Understanding PCIE Interfaces

PCI Express, also known as PCIE, or PCI-E, is essentially an expansion card format, which is capable of operating at very high speeds, that connects a computer to its attached peripherals.  PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect.

There are three interface types: SATA, SAS, and PCIE. SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, it is limited to 32 requests, and is generally less scalable than other interface, but is optimal for light workloads such as those found on desktop PCs and other embedded applications. SAS, or Serial Attached SCSI, is traditionally used for enterprise storage, can handle up to 256 requests, and is highly scalable.

Unlike the other two interfaces, PCIE is specifically designed to be an I/O, or input output interface between peripheral components inside a system, rather than a storage interface it is an expansion interface, and require a driver to function. They are also the fastest of the three, and are located closest to the CPU, which makes them even more ideal for I/O application acceleration or even as a caching solution.

PCIE’s are designed to replace the older model PCI, PCI-X and AGP. There are many improvements that have been made over the old models, including higher maximum system throughput, a lower I/O pin total count number, as well as smaller physically, and better at performance scaling. They also have more detailed detection of errors, and a better reporting mechanism called AER, or Advanced Error Reporting. Most of the more recent PCIE’s are able to support I/O virtualization hardware.

PCIE interfaces are becoming more and more popular, acceleration of performance in servers and workstations are making them high in demand. Manufacturers of PCIE interfaces are making innovative changes and working to improve them in order to meet serviceability and storage requirements for their customers and consumers.

To learn more about PCIE Interfaces, click here!