Vitesse Talks Some SAS

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: VTSS) unveiled a series of unusual serial-attached SCSI (SAS) components this week, in a move that could get competitors off the dime (see Vitesse Debuts NexSAS).

SAS is commonly viewed as a replacement for the existing parallel SCSI interface in high-end disk drives and servers used for heavy-duty, transaction-oriented applications. A series of vendors have been eyeing the market for awhile, and some have announced components, including Adaptec Inc. (Nasdaq: ADPT) (see Adaptec Demos SAS Chip); Fujitsu Components America Inc. (FCAI) (see Fujitsu Expands Connector Line); LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI) (see LSI Logic Intros SAS Controller IC); and PMC-Sierra Inc. (Nasdaq: PMCS) (see PMC-Sierra Chips Into 3-Gig SAS).

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) and Emulex Corp. (NYSE: ELX) also announced a joint effort to develop SAS components last year (see Intel, Emulex Join at the Chip). According to Intel spokesman Scott Smith, the joint project is proceeding on schedule: "We're hitting our development milestones and plan to introduce products this year," Smith writes in an email.

Meanwhile, even though many vendors have announced SAS products, the actual roster of what's out there is relatively small, as shown in the table below.

Table 1: Selected SAS Components