Thecus Explains Benefits of XOR Engine

Thecus Explains Benefits of XOR Engine

In a press statement issued by Thecus, the benefits of its hardware-based XOR engine were explained thoroughly, whereby XOR (pronounced eks-or or zor) calculations are needed for RAID 5 and RAID 6 configurations.

When users input data into a NAS or server, the CPU needs to process these bits for both storage and usage at the same time. Even a word file containing just the word 'Hello' on a three-disk RAID 5 volume would require at least 10 XOR operations. As a server or NAS would more often than not be used by multiple users at the same time, billions of XOR calculations are done by the CPU on a daily basis. Over time, these calculations take its toll on the processor, and performance can be affected.

The Thecus N4100EVO features a dedicated hardware-based XOR engine that is devoted entirely to XOR processing. This effectively reduces the load placed on the CPU, and allows for a more responsive system. A test was done to showcase the benefits of an XOR engine, whereby the closest competition was stacked up against the N4100EVO during RAID building and rebuilding. The NAS without an XOR engine had a reduction of almost 50% in transfer rates, while the N4100EVO had a reduction of up to only 20% in transfer rates.

For more information on Thecus, kindly visit www.thecus.com.

For more information on RAID configurations, head on over to this link.