Intel Xw6200 - Workstation - 2 GB RAM, Xw8200 - Workstation - 1 GB RAM, Application Accelerator User Manual
Intel® Application Accelerator
User’s Manual
Revision 2.0
June 2004
®
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future definition and shall have no responsibility whatsoever for conflicts or incompatibilities arising from future changes to them.
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specifications. Current characterized errata are available on request.
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*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Copyright © 2004, Intel Corporation
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Contents
1 Scope of This Document..................................................................................................... 9
2 RAID Background .............................................................................................................11
3 RAID 0 (Striping) ............................................................................................................... 13
4 RAID 1 (Mirroring) .............................................................................................................15
5 Matrix RAID (Two Volumes Per Array) ............................................................................. 17
6 RAID Migration Feature ....................................................................................................19
7 Advanced Host Controller Interface / Native Command Queuing ....................................21
8 Intel Application Accelerator ............................................................................................. 24
8.1 Description............................................................................................................ 24
8.2 Do You Need the Intel Application Accelerator?.................................................. 24
9 Serial ATA (SATA) ............................................................................................................ 27
9.1 Description............................................................................................................ 27
9.2 Installing Serial ATA Hard Drives......................................................................... 27
10 BIOS Importance / Settings .............................................................................................. 29
11 Configuring BIOS for Intel RAID for Serial ATA on Intel Motherboards............................ 31
11.1 Creating, Deleting, and Resetting RAID Sets ......................................................31
11.2 Create RAID 0 or RAID 1 Volume........................................................................ 32
11.3 Delete RAID Volume ............................................................................................32
11.4 Reset RAID Data.................................................................................................. 32
12 Loading the Intel Application Accelerator Driver During Operating System Install........... 34
12.1 Instructions on Creating F6 Floppy Diskette ........................................................ 34
12.2 Installation Using F6 Method................................................................................35
13 Intel Application Accelerator RAID option ROM ...............................................................36
13.1 Description............................................................................................................ 36
13.2 Confirming Version of Intel Application Accelerator RAID option ROM Installed 36
13.3 Using the Intel Application Accelerator RAID option ROM ..................................36
13.3.1 Creating, Deleting, and Resetting RAID Volumes................................ 36
13.3.2 Create RAID 0 Volume ......................................................................... 37
13.3.3 Delete RAID Volume............................................................................. 42
13.3.4 Reset Disks to Non-RAID .....................................................................44
14 Installing the Intel Application Accelerator ........................................................................ 46
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14.1 Installation Caution............................................................................................... 46
14.2 Steps to Take Before Installing the Intel Application Accelerator ........................46
14.2.1 Resolve Conflicts in Device Manager................................................... 46
14.3 Obtaining and Installing the Intel Application Accelerator....................................46
14.3.1 Installation Steps................................................................................... 47
14.3.2 Installation: Welcome Screen ...............................................................48
14.3.3 Installation: License Agreement............................................................ 48
14.3.4 Installation: Choose Destination Location ............................................49
14.3.5 Installation: Select Program Folder ...................................................... 49
14.3.6 Installation: Setup Status ...................................................................... 50
14.3.7 Installation: InstallShield* Wizard Complete ......................................... 51
15 Confirming the Intel Application Accelerator is Installed................................................... 52
16 Confirming Version of Intel Application Accelerator Installed ........................................... 54
16.1 Using the Intel Storage Utility: .............................................................................. 54
16.2 RAID Driver File Properties: ................................................................................. 54
17 Issues During Installation.................................................................................................. 56
17.1 Symptom: Incompatible Hardware ....................................................................... 56
17.2 Symptom: Operating System Not Supported ....................................................... 56
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18 “RAID Ready”....................................................................................................................58
18.1 “RAID Ready” Definition ....................................................................................... 58
18.2 “RAID Ready” System Requirements .................................................................. 58
18.3 Steps on Setting Up a “RAID Ready” System......................................................58
18.4 Converting a “RAID Ready” System into RAID 0 or RAID 1 System with Migration
Feature ................................................................................................................. 58
18.4.1 Creating a New Partition Using Windows* Disk Management ............. 59
19 RAID Migration Instructions .............................................................................................. 60
19.1 Create RAID Volume from Existing Disk.............................................................. 62
19.1.1 Step 1 of 3: Select Source Disk ............................................................ 63
19.1.2 Step 2 of 3: Select the RAID Volume Name and Strip Size .................64
19.1.3 Strip Size Descriptions.......................................................................... 64
19.1.4 WARNINGS .......................................................................................... 65
19.1.5 Step 3 of 3: Confirm Creation of New RAID Volume............................ 66
