ASUS VIA IDE RAID User Manual
IDE RAID Host Controller
User Manual
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November 11, 2002
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Revision History
Document Release Date Revision Initials
0.1 11/4/02 Initial internal release JC
0.2 11/11/02 Added VIA cover page, revision history, header and footer
Corrected typos and grammatical errors
AT
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VT6410 User Manual – IDE RAID Controller
Table of Contents
Revision History.................................................................................................................................................i
Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................... i
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
RAID Basics................................................................................................................................................... 1
RAID 0 (Striping) ........................................................................................................................................................................1
RAID 1 (Mirroring) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1
RAID 0+1 (Striping/Mirroring) ...................................................................................................................................................2
JBOD (Spanning).........................................................................................................................................................................3
Key Features .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Installing The Hard Drives ...............................................................................................................................4
BIOS Configuration Utility ............................................................................................................................... 5
Enter BIOS Configuration Utility ...............................................................................................................5
Create Disk Array ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Delete Disk Array.......................................................................................................................................... 9
Create and Delete Spare Hard Drive ........................................................................................................10
Select Boot Array ........................................................................................................................................11
View Serial Number of Hard Drive...........................................................................................................12
View Array Status ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Duplicate Critical RAID 1/0+1 Array ....................................................................................................... 13
Rebuild Broken RAID 0/0+1 array ...........................................................................................................14
Driver and RAID Software Installation.......................................................................................................... 16
Microsoft Windows driver Installation.....................................................................................................16
Verify Installation .......................................................................................................................................18
RAID Software................................................................................................................................................. 19
Installation ................................................................................................................................................... 19
Getting Start ................................................................................................................................................ 20
View Online Help ........................................................................................................................................ 22
View Controller and Device Status............................................................................................................ 23
Create Disk Array ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Delete Disk Array........................................................................................................................................ 27
Add and Remove Spare Disk Drive........................................................................................................... 29
Add Spare Disk Drive................................................................................................................................................................ 29
Remove Spare Disk Drive.......................................................................................................................................................... 31
Check All Disks ...........................................................................................................................................32
View Event Log ...........................................................................................................................................33
Verify Mirror Disk......................................................................................................................................35
Synchronize Mirror Disk............................................................................................................................ 37
Disk Error Detection...................................................................................................................................39
Duplicate Critical RAID 1/0+1 Array ....................................................................................................... 39
Rebuild Broken RAID 0/0+1 array ...........................................................................................................41
Icon View...................................................................................................................................................... 45
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I
NTRODUCTION
This section gives a brief introduction on the RAID-related background knowledge and a brief introduction on the VIA IDE RAID
Host Controller. For users wishing to install their VIA IDE RAID driver and RAID software, please proceed to the Driver and
RAID Software Installation section.
RAID Basics
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a method of combining two or more hard disk drives into one logical unit. The
advantage of an Array is to provide better performance or data fault tolerance. Fault tolerance is achieved through data redundant
operation, where if one drives fails, a mirrored copy of the data can be found on another drive. This can prevent data loss if the
operating system fails or hangs. The individual disk drives in an array are called “members”. The configuration information of
each member is recorded in the “reserved sector” that identifies the drive as a member. All disk members in a formed disk array
are recognized as a single physical drive to the operating system.
Hard disk drives can be combined together through a few different methods. The different methods are referred to as different
RAID levels. Different RAID levels represent different performance levels, security levels and implementation costs. The RAID
levels which the VIA VT6410 IDE RAID Host Controller supports are RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and JBOD. The table below briefly
introduced these RAID levels.
RAID Level No. of Drives Capacity Benefits
RAID 0 (Striping) 2 to 4 Number drives * Smallest size Highest performance without
data protection
RAID 1 (Mirroring) 2 Smallest size Data protection
RAID 0+1
(Striping/Mirroring)
JBOD (Spanning) 2 to 4 Sum of All drives No data protection and
4 2 * Smallest size Highest performance with data
protection
performance improving, but disk
capacity fully used.
RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 0 reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple drives. If any disk member fails, it affects the entire array.
