Motherboard RAID Configuration Guide
E14794 Revised Edition V4 August 2018 Copyright © 2018 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (“ASUS”).
Contents About this guide.......................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Intel® RAID Configuration 1.1 1.2 Intel® RAID configurations......................................................................... 1-5 1.1.1 RAID definitions........................................................................... 1-5 1.1.2 Installing storage devices............................................................. 1-5 1.1.
About this guide This guide contains information that you need to create RAID configurations. You can create different RAID configurations based on your motherboard chipset and software. The screenshots in this guide are for reference only. The screenshots may vary with models, but the configurations steps are similar.
Chