Molex to have iPass+ HD Connector included in SAS 2.1 Standard

“Several OEMs needed the higher-density connector solution for the new SAS switch and RAID controller products much sooner than the original 2011 release plan for SAS 3.0,” said Debbie Kiley, high speed I/O group product manager, Molex Incorporated. “Molex is honoured to be selected for inclusion in the SAS 2.1. This success validates our strong presence and participation in leading standards organisations and our continued commitment to develop innovative product designs.”

Planned for release at the end of this year, the SAS 2.1 standard addresses the requirement for high-density SAS 6 Gbps (12 Gbps capable) I/O connectors. It is being developed by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), which is accredited by and operates under rules approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Molex continues to provide assistance to many standard setting committees and groups from the earliest stages of development. The Molex QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) interconnect system, for example, already part of the InfiniBand† specification, has just been submitted to the T10 Standards Group for inclusion in SAS 2.1 and is moving through the IEEE 802.3ba standard development process for 40 and 100 Gbps Ethernet protocols. Similarly, the CXP I/O connector is being incorporated in the 120 Gbps 12x SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) InfiniBand specification and is also being written into the emerging IEEE 802.3ba Ethernet standard as the 100 Gbps solution. Both the CXP I/O and QSFP connectors have already been incorporated into new product designs on the market.