The card is rather small for a server related product. Its height matches the standards for half height PCI, so even the smallest server chassis will be able to accept the 2310 controller card. Length is also smaller then we expect - compared to its older brother, the 2320, the card is half the length.
Interface with the motherboard is through the same PCI Express x4 that the 2320 uses. You can use this card in any PCI Express x4, x8 or x16 slot or if you have a desktop motherboard with a universal PCI Express slot, you could also use that.
The back of the card is extremely bare with only a HPT601 controller chip to aid in hot swapping and monitoring the SATA drives SMART status.
In the past Highpoint has produced its own controller chips to power their cards. Lately, Marvell chips have been given the thumbs up by the company. This is the case with the RocketRAID 2130, which uses a single Marvell 8SSX7042 chip. This chip has 4 SATA-II ports with support for all SATA 2.5 specifications as well as a PCI Express x4 interface. While x4 is the preferred speed, the controller can be slowed down to run at x2 or x1 speeds if the 2130 controller is to be used on desktop motherboards.
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