The disk array data capacity is equal to the number of drive members times the capacity of the smallest member. The striping
block size can be set from 4KB to 64KB. RAID 0 does not support fault tolerance.
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RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1 writes duplicate data onto a pair of drives and reads both sets of data in parallel. If one of the mirrored drives suffers a
mechanical failure or does not respond, the remaining drive will continue to function. Due to redundancy, the drive capacity of the
array is the capacity of the smallest drive. Under a RAID 1 setup, an extra drive called the “spare drive” can be attached. Such a
drive will be activated to replace a failed drive that is part of a mirrored array. Due to the fault tolerance, if any RAID 1 drive fails,
data access will not be affected as long as there are other working drives in the array.
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RAID 0+1 (Striping/Mirroring)
RAID 0+1 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1 array types. A minimum of four drives needs to be installed. With a four-drive
array, there must be two pairs of RAID 0 drives. Each pair mirrors the data on the other pair of striping drives. The data capacity is
two times the smallest drive.
In a four-drive array, a single drive failure will cause the whole array to become, in essence, a RAID Level 0 array. However, this
does not impact the data access. Another unique feature of RAID 0+1 is dual fault tolerance. In some cases, two drives can fail
simultaneously and still maintain the integrity of the data. The data can still be accessed and worked like a RAID 0 array.
Assume the drives are configured as follows (M = Master, S = Slave, A/B indicates which striping pair the drive belongs to,
number indicates which part of stripe data):
IDE 1 IDE 2
M Drive A1 Drive A2
S Drive B1 Drive B2
In a RAID 0+1 array, the data integrity will remain if any 1, 2 combination survives. The following table indicates the possible
combination of dual drive failure and the respective results of each case.
Failed Drives Array Status Note
A1, A2 Working B1, B2 retains array integrity
B1, B2 Working A1, A2 retains array integrity
A1, B2 Working B1, A2 retains array integrity
B1, A2 Working A1, B2 retains array integrity
A1, B1 Failure A2, B2 contains only half of array data
A2, B2 Failure A1, B1 contains only half of array data
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VT6410 User Manual – IDE RAID Controller
JBOD (Spanning)
A spanning disk array is equal to the sum of the all drives in the array. Spanning stores data on to a drive until it is full then
proceeds to store files onto the next drive in the array. When any disk member fails, the failure affects the entire array. JBOD is
not really a RAID and does not support fault tolerance.
Key Features
The VIA IDE RAID solution uses the VT6410 chip (a two-channel ATA 133 solution) as a RAID controller. The RAID software
is a Windows-based software utility. Its graphical user interface provides an easy way to configure and manage disk drives or disk
arrays connected to the VT6410 controller. Listed below are the main features and benefits of VIA IDE RAID:
1. Supports ATA 133 high performance hard disk drive.
2. Supports hard disk drive larger than 137 GB (48-bits LBA).
3. Dual independent ATA channels and maximum connection of four hard disk drives allowed.
4. Supports Ultra DMA mode 6/5/4/3/2/1/0, DMA mode 2/1/0, and PIO mode 4/3/2/1/0.
5. Supports PCI Plug and Play. PCI interrupt sharing and coexists with mainboard IDE controller.
6. Supports IDE bus master operation.
7. Supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and JBOD.
8. 4 KB to 64 KB striping block size support.
9. Bootable disk or disk array support.
10. Windows-based RAID configure and management software tool. (Compatible with BIOS)
11. Real-time monitoring of device status and error alarm with popup message box and beeping.
12. Supports hot-swap failed disk drive in RAID 1 and 0+1 array.
13. Mirroring automatic background rebuilds support.
14. ATA SMART function support.
15. Microsoft Windows 98, Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP operating systems support.
16. Event log for easy troubleshooting.
17. On-line help for easy operation for RAID software.
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I
NSTALLING THE HARD DRIVES
Hard disk drives must be Ultra ATA/133, Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, or ATA-3 compatible to operate with the
VT6410 IDE RAID controller. For optimal performance, it is recommended to install all identical drives of the same model and
capacity.
