PXI Express In-Chassis Data Streaming Module
NI 8260
NEW!
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3-slot 3U PXI Express module
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x4 PCI Express interface
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Solid-state drive option available
Hard-Disk Drive
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Four 250 GB 2.5 in. SATA II hard drives
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1 TB total storage
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200 MB/s read and write
(sustainable for 800 GB)
Supported Configurations
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Software RAID-0
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JBOD
Operating Systems
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Windows Vista/XP
Overview
The NI 8260 is a x4 PXI Express/CompactPCI high-speed data storage module
for use in PXI Express systems. It contains four 2.5 in. SATA drives and offers
the option between hard-disk drives (HDDs) for extended storage space or
solid-state drives (SSDs) for increased ruggedness.
The module provides a compact and portable data storage option that suits
a variety of applications such as the following:
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Signal record and playback
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Field data acquisition
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Extended data storage
not tolerant to drive failure. JBOD, often referred to as spanned, links all four
drives together to create one disk space. In this configuration, the data fills the
first drive and continues through each consecutive drive. JBOD also does not
implement redundancy and is not tolerant to drive failure. These configurations
for the NI 8260 are implemented through the Windows OS.
Hardware
The NI 8260 is a compact, 3U, PXI Express/CompactPCI data storage module
that uses only three slots of the PXI Express chassis. This module requires a
PXI Express peripheral slot and two consecutive slots. The NI 8260 in this small
form factor consists of four 2.5 in. laptop serial ATA (SATA) II drives. With the
HDD option, it contains four 250 GB drives featuring a total of 1 TB of data
storage space. It is capable of sustaining read and write rates at 200 MB/s
for up to 800 GB of the total storage space. Because of these features, the
module provides high-speed data storage for applications that require a portable
high-speed data streaming solution.
A PXI Express Chassis with an NI 8260 High-Speed Data Storage Module
Theory of Operation
After installing the provided driver software, you can configure the NI 8260
hard drive in either JBOD or RAID-0 using the Windows Disk Management
utility. With this utility, you assign the NI 8260 a logical drive letter that you
can easily access from the application software. Once you have configured the
NI 8260, you have access similar to a standard hard drive in Windows – you
can programmatically access the module using standard file I/O application
programming interfaces (APIs) in development environments.
Software
The NI 8260 offers two options for configuration, software RAID-0 and JBOD
(Just a Bunch of Disks). RAID-0, also referred to as striped, distributes the
data across the four disks without redundancy, providing high data throughput
and maximum storage capacity. RAID-0 delivers the highest performance for
streaming data to and from disk as it distributes data evenly across a set of
hard drives. Because this configuration does not implement redundancy, it is
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