chiliGREEN Intel Rapid Storage Technology User Manual
Document Number: XXXXXX
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
User Guide
August 2011
Revision 1.0
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Designers must not rely on the absence or characteristics of any features or instructions marked "reserved" or
"undefined." Intel reserves these for future definition and shall have no responsibility whatsoever for conflicts or
incompatibilities arising from future changes to them.
The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology may contain design defects or errors known as errata which may cause the product
to deviate from published specifications. Current characterized errata are available on request.
Contact your local Intel sales office or your distributor to obtain the latest specifications and before placing your product
order. Intel, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology, Intel® Matrix Storage Technology, Intel® Rapid Recover Technology, and the
Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other
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Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Copyright © 2011, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5
1
1.1 Terminology .................................................................................................................................... 5
2 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Features ............................................................................................. 8
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
3
3.1
3.2
Feature Overview
RAID 0 (Striping) .......................................................................................................................... 8
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 5 (Striping
RAID 10
Matrix RAID
RAID Migration
RAID
Intel®
Advanced
2.10.1 Native
2.10.2 Hot Plug .............................................................................................................................. 13
RAID BIOS Configuration
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Enabling RAID
........................................................................................................................................ 10
Level Migration
Rapid
Recover Technology ............................................................................................ 12
Host
Command Queuing
........................................................................................................................ 8
...................................................................................................................... 9
with Parity)
................................................................................................................................ 10
.......................................................................................................................... 11
............................................................................................................... 11
Controller Interf
.................................................................................................................. 14
in BIOS
............................................................................................................... 14
..................................................................................................... 9
ace
...................................................................................... 12
................................................................................................ 12
4
Intel® Rapid
4.1
4.2 User Interf
4.3
4.4
5 Loading Driver during Operating System Installation ........................................................................... 21
5.1
5.2 F6 Installation Method ................................................................................................................. 21
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Version Identifi
RAID Volume Creation .............................................................................................................. 16
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 21
5.2.1 Automatic F6 Diskette Creation ............................................................................................ 21
5.2.2
5.2.3 F6
Storage Technology
ace
............................................................................................................................ 15
cation ............................................................................................................... 16
Manual
F6 Diskette Creation
Installation Steps
Option RO
......................................................................................................... 22
..................................................................................... 15
M
............................................................................................ 21
3
6 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
6.1
6.2 Where to Obtain the Software ................................................................................................... 24
6.3
6.4
6.5
7
7.1
7.2 System
7.3 RAID-Ready System Setup Steps ................................................................................................... 29
8 Converting
8.1
8.2 RAID-Ready to 2-drive RAID 1 ....................................................................................................... 30
9 Verify and Repair ....................................................................................................................................... 34
9.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 34
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Installation Steps
Confirming Software Installation ........................................................................................... 27
Version Identifi
RAID-Ready Setup
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 29
Requirements ................................................................................................................ 29
RAID-Ready to Full RAID
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 30
....................................................................................................................... 25
cation ............................................................................................................... 28
.............................................................................................................................. 29
Installation
......................................................................................... 24
................................................................................................ 30
9.2 Actions during Verify and Repair ........................................................................................................ 34
Appendix
A.1 Incompatible Hardware ................................................................................................................ 35
A.2 Operating System Not Supported ................................................................................................. 35
A.3 Source Hard Drive Cannot Be Larger ........................................................................................... 35
A.4 Hard Drive Has System Files ......................................................................................................... 35
A.5 Source Hard Drive is Dynamic Disk ............................................................................................... 36
A: Error Messages ....................................................................................................................... 35
4
Term
Description
AHCI
Advanced Host Controller Interface: an interface specification that allows
the storage driver to enable advanced Serial ATA features such as Native
Command Queuing, native hot plug, and power management.
Continuous Update
Policy
When a recovery volume is using this policy, data on the master drive is
copied to the recovery drive automatically as long as both drives are
connected to the system.
Intel® Rapid Storage
Technology Option ROM
A code module built into the system BIOS that provides boot support for
RAID volumes as well as a user interface for configuring and managing
RAID volumes.
Master Drive
The hard drive that is the designated source drive in a recovery
volume.
