Microchip expands PCIe, NVMe and RAID solutions for AI data centres
Microchip is expanding its data centre portfolio with new PCIe connectivity, NVMe storage and RAID acceleration capabilities designed to address the evolving demands of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and high-performance computing.
As AI workloads increase demand for scalable data centre architectures, system designers face growing challenges in moving, storing and protecting data efficiently. Microchip’s latest developments target these requirements across connectivity, storage security and data protection, supporting applications from enterprise and hyperscale data centres to intelligent edge systems.
Microchip’s Switchtec PCIe 6.0 Low-Lane-Count (LLC) switch brings PCIe Gen 6 connectivity to platforms where board space and power consumption are key design considerations.
The device provides up to 64 PCIe Gen 6 lanes and 32 ports, with flexible x2, x4, x8 and x16 bifurcation options. Integrated direct memory access (DMA) supports peer-to-peer data transfers between connected devices, reducing reliance on the host CPU and helping improve data movement efficiency. Like Microchip’s larger Switchtec Gen 6 devices, the LLC switch supports PCIe Multicast and partitioning. Security features include a hardware root of trust and secure boot.
The combination of PCIe Gen 6 connectivity, a smaller footprint and lower power requirements is intended to extend the technology to a broader range of data centre and intelligent edge applications.
Microchip is also updating its Flashtec SSD controller portfolio with an enhanced version of its PCIe Gen 5 NVMe 5016 controller. The update builds on the controller’s high-performance, power-optimised architecture, adding support for the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA) 2.0 to help customers prepare for emerging post-quantum cryptographic requirements.
Dual-port capability supports high-availability storage architectures through redundant data paths and load balancing. Advanced virtualisation, quality-of-service (QoS) management and flexible programmability provide further options for optimising storage performance.
These enhancements are designed to support evolving NAND technologies, high-capacity solid-state drive (SSD) designs and next-generation enterprise, hyperscale and AI deployments.
Microchip is expanding the capabilities of its Adaptec SmartRAID 4300 family of NVMe RAID storage accelerators with updates focused on security, availability, data protection and deployment flexibility.
New capabilities include support for self-encrypting drives (SEDs) with local and remote key management, alongside RAID 6 and RAID 60 options to strengthen data protection and system resilience.
The updates also broaden platform compatibility, adding support for Linux, Debian, Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows 11 environments.
Additional features are designed to simplify storage management and reduce service disruption. Dynamic NVMe configuration supports in-service management, while persistent event logging helps with troubleshooting and system monitoring. Peer-to-peer rebuild support offloads work from the CPU during storage rebuild operations.
StorageCore API support further expands integration options, allowing customers to incorporate SmartRAID management into third-party tools through in-band host applications and customised out-of-band baseboard management controller (BMC) frameworks.
Microchip’s data centre portfolio is supported by a range of development and management tools. These include ChipLink software for configuring, diagnosing, monitoring and debugging PCIe switches, as well as device-monitoring, configuration and firmware-management software.
Additional resources include Flashtec NVMe controller development tools and Adaptec storage management software.