19.2 Migration Process May Take Considerable Time to Complete............................ 66
19.3 Successful Migration ............................................................................................ 67
20 Uninstalling the Intel Application Accelerator.................................................................... 68
20.1 Uninstall Warning .................................................................................................68
20.2 Windows* XP........................................................................................................68
21 Unattended Installation Under Windows* XP ...................................................................70
22 Intel Storage Utility ............................................................................................................ 72
22.1 Description............................................................................................................ 72
22.2 Create Volume Manually ...................................................................................... 72
22.2.1 Step 1 of 2: Select the RAID Volume Name and Strip Size .................74
22.2.2 Strip Size Descriptions.......................................................................... 74
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22.2.3 WARNINGS .......................................................................................... 75
22.2.4 Step 2 of 2: Confirm Creation of New RAID Volume............................ 76
22.3 Successful Creation .............................................................................................76
22.4 Disk and Volume Status Parameter Descriptions ................................................ 76
22.4.1 Status Entries for Physical Disk Parameters: ....................................... 77
22.4.2 Status Entries for Volume Parameters: ................................................ 77
22.5 Generate and View a Report using the Intel Storage Utility................................. 77
22.6 Support Tab Information....................................................................................... 79
23 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................80
24 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ................................................................................81
Appendix A How to Identify the Intel Chipset .......................................................................................82
Appendix B Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility for Intel Chipsets ..............................................83
B.1 Description............................................................................................................ 83
B.2 Obtaining the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility ....................................... 83
B.3 Confirming Installation of the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility ............... 83
B.4 Troubleshooting.................................................................................................... 84
Appendix C Serial ATA ......................................................................................................................... 85
C.1 Description............................................................................................................85
C.2 Comparing Serial ATA versus Parallel ATA (IDE) ...............................................85
C.3 System Requirements.......................................................................................... 86
C.4 Serial ATA Data Cable ......................................................................................... 86
C.5 Serial ATA Power Cable.......................................................................................87
C.6 Are a Serial ATA Data and Power Cable Needed for Serial ATA?...................... 87
C.7 Mixing/Matching Serial ATA Hard Drives with IDE Hard Drives .......................... 87
C.8 Using IDE to Serial ATA Adaptors........................................................................87
C.9 Theoretical Transfer Rates Associated with Transfer Modes.............................. 88
Appendix D Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 89
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Figures
Tables
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Figure 1. RAID 0 ...............................................................................................................13
Figure 2. RAID 1 ...............................................................................................................15
Figure 3. Matrix RAID........................................................................................................ 17
Table 1. Serial ATA Transfer Rates Associated With Transfer Modes ............................ 88
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Revision History
Revision
Number
1.0 Initial Release. March 20, 2003
1.1 Added RAID 1 information June 6, 2003
2.0 Added Intel® Matrix RAID Technology, AHCI/Native Command
Queuing information
Description Revision Date
Document Conventions
Throughout this document, symbols are used to indicate important messages to the reader. These
are marked as note, important note, caution or warning.
Note: Note and Important Note: Means reader take note. Notes can also contain helpful suggestions
or references.
June 15, 2004
Caution: Caution: This symbol means reader be careful.
Warning: Warning: Not following these instructions might render the system unusable. Certain functions
may also have consequences that you need to be aware of.
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8 User's Manual
Scope of This Document
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1 Scope of This Document
This document discusses how to properly configure your system when using the Intel®
Application Accelerator.
The issues discussed in this guide are only relevant on systems implementing a RAID solution
and using a supported Intel chipset and supported operating system.
x Supported Intel chipsets
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-012492.htm
x Supported operating system
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-009343.htm
Please note that the Intel Application Accelerator does NOT support Beta or pre-released versions
of any Windows* operating systems.
The majority of the issues contained in this document are 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.
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Scope of This Document
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10 User's Manual
RAID Background
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2 RAID Background
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) was originally conceived at the University of
California at Berkeley in 1987 by David A. Patterson, Garth Gibson, and Randy H. Katz. The
focus of their research was to improve storage subsystem performance and reliability. As a result
of their findings, they proposed five levels of RAID (RAID 0 – RAID 5) to provide a balance of
performance and data protection. Each RAID level is designed for speed, data protection, or a
combination of both. Patterson, Gibson, and Katz published their findings in a document titled “A
Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID).” This
University of California, Berkeley:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/TechRepPages/CSD-87-391
RAID was designed to improve the way computers manage and access mass storage of data by
providing an independent and redundant system of disks. Instead of writing to one Single Large
Expensive Disk (SLED), RAID writes to multiple independent disks.
