Intel C600/C602 Series Chipset SAS Storage Controllers
The integrated SAS/SATA storage controller built into Intel's C600-series server chipsets (Patsburg), launched in early 2012 alongside Xeon E5 platforms and used in many Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge-EP servers and workstations through about 2015. It drives the on-chipset SAS host hardware that those boards exposed to disks and tape drives.
recommendation
Worth keeping but flagging as legacy because the underlying C600/C602 chipsets were discontinued by Intel and have not been sold new since around 2015, yet a meaningful installed base of Xeon E5-era servers still depends on this code. Upstream activity in 2024 and 2025 on linux-scsi shows the driver is still being maintained rather than abandoned, and there is no generic replacement since this targets a specific integrated SAS block.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
The driver still receives upstream touch-ups in 2025, indicating it is not abandoned.
- lore.kernel.org
The driver was included in 2024 SCSI tree maintenance work, showing continued build/metadata upkeep.
- cateee.net
CONFIG_SCSI_ISCI is the Intel C600 Series Chipset SAS Controller driver and matches C60x-era PCI IDs.
- intel.com
Intel C602, part of the C600 Series Chipsets family targeted by isci, is marked Discontinued and launched in Q1 2012.
- intel.com
Intel lists the C602 ordering page as retired/discontinued, supporting that new hardware sales ended long ago.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Lore evidence first: `lore_activity` on drivers/scsi/isci/init.c returned 32 linux-scsi hits in 5y, including 2025 and 2024 patch traffic at the cited lore URLs; this argues against deprecate/remove. A `lore_regex` subject scan for isci timed out, so no positive removal-thread evidence was obtained. Hardware identity came from local tree Kconfig plus web-obtained LKDDb URL. Deployment judgment is based on web-obtained Intel ARK pages showing the C600/C602 family is a 2012 server chipset and discontinued/retired; that implies legacy installed-base use only, with low but nonzero deployments today. No natural replacement driver exists because isci is for this specific integrated SAS block rather than a generic interface.