Intel® Rapid Storage Technology User Guide August 2011 Revision 1.
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Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1.1 2 3 4 5 Terminology .................................................................................................................................... 5 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Features ............................................................................................. 8 2.1 Feature Overview ....................
6 7 8 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Installation ......................................................................................... 24 6.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 24 6.2 Where to Obtain the Software ................................................................................................... 24 6.3 Installation Steps ...................................................
1 Introduction 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.
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.
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.
2 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Features 2.1 Feature Overview The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology software package provides high-performance Serial ATA (SATA) and SATA 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.
2.3 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.
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. RAID 10 Overview Hard Drives Required: 4 Advantage: Combines the read performance of RAID 0 with the fault-tolerance of RAID 1. Excellent – disk mirroring means that all data on one disk is duplicated on another disk.
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.
2.9 Intel® Rapid Recover Technology Intel® Rapid Recover Technology utilizes RAID 1 (mirroring) functionality to copy data from a designated master drive to a designated recovery drive. The master drive data can be copied to the recovery drive either continuously or on request. When using the continuous update policy, changes made to the data on the master drive while the system is not docked are automatically copied to the recovery drive when the system is re-docked.
2.10.2 Hot Plug Hot plug, also referred to as hot swap, is a feature supported by AHCI that allows SATA hard drives to be removed or inserted while the system is powered on and running. As an example, hot plug may be used to replace a failed hard drive that is in an externally-accessible drive enclosure.
3 RAID BIOS Configuration 3.1 Overview To install the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology, the system BIOS must include the SATA RAID option ROM and you must enable RAID in the BIOS. 3.2 Enabling RAID in BIOS Note: The instructions to enable RAID in the BIOS are specific to motherboards manufactured by Intel with a supported Intel chipset. The specific BIOS settings on non-Intel motherboards may differ.
4 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM 4.1 Overview The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology option ROM provides the following: 4.2 Pre-operating system user interface for RAID volume management Ability to create, delete and reset RAID volumes RAID recovery User Interface To enter the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology option ROM user interface, press Ctrl-I when prompted during the Power-On Self Test (POST).
4.3 Version Identification To identify the version of the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology option ROM in the system BIOS, enter the option ROM user interface. The version number is located in the upper right corner. 4.4 RAID Volume Creation Use the following steps to create a RAID volume using the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology user interface: Note: The following procedure should only be used with a newly-built system or if you are reinstalling your operating system.
2. Select option for Create RAID Volume and press Enter. 3. Type in a volume name and press Enter or press Enter to accept the default volume name.
4. Select the RAID level by using the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the available values, then press Enter. 5. Press Enter to select the physical disks.
6. Select the appropriate number of hard drives by using the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list of available hard drives. Press the Space bar to select a drive. When you have finished selecting hard drives, press Enter. 7. Unless you have selected RAID 1, select the strip size by using the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the available values and then press Enter.
8. Select the volume capacity and press Enter. Note: The default value indicates the maximum volume capacity using the selected disks. If less than the maximum volume capacity is chosen, creation of a second volume is needed to utilize the remaining space (i.e. a matrix RAID configuration). 9. At the Create Volume prompt, press Enter to create the volume. The following prompt will appear: 10. Press the key to confirm volume creation. 11.
5 Loading Driver during Operating System Installation 5.1 Overview The chart below shows the circumstances in which the F6 installation method must be used during an operating system installation.
Storage Technology can be downloaded from Download Center at http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2101 2. Extract the driver files at the command prompt by running the following command: {filename} –A -P {path} Example: IATA_CD_10.6.0.1022.EXE –A –P C:\TEMP 3. The following directory structure will be created: \Drivers \x32 \x64 4. Copy the IAAHCI.CAT, IAACHI.INF, IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM files to the root directory of a diskette.
3. Enter> key. Refer to the Automatic F6 Diskette Creation section above for instructions. 4. Select the RAID or AHCI controller entry that corresponds to your BIOS setup and press Enter. Note: Not all available selections may appear in the list; use the up and down arrow keys to see additional options. 5. Press Enter to confirm. Windows setup will now continue.
6 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Installation 6.1 Overview After installing an operating system onto a RAID volume or on a SATA hard drive when in RAID or AHCI mode, the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology can be loaded from within Windows. This installs the following components: User interface (i.e. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology software) Tray icon service Monitor service, allowing you to monitor the health of your RAID volume and/or hard drives.
6.3 Installation Steps Note: The instructions below assume that the BIOS has been configured correctly and the RAID driver has been installed using the F6 installation method (if applicable). 1. 2. Run the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology installation file. On the welcome screen, click Next to continue. 3. Review the Warning screen and click Next to continue.
4. Review the License Agreement and click Yes to accept the license agreement terms. 5. Review the Readme File Information and click Next to continue.
6. 6.4 Click Finish to complete the installation and restart the system. Confirming Software Installation Refer to the image below to confirm that Intel® Rapid Storage Technology has been installed.
If installation was done using F6 or an unattended installation method, you can confirm that the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology was loaded by following these steps: Note: The following instructions assume Classic mode in Windows* XP. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Click the Start button and then Control Panel. Double-click the System icon. Select the Hardware tab. Click the Device Manager button. Expand the SCSI and RAID Controllers entry. Right-click the SATA RAID Controller entry. Select the Driver tab.
7 RAID-Ready Setup 7.1 Overview A RAID-Ready system is a system configuration that allows a user to perform a RAID migration at a later date. For more information on RAID migrations, see the RAID Migration section of this User Guide (Section 8). 7.
8 Converting RAID-Ready to Full RAID 8.1 Overview This section explains how to convert (or migrate) from a RAID-Ready system to a fully-functional RAID system. The example in this section describes the migration steps for RAID 1. 8.2 RAID-Ready to 2-drive RAID 1 To convert a RAID-Ready system into a system with a 2-drive RAID 1 volume, follow these steps: Warning: This operation will delete all existing data from the additional hard drive or drives and the data cannot be recovered.
4. On the Select Volume Type screen, select Real-time data protection (RAID 1) and then click Next. 5. On the Configure Volume screen: a. Select the two installed disks b. Choose to keep data on the “System” disk c.
6. Review the warning screen and then click Create Volume. 7. Review the confirmation screen and then click OK.
8. After the volume has been created, click OK on the completion screen. 9. Review the Status screen, now showing the RAID array just created. 10. The data migration will begin and may take some time. During the migration, you can see the current status by holding the mouse pointer over the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology status bar icon.
9 Verify and Repair 9.1 Overview Verify and Repair checks a volume for inconsistent or bad data. It may also fix any data problems or parity errors. The Verify process happens… Automatically after a hard system shutdown or system crash (except when configured for RAID 0) Manually when started from within the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology software The UI displays two functions: Verify Only Verify and Repair 9.
Appendix A: Error Messages A.1 Incompatible Hardware Issue: The following error message appears during installation: Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset. Please select „Yes‟ to view the Readme file for a list of supported products. Refer to section 2 titled „System Requirements‟. To resolve this issue, install the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology software on a system with a supported Intel chipset or by ensuring that AHCI or RAID is enabled in the system BIOS. A.
A.5 Source Hard Drive is Dynamic Disk Issue: When attempting to migrate from a RAID-Ready system to a full-RAID system, an error message is received that says the migration cannot continue because the source drive is a dynamic disk. However, Microsoft* Windows* Disk Management shows the disk as basic, not dynamic. This issue may occur if there is not enough space for the migration to successfully complete.
