Foxconn RAID 91-187C51GME0-00 User Manual

RAID User Guide

Edition

V1.0 P/N: 91-187C51GME0-00

Trademarks

All brand or product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trade­marks of their respective holders.

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NVIDIA RAID........................................................................................1

RAID Arrays...............................................................................................................1

Install Hard Disks....................................................................................................3

Basic Configuration Instructions...........................................................................3

Setting Up the BIOS.................................................................................................4

Entering the RAID BIOS Setup...............................................................................5

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation...............................................................................9

Initializing and Using the Disk Array...................................................................12

Using The NVRAIDMAN Utility.............................................................................13

Win2K Limitation with Bootable RAID................................................................19

Contents

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1

Summary of RAID Configurations

RAID Arrays

This section describes the following types of RAID arrays that NVIDIA RAID
supports:

• RAID 0
RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write
times for many applications.

• RAID 1
RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.

• RAID 0+1 (optional)
RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays.

•RAID 5 (optional)

RAID 5 Provides data striping at the byte level and also stripe error correction
information. This results in excellent performance and good fault tolerance. Level

5 is one of the most popular implementations of RAID.

Array

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID

0+1

RAID 5

Advantages

High data throughput.
100% data
redundancy.

Optimized for both
100% data redun­dancy and
performance. Allows
spare disks.
Fault tolerance and
better utilization of disk
space.

Drawbacks

No fault tolerance.
Requires two drives
for the storage space
of one drive.
Requires two drives
for the storage space
of one drive—the
same as RAID level 1.

Decreased write per­formance due to parity
calculations.Requires
at least three drives.

# Hard Disks

multiple

2

4+

3+

Fault Tolerance

None

Yes

Yes

Yes

NVIDIA RAID

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2

NVIDIA RAID offers the following additional features:

• Free Disk and Dedicated Spare Disk

A Free Disk or Dedicated Disk can be automatically used in case one drive of a fault­tolerant array fails. NVIDIA RAID defines a fault-tolerant array as either RAID 1 or
RAID 0+1 or RAID5 . A free disk can be used by any available fault-tolerant array,
while a dedicated disk can be used only by the array to which it is assigned.

• Bootable RAID

NVIDIA RAID can be configured in a way to make it bootable. For example, two hard
drives can be configured as a bootable mirrored RAID array.

• RAID on Multiple Disk Controllers

Unlike other RAID solutions that limits the user to a dedicated RAID controller,
NVIDIA RAID software can use a drive on one RAID controller and another drive on
a second RAID controller.

• Morphing

Morphing is the ability to convert from one RAID mode to another RAID mode. This
allows the user to upgrade their current disk or array for better performance, higher
security, and increased capacity. More importantly, this is accomplished without
having to go through multiple steps. The morphing feature gives the user an
upgradeable option to manage storage easily.

• Hot Plug Array

Hot plug, with respect to RAID, is the ability to add a disk to a system safely and
without causing problems for the RAID software. For example, when a drive in a
mirrored array fails, a user can launch the Hot Plug Array Wizard which instructs the
user as to when a drive can be added safely to the system. As soon as the drive is
added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes
useable by the system.

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3

Install Hard Disks

Install SATA hard disks:

STEP 1: Install one SATA hard disk into one drive bay.
STEP 2:Connect one end of the SATA data cable to the motherboard’s one of

SATA connectors.
STEP 3: Connect the other end of the SATA data cable to the SATA hard disk.
STEP 4: Connect the power cable to the SATA hard disk.
STEP 5: Following step 1/2/3/4 to install the other SATA hard disks.

Basic Configuration Instructions

The following are the basic steps for configuring NVIDIA RAID:

Non-Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS.

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Stripe Mirroring
(RAID 0+1), or RAID5 and create the desired RAID array.

3. Install the operating system on one hard disk, then reboot the computer.

4. Run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the RAID driver.

5. Initialize the NVRAID Array.

Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS.

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Mirrored Strip­ing (RAID 0+1), or RAID5 and create the desired RAID array.

3. Boot from the Windows CD, then press F6 when the Windows Setup appears.

4. Insert the RAID driver floppy to Install the nForce RAID driver.

5. Initialize the NVRAID Array.

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4

Setting Up the BIOS

1. Start up the computer, then press Delete to enter the BIOS setup. Use the arrow
keys to select Integrated Peripherals, then press Enter.

2. Use the arrow keys to select the RAID Config/ RAID Configuration , then press
Enter.

3. From the RAID Config/ RAID Configuration window, enabled the RAID Enable,
the other items would be light, then you can enable the disk that you want to use as
RAID disks.

4. Press F10 to save the configuration and exit.

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5

Entering the RAID BIOS Setup

1. After rebooting your PC, wait until you see the RAID software prompting you to
press F10. The RAID prompt appears as part of the system POST and boot process
prior to loading OS.

2. Press <N>, and the NVIDIA RAID Utility --- Define a New Array window will appear.
The default RAID Mode is set to Mirroring and the default Striping Block is set to

Optimal.

Understanding the “Define a New Array” Window

Use the Define a New Array window to

• Select the RAID Mode

• Set up the Striping Block

• Specify which disks to use for the RAID Array

Depending on the platform used, the system have one or more channels. In a
typical system there are usually one controller and multiple channels, and each
channel have a slave and a master.
The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc
(location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists.

1. 0. M

M: Master

0: Channel

Adapter - adapter 1 is used for SATA drives

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