document
is archived at the
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RAID Background
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12 User's Manual
RAID 0 (Striping)
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3 RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 0 leverages the read/write capabilities of two or more hard drives working in unison to
maximize the storage performance of a computer system. Data in a RAID 0 array is arranged into
blocks that are interleaved among the disks so that reads and writes can be performed in parallel
(see below diagram). This technique, known as “striping”, is the fastest of all of the RAID levels,
especially for reading and writing large sequential files. Real world usage models where RAID 0
can be of particular benefit include loading large files into an image editing application such as
Adobe* Photoshop*, saving large movie files in a video editing application such as Adobe*
Premiere*, or creating CD or DVD images with a CD/DVD authoring package such as Roxio*
Easy CD Creator*.
The hard drives in a RAID 0 array are combined to form one volume which appears as a single
virtual drive to the operating system. For example, two 40 GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array will
appear as a single 80 GB hard drive to the operating system.
No redundancy information is stored in a RAID 0 array. This means that if one hard drive fails,
all data on both drives is lost. This lack of redundancy is also reflected by the RAID level 0,
which indicates no redundancy. RAID 0 is not recommended for use in servers or other
environments where data redundancy is a primary goal.
Figure 1. RAID 0
Minimum Disks:
Advantage:
Redundancy:
2
Highest transfer rates
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
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RAID 0 (Striping)
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14 User's Manual
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
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4 RAID 1 (Mirroring)
A RAID 1 array contains two hard drives where the data between the two is mirrored in real time.
Since all of the data is duplicated, the operating system treats the usable space of a RAID 1 array
as the maximum size of one hard drive in the array. For example, two 40 GB hard drives in a RAID
1 array will appear as a single 40 GB hard drive to the operating system.
The primary benefit of RAID 1 mirroring is that it provides 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 data integrity. In the case of a disk failure, the computer system will remain fully
operational to ensure maximum productivity.
The performance of a RAID 1 array is greater than that of a single drive since data can be read
from multiple disks simultaneously, although disk writes do not realize the same benefit as is the
case with RAID 0.
Figure 2. RAID 1
Minimum Disks:
Advantage:
Redundancy:
Application:
2
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.
Excellent – disk mirroring means that all data on one disk is duplicated on another disk.
Typically used for smaller systems where capacity of one disk is sufficient and for any
application(s) requiring very high availability.
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RAID 1 (Mirroring)
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Matrix RAID (Two Volumes Per Array)
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5 Matrix RAID (Two Volumes
Per Array)
Intel innovation continues with the introduction of Matrix RAID, which combines the benefits of
RAID 0 performance and RAID 1 protection on two hard drives. For example, games and video
editing can benefit from improved performance by being stored on a RAID 0 volume; at the same
time, valuable personal photos and financial records can be better protected from a drive failure
by being stored on the RAID 1 volume.
Matrix RAID provides better data protection than RAID 0 alone. It does this by providing a
second volume of RAID 1 storage, where data can be protected from a single hard drive failure.
Additionally, Matrix RAID provides greater total storage capacity and improved performance
than is provided by RAID 1 alone.
Figure 3. Matrix RAID
Minimum Disks: 2
Advantage: Combines benefits of RAID 0 and RAID 1 on two hard drives.
Data Protection: Data stored on the RAID 1 volume is redundant and remains accessible in
Application: Matrix RAID is an option for advanced users who desire increased capacity
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the event of a single hard drive failure.
and performance while still protecting some data from a single hard drive failure.
Matrix RAID (Two Volumes Per Array)
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RAID Migration Feature
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6 RAID Migration Feature
The RAID migration feature in the Intel® Application Accelerator is an advanced software
technology that enables a properly configured PC, known as a “RAID Ready” system, to be easily
converted into a high-performance RAID 0 or RAID 1configuration by simply adding a Serial
ATA hard drive to the system and invoking the RAID migration process from within Windows*.
The migration to a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration is performed without the traditional
requirements of an operating system re-install. All applications and data remain intact.
The migration process itself can take up to several hours depending on the size of the hard drives
being converted, but the system is still fully functional while the migration is being performed – it
is possible to conduct other activities such as surf the Web and/or run productivity applications
while the system is being migrated. The only limitation is that some disk intensive tasks may
experience slower performance during a RAID migration.
The RAID migration feature also features advanced safety algorithms to ensure that an interrupted
migration does not result in data loss or corruption. If the migration process is interrupted via a
power loss or system reset, the migration will resume from the point of its most recent progress
upon the next system reboot.
