation from the host for sustained application performance.
- Supports RAID levels 0, 1 (Simple/Multi Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) or JBOD to match common redundancy and performance needs.
- Configurable stripe size up to 1MB and online RAID level/stripe size migration for flexible array tuning and capacity expansion.
- SED support for hardware encryption capable drives and hardware secure boot ready for improved data protection and boot integrity.
- Enclosure management ready with SGPIO, SES2 and UBM and an In‑Band PCIe management port for integration with server management workflows.
- SFF‑9402 compliant connector pin‑out plus physical connectors that include 1 x SFF‑8654 [x8] and 2 x SFF‑8644 [x4].
- Low idle power footprint with operating voltage 12V and power consumption approximately 10.2 Watts.
- Comprehensive management tools including McRAID Storage Manager, web GUI, CLI, McBIOS and API code support for scriptable and graphical administration.
Areca ARC-1686-8X Technical Specifications
| Product | Areca ARC-1686-8X |
| Host Interface | x8 PCIe Gen 4.0 host interface |
| I/O Processor | Tri-Mode Dual Core ARM A15 1.6GHz ROC |
| Drive Interface (per port) | Tri-mode interface at each drive ports-12Gb/s SAS/SATA/ Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe) |
| Drive Connector | 1 x SFF-8654 [x8]; 2 x SFF-8644 [x4] |
| SFF Compliance | SFF-9402 compliant connector pin-out |
| External Ports | 2 x SFF-8644 |
| Supported Drive Types | 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA, Gen 4.0 PCIe (NVMe) |
| 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) |
| Security | Hardware secure boot ready; SED support for hardware encryption capable drives; redundant flash image for adapter availability |
| Management Port | In-Band: PCIe |
| Enclosure Ready | SGPIO, SES2 and UBM |
| Additional SAS Support | Support for SAS tape devices and transport layer retries (TLR) for error handling |
| Operating Voltage | 12V |
| Power Consumption | Approximately 10.2 Watts |
| Form Factor | LP-MD2 : 64.41(H) x 167.65(L) mm |
| PCIe 4.0 Characteristics | Higher bit rate - 16.0GT/s; Higher bandwidth per lane - 2GB/s; Higher efficiency - 98.5% encoding efficiency |
| Operating Systems | Microsoft Windows; Red Hat Linux, Centos Linux, SUSE Linux, Fedora, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux; FreeBSD; XenServer; unRAID; macOS |
| Software Package | Same as ARC-1886 Tri-Mode RAID Adapter |
| Management & 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; Flashable BIOS support; Firmware built-in EFI Shell to launch configuration utility |
| Monitors / Notification | SNMP; SMTP; enclosure management (UBM, SES-2 and SGPIO) ready |
| Documentation: Specification | Version 1.0 (2022/06/10) |
| Documentation: User Manual | Version 1.2 (2022/11/27) |
| Documentation: Quick Installation Guide | 2022/07/26 |
| CLI Utility User Manual | Version 6.0 (2025/09/02) |
| ArcSAP User Manual | Version 4.2 (2020/11/03) |
| Firmware | 1.75 (2026/05/27) |
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.