The RAID controller and VCA 2.0

The RAID controller and VCA 2.0

The SandForce controllers on the RevoDrive 3 and RevoDrive Hybrid series point towards an OCZ raid controller. In the past OCZ made use of an LSI controller, but there was no way to get TRIM commands to the data. That changes with the RevoDrive series 3 and Hybrid units. Very little is known about the new RAID controller but it is proprietary to OCZ and it is their own IC (see below), sitting on top of the RAID controller is a virtualized software layer injecting some options that previously where unavailable, this is called VCA.

Virtualized Controller Architecture 2.0 is a new flash virtualization layer. This is the follow up on to the original VCA and is presented as a complete storage subsystem, but with an improved and expanded feature-set. VCA Technology enables TRIM and enhances enterprise features to include SMART monitoring, NCQ, TCQ, power failure management as well as wear-leveling in the series.

(Picture of the OCZ RAID controller taken from the RevoDrive 3 X2)

Here's some more info (courtesy to OCZ) on VCA 2.0:

Utilizes OCZ proprietary VCA 2.0 (Virtualized Controller Architecture) which provides features including TRIM and SMART data monitoring. This follow up to VCA, presents as a complete storage subsystem, but with an improved and expanded feature-set allowing users unprecedented flexibility and industry-leading performance and reliability.

VCA 2.0 also provides a highly intelligent Complex Command Queuing Structure (CCQS) that utilizes both Native and Tagged Command Queuing. This is a unique technology that enables command switching and balancing based on OCZs proprietary Queue Balancing Algorithm (QBA), which balances drive loading, while maximizing internal bandwidth for nearly linear performance aggregation.

Enterprise Features

• OCZ SuperScale storage controller enables infinitely scalable performance.
• VCA 2.0 in OCZ enterprise PCIe devices supports the creation of a virtual pool of logical units (LUNs) and features best-in-class configurable performance aggregation.
• VCA 2.0 is the only virtualization layer in the industry with TRIM and SCSI Unmap Support to enhance sustained performance by significantly reducing the overhead associated with garbage collection.
• Consolidated SMART support provides system administrators with advanced features for
  monitoring, analyzing and reporting device attributes.
• User-selectable data recovery and non-stop modes allow for unprecedented data protection.
  Unlike other flash virtualization layers, OCZ VCA 2.0 supports complete power fail protection; OCZ enterprise PCIe devices store all metadata in nonvolatile memory while power fail protection completes all in-progress transactions in the event of an unexpected system power loss.

OCZ SuperScale storage accelerator for  scalable performance
The OCZ SuperScale storage controller combines processing and full DMA (direct memory access) cores, as well as internal PCIe, SATA and SAS interfaces. This controller, combined with VCA 2.0 provides unique benefits to users by allowing certain DMA and data management functions including OCZs unique command queuing and queue balance algorithms to be handled by the onboard processing core, resulting in higher performance and reduced burden on the host CPU. OCZ is currently offering single slot PCIe solutions with up to 2 SuperScale accelerators per slot as standard parts.