Matrix RAID
Two independent RAID volumes within a single RAID array.
Member
A hard drive used within a RAID array.
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The purpose of this document is to enable a user to properly set up and configure a system using Intel® Rapid
Storage Technology. It provides steps for set up and configuration, as well as a brief overview on Intel® Rapid
Storage Technology features.
The information in this document is relevant only on systems with a supported Intel chipset and a supported
operating system.
Supported Intel chipset and operating system information is available at the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
support web page.
Note: The majority of the information in this document is related to either software configuration or hardware
integration. Intel is not responsible for the software written by third party vendors or the implementation of
Intel components in the products of third party manufacturers.
Customers should always contact the place of purchase or system/software manufacturer with support
questions about their specific hardware or software configuration.
Introduction
1.1 Terminology
5
Term
Description
Migration
The process of converting a system's data storage configuration from a
non-RAID configuration (pass-thru) to a RAID configuration.
Hot Plug
The unannounced removal and insertion of a Serial ATA hard drive while
the system is powered on.
NCQ
Native Command Queuing: a command protocol in Serial ATA that allows
multiple commands to be outstanding within a hard drive at the same time.
The commands are dynamically reordered to increase hard drive
performance.
On Request Update
Policy
When a recovery volume is using this policy, data on the master drive is
copied to the recovery drive when you request it. Only changes since the
last update process are copied.
OS
Operating System
Port0
A serial ATA port (connector) on a motherboard identified as Port0.
Port1
A serial ATA port (connector) on a motherboard identified as Port1.
Port2
A serial ATA port (connector) on a motherboard identified as Port2.
Port3
A serial ATA port (connector) on a motherboard identified as Port3.
POST
Power-On Self Test
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Drives: allows data to be distributed
across multiple hard drives to provide data redundancy or to enhance data
storage performance.
RAID 0 (striping)
The data in the RAID volume is striped across the array's members. Striping
divides data into units and distributes those units across the members
without creating data redundancy, but improving read/write performance.
RAID 1 (mirroring)
The data in the RAID volume is mirrored across the RAID array's
members. Mirroring is the term used to describe the key feature of RAID
1, which writes duplicate data to each member; therefore, creating data
redundancy and increasing fault tolerance.
RAID 5 (striping with
parity)
The data in the RAID volume and parity are striped across the array's
members. Parity information is written with the data in a rotating sequence
across the members of the array. This RAID level is a preferred
configuration for efficiency, fault-tolerance, and performance.
RAID 10 (striping and
mirroring)
The RAID level where information is striped across a two disk array for
system performance. Each of the drives in the array has a mirror for fault
tolerance. RAID 10 provides the performance benefits of RAID 0 and the
redundancy of RAID 1. However, it requires four hard drives.
6
Term
Description
RAID Array
A logical grouping of physical hard drives.
RAID Level Migration
The process of converting a system's data storage configuration from one
RAID level to another.
RAID Volume
A fixed amount of space across a RAID array that appears as a single
physical hard drive to the operating system. Each RAID volume is created
with a specific RAID level to provide data redundancy or to enhance data
storage performance.
Recovery Drive
The hard drive that is the designated target drive in a recovery
volume.
Recovery Volume
A volume utilizing Intel(R) Rapid Recover Technology.
7
Hard Drive
s
Required:
2-6
Advantage:
Highest transfer rates
Fault- tolerance:
None – if one disk fails all data will be lost
Application:
Typically used in desktops and workstations for maximum
performance for temporary data and high I/O rate. 2-drive RAID
0 available in specific mobile configurations.
2 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Features
2.1
Feature Overview
The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology software package provides high-performance
RAID capabilities for supported operating systems.
The key features of the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology are as follows:
RAID 0
RAID 1
RAID 5
RAID 10
Matrix RAID
RAID migration and RAID level migration
Intel® Rapid Recover Technology
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) support
2.2
RAID 0 uses the read/write capabilities of two or more hard drives working in unison to maximize the storage
performance of a computer system.
The following table provides an overview of the advantages, the level of fault-tolerance provided and the
typical usage of RAID 0.
RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 0 Overview
Serial ATA (SATA) and SATA
Hard Drives Required:
2
Advantage:
100% redundancy of data. One disk may fail, but data will
continue to be accessible. A rebuild to a new disk is
recommended to maintain data redundancy.
Fault- tolerance:
Excellent – disk mirroring means that all data on one disk is
duplicated on another disk.
Application:
Typically used for smaller systems where capacity of one disk
is sufficient and for any application(s) requiring very high
availability. Available in specific mobile configurations.
Hard Drive
s
Required:
3-6
Advantage:
Higher percentage of usable capacity and high read performance
as well as fault-tolerance.
Fault- tolerance:
Excellent - parity information allows data to be rebuilt after
replacing a failed hard drive with a new drive.
Application:
Storage of large amounts of critical data. Not available
in mobile configurations.
2.3
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
A RAID 1 array contains two hard drives where the data between the two is mirrored in real time to provide
good data reliability in the case of a single disk failure; when one disk drive fails, all data is immediately available
on the other without any impact to the integrity of the data.
The following table provides an overview of the advantages, the level of fault-tolerance provided and the typical
usage of RAID 1.
RAID 1 Overview
2.4
RAID 5 (Striping
with Parity)
A RAID 5 array contains three or more hard drives where the data and parity are striped across all the hard
drives in the array. Parity is a mathematical method for recreating data that was lost from a single drive, which
increases fault-tolerance.
The following table provides an overview of the advantages, the level of fault-tolerance provided and the
typical usage of RAID 5.
RAID 5 Overview
Hard Drive
s
Required:
4
Advantage:
Combines the read performance of RAID 0 with the fault-tolerance
of RAID
Fault- tolerance:
Excellent – disk mirroring means that all data on one disk is
duplicated on another disk.
Application:
High-performance applications requiring data protection,
such as video editing. Not available in mobile configurations.
2.5
RAID 10
A RAID 10 array uses four hard drives to create a combination of RAID levels 0 and 1. It is a striped set whose
members are each a mirrored set.
The following table provides an overview of the advantages, the level of fault-tolerance provided and the typical
usage of RAID 10.
2.6
RAID 10 Overview
Matrix RAID
Matrix RAID allows you to create two RAID volumes on a single RAID array.
As an example, on a system with an Intel® 82801GR I/O controller hub (ICH7R), Intel® Rapid Storage
Technology allows you to create both a RAID 0 volume as well as a RAID 5 volume across four Serial ATA
hard drives.
Example of Matrix RAID:
2.7
RAID Migration
The RAID migration feature enables a properly configured PC, known as a RAID-Ready system, to be converted
into a high-performance RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10 configuration by adding one or more Serial ATA
hard drives to the system and invoking the RAID migration process from within Windows.
The following RAID migrations are supported:
• RAID-Ready to 2,3,4,5 or 6-drive RAID 0
• RAID-Ready to 2-drive RAID 1
• RAID-Ready to 3,4,5 or 6-drive RAID 5
• RAID-Ready to 4-drive RAID 10
Note: All migrations may not be available as each migration is supported on specific platform configurations.
The migrations do not require re-installation of the operating system. All applications and data remain intact.
Refer to Supported RAID Migrations for more information on migrations and the platforms on which each
migration is supported.
2.8
RAID
Level Migration
The RAID level migration feature enables a user to migrate data from a RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 10 volume to
RAID 5 by adding any additional Serial ATA hard drives necessary and invoking the modify volume process from
within Windows. The following RAID level migrations are supported:
• 2-drive RAID 0 to 3,4,5 or 6-drive RAID 5
• 3-drive RAID 0 to 4,5 or 6-drive RAID 5
• 4-drive RAID 0 to 5 or 6-drive RAID 5
• 2-drive RAID 1 to 3,4,5 or 6-drive RAID 5
• 4-drive RAID 10 to 4,5 or 6-drive RAID 5
Note: All migrations may not be available as each migration is supported on specific platform configurations.
RAID level migrations do not require re-installation of the operating system. All applications and data
remain intact.
Refer to Supported RAID Migrations for more information on migrations and the platforms on which each
migration is supported.
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