1. Striping (RAID 0) and JBOD require at least two drives and has a limit of four drives. Mirroring (RAID 1) requires two
drives. Striping and mirroring (RAID 0 +1) requires four drives. Set the jumpers of each hard drive to “Master” (“Device 0”)
or “Slave” (“Device 1”) according to the following table.
Number of Drives IDE Channel 1 IDE Channel 2
1 Master -----2 Master Master
3 Master & Slave Master
4 Master & Slave Master & Slave
2. Connect the IDE cables and the power cables to the hard drives. When connecting hard drives, pay attention to its Master –
Slave jumper setting. If two hard drives are connected to one IDE cable, then one drive must be set as master while the other
as slave.
3. Attach the IDE cables into the connectors on the VT6410 IDE RAID controller.
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BIOS C
ONFIGURATION UTILITY
Enter BIOS Configuration Utility
When the system powers on, the following information will appear on screen. Press the ‘Tab’ key to enter BIOS configuration
utility.
The main interface of BIOS configuration utility is as below:
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Create Disk Array
1. Use the arrow keys to navigate the menu. Select Create Array and press <Enter> to call out the list of creation steps.
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2. Select Array Mode and press <Enter>. A list of array modes will appear. Highlight the target array mode that you want to
create, and press <Enter> to confirm the selection. If RAID 1 or RAID 0/1 is selected, an option list will popup and enable the
users to select Create only or Create and duplicate. Create only will allow BIOS to only create an array. The data on the
mirroring drive may be different from the source drive. Create and duplicate allows BIOS to copy the data from the source
to the mirroring drive.
VT6410 User Manual – IDE RAID Controller
3. After array mode is selected, there are two methods to create a disk array. One method is “Auto Setup” and the other one is
“Select Disk Drives”. Auto Setup allows BIOS to select the disk drives and create arrays automatically but it does not
duplicate the mirroring drives even if the user selected Create and duplicate for RAID 1 or 0+1. It is recommended all disk
drives are new ones when wanting to create an array. Select Disk Drives lets the user select the array drives by their
requirements. When using Select Disk Drives, the channel column will be activated. Highlight the drives that you want to use
and press <Enter> to select them. After all drives have been selected, press <Esc> to go back to the creation steps menu.
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4. If RAID 0 or RAID 0+1 was selected in step 2, the block size of the array can also be selected. Use the arrow key to highlight
Block Size and press <Enter>. Then select a block size from the popup menu. The block size can be 4KB to 64KB.
VT6410 User Manual – IDE RAID Controller
5. Use the arrow key to highlight Start Create Process and press <Enter>. A confirmation message will appear. Press Y to
finish the creation, or press N to cancel the creation.
6. Important note: All existing content in the hard drive will be destroyed during array creation.
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Delete Disk Array
A RAID can be deleted after it has been created. To delete a RAID, use the following steps:
1. Select Delete Array and press <Enter>. The channel column will be activated.
2. Select the member of an array that is to be deleted and press <Enter>. A warning message will display. Press Y to delete or
press N to cancel.
Deleting a disk array will destroy all the data on the disk array except RAID 1 arrays. When a RAID is deleted, the data on these
two hard disk drives will be reserved and become two normal disk drives.
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Create and Delete Spare Hard Drive
If a RAID 1 array is created and there are drives that do not belong to other arrays, the one that has a capacity which is equal to or
greater than the array capacity cab be selected as a spare drive for the RAID 1 array. Select Create/Delete Spare and press
<Enter> and he channel column will be activated. Select the drive that you want to use as a spare drive and press <Enter>. The
selected drive will be marked as Spare. The spare drive cannot be accessed in an OS.
To delete a spare drive, highlight Create/Delete Spare and press <Enter>. The spare drive will be highlighted. Press <Enter> to
delete the spare drive.
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Select Boot Array
User can select a disk array as boot device if user wants to boot operating system from an array. Boot disk array cannot be selected
if the operating system does not boot from the disk array. Highlight the Select Boot Array item, then press <Enter> and the
channel column will be activated. Then highlight the target disk array and press <Enter>. If user selects a disk array that has a boot
mark and press <Enter>, its boot setting will be canceled.
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