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RAID Migration Feature
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Advanced Host Controller Interface / Native Command Queuing
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7 Advanced Host Controller
Interface / Native Command
Queuing
Advanced Host Controller Interface
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is an interface specification that allows the storage
driver to enable advanced Serial ATA features such as Native Command Queuing and Native Hot
Plug.
Note: AHCI is built into the Intel® 915 and Intel® 925 Express Chipsets that use the Intel® 82801FR
I/O Controller Hub (ICH6R) and requires Intel® Application Accelerator version 4.0 or later.
Native Command Queuing
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) is a feature supported by AHCI, It allows Serial ATA hard
drives to accept more than one command at a time. NCQ, when used in conjunction with a hard
drive that supports NCQ, increases storage performance on random workloads by allowing the
drive to internally optimize the order of commands.
Note: In order to take advantage of NCQ, you need: Intel 915 or Intel 925 Express Chipset with the
ICH6R, Intel Application Accelerator version 4.0 or later, and a hard drive which supports NCQ.
Native Hot Plug
Native hot plug is a feature supported by AHCI, allowing Serial ATA hard drive removal or
insertion while the system is powered on and running. For example, this may be used when
replacing a failed hard drive that is in an externally-accessible drive enclosure.
Note: In order to take advantage of native hot plug, you need the following:
x Intel 915 or Intel 925 Express Chipset using ICH6R
x Intel Application Accelerator version 4.0 or later
x A hard drive which supports hot plug.
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Advanced Host Controller Interface / Native Command Queuing
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Advanced Host Controller Interface / Native Command Queuing
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Intel Application Accelerator
8 Intel Application Accelerator
8.1 Description
The Intel Application Accelerator software package provides high-performance Serial ATA and
Serial SATA RAID capabilities in Windows* XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003.
Intel Application Accelerator contains the following key features:
Serial ATA RAID driver for Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003,
x
providing RAID 0 for improved performance, RAID 1 for improved protection against hard
drive failures, and Matrix RAID for a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1 benefits.
x
Advanced Host Controller Interface support for both RAID and non-RAID Serial ATA
drives, providing Native Command Queuing performance benefits, as well as Native Hot
Plug capability.
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x
Intel® Storage Utility, which provides the Windows* user interface for managing Serial
ATA drives and RAID arrays
x
Migration Feature, allowing migration from a single-drive “RAID Ready” configuration to a
RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration, without the need to reinstall the operating system. Systems
can even be migrated from a “RAID Ready” configuration to a Matrix RAID configuration
by migrating to RAID 0 as selecting the minimum volume size. Once the migration is
complete, a RAID 1 volume can be created in the remaining free array space.
x
User Notification provides SMART notification and early warning of potential hard drive
failures through the use of balloon messages from a system tray icon.
8.2 Do You Need the Intel Application Accelerator?
The Intel Application Accelerator is required if you have supported hardware and would like to
enable RAID performance or data protection features on two hard drives, or enable Native
Command Queuing performance on single drive RAID systems. The Intel Application
Accelerator is not required for stand-alone Serial ATA hard drive(s) to work properly (e.g. not
configured for RAID or AHCI).
To use the Intel Application Accelerator, your system must meet ALL of the following
requirements:
supported Intel chipset
x
A
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-012492.htm
A supported operating system
x
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-009343.htm
To take advantage of increased storage subsystem performance and overall system performance,
your system must meet the following requirement:
A Serial ATA device (e.g. hard drive that supports Generation 1 transfers)x
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Intel Application Accelerator
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A hard drive which supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ), a feature supported by
x
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)
Warning: Serial ATA has specific requirements. Please refer to the Appendix C.3 for more information.
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Intel Application Accelerator
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9 Serial ATA (SATA)
9.1 Description
Serial ATA (SATA) is a new storage interface designed to replace parallel ATA (e.g. IDE
technology). SATA was designed for a variety of reasons including performance headroom,
cabling issues, and voltage tolerance requirements. SATA combines software transparency, low
cost, scalability, and design flexibility. SATA has attracted widespread industry support through
the Serial ATA Working Group (
Note: Please refer to Appendix A for additional information on Serial ATA hard drives.
www.serialata.org
9.2 Installing Serial ATA Hard Drives
).
Serial ATA (SATA)
Note: Please refer to Appendix A for additional information on Serial ATA hard drives.
Installing Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives requires the use of a SATA data cable (7-pin, 4conductor) which supports the Serial ATA protocol and a SATA power cable. Either end of the
SATA data cable can be connected to the SATA hard drive or the connector on the motherboard.
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