Areca ARC-1689-32I

Areca ARC-1689-32I is a PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 NVMe hardware RAID adapter designed to build high bandwidth, low-latency, scalable storage using MCIO-connected NVMe SSDs. Built on a PCIe 5.0 switch and high-performance hardware RAID engine, it offloads RAID processing from the host to help preserve CPU and memory bandwidth for application workloads.

The adapter does not require a driver for operation or communication to attached NVMe drives; instead, RAID volumes are presented natively to the host and use the OS native NVMe drivers. This approach suits platforms where straightforward OS compatibility and predictable device presentation are important.

High-Density MCIO NVMe Connectivity

The design supports up to 4x MCIO ports (dedicated PCIe Gen5 x8 per MCIO) and enables connection for up to 8x4, 16x2 and 32x1 NVMe SSD connect via direct cable or back/mid-plane. This makes the card suitable for system integrators building dense NVMe storage behind a single PCIe Gen5 x16 slot.

Hardware RAID And AIC/JBOF Options

ARC-1689-32I supports AIC mode or hardware RAID levels 0, 1 (Simple/Multi-Mirroring), 10, Single Disk (Single/Dual/Triple) or JBOD. True hardware RAID protection is positioned for environments where data availability is a priority alongside performance.

PCIe Gen5 Architecture And Switch Engine

Using the PEX89048 PCIe 5.0 switch, the adapter provides a x16 PCIe 5.0, 32 GT/s interface to a host system with up to 32 PCIe 5.0 32 GT/s ports for NVMe device connection. The PCIe Switch Chip is listed as “PLX89048 Gen5 48 lanes /High-performance H/W RAID engine”.

Host Integration With Native NVMe Drivers

ARC-1689 NVMe RAID adapter goes with any standard Windows (10 or above), Linux(Kernel 3.10 or above), FreeBSD or VMware inbox NVMe drivers. By relying on in-box (native) NVMe drivers, OS deployment can be handled without introducing a special storage driver.

Security Capabilities

SED support for hardware NVMe encryption capable drives is provided through the adapter firmware Security Function together with self-encrypting drives (SEDs), with support for 128- and 256-bit encryption keys using AES (a key size of 128, or 256 bits), or password (a variable key size). The ARC-1689 NVMe RAID adapter also supports system UEFI secure boot function, intended to prevent untrusted software from loading at startup.

Monitoring, Link Control, And Availability Features

Firmware support includes slot control capabilities, slot link status, transaction error count reports and device information, helping validate designs and watch over active systems. Redundant flash image for adapter availability and hardware secure boot ready features are also listed.

Management Paths And Tools

Management Port support is listed as “In-Band: PCIe/Out-of_Band:Lan Port”. Out-of-band management uses the RJ-45 connector to monitor and manage the adapter without any host connection and without disturbing host access, while in-band management can communicate over PCIe via ArcHTTP proxy server. McRAID storage manager (browser-based) and Areca Single Admin Portal (ArcSAP) quick manager are described as the primary management utilities.