PRODUCT OF THE WEEK: Critical I/O’s StoreEngine Removable VPX Storage Module

This week’s product, Critical I/O’s StoreEngine Removable VPX Storage Module (SER302 VPX), is a single-slot 3U air- or conduction-cooled VPX module with an easily removable solid-state drive (SSD) module of up to 8 TB capacity. It can concurrently function as a high- bandwidth data recorder, RAID device (DAS), and file server (NAS). The SER302 is specifically engineered for use in rugged embedded systems for mission-critical applications such as signals intelligence (SIGINT).

Users can not only capture high-bandwidth and high-value mission data, but they can also quickly remove and replace the StoreEngine’s SSD module, resulting in quick turnarounds for mission-sensitive applications where time on the ground must be limited. The SER302 helps SIGINT platforms spend more time up in the air rather than on the ground offloading mission data.

SER302 is designed to work as a standalone single-slot storage device with integrated (optionally removable) SSD storage, or it can work in conjunction with one or more StorePak VPX modules.

Removable and Expand Storage Capability

For more removability the SER302 manages SSD storage that is hosted via onboard SSD storage, and optionally in conjunction with one or more external StorePak storage blades, providing high-performance storage with a small size, weight, and power (SWaP) footprint. As much as 8 TB of high-speed NVMe SSD storage, supporting sustained rates of up to 3GB/s, is provided by the removable StorePak SSD storage module.

For expansion, each SER302 may also be used in conjunction with one or more optional nonremovable external StorePak NVMe 3U VPX modules. Each external 3U StorePak NVMe module provides as much as 24 TB of hot‐swappable SSD storage. Multiple StorePaks can be aggregated for increased capacity. A backplane PCIe link connects StoreEngine and StorePak(s).

3U SER302 VPX Features

Intel Xeon-based storage management blade
Removable SSD storage module ‐ up to 8 TB
Linux-based storage management software stack
High performance: up to 3 GB/s*
Turnkey scalable high‐speed recording
NAS network file server (NFS/CIFS) functionality
Concurrent recording, RAID/DAS, and NAS operation
Software-based RAID 0/1/5/10
Xeon D processor, 16 GB DDR4‐2133 (34 GB/sec)
Built‐in PCIe Gen 2/3/4 and 1/10 GbE backplane I/O
Scalable and expandable storage (add StorePaks)
45 Watts typical power consumption
Air- or conduction-cooled rugged versions

SSD Security Options

Password protection -‐ All StorePak SSD options implement a user-definable drive password which if set is subsequently used to unlock the SSD.
AES‐256 full drive encryption -‐ SSDs implement password protection and full drive encryption of all data, using an AES‐256 encryption algorithm.
TCG/Opal -‐ SSDs implement AES encryption and password protection in a standardized manner as defined by the TCG/Opal specification.
FIPS 140‐2 Level 1 -‐ FIPS‐140‐2 defines a certification process which SSD implementations must complete prior to claiming FIPS compliance. FIPS‐140-compliant SSDs always implement full drive AES encryption and password protection.

For more information, visit the SER302 product page here, or visit the company’s website, or follow the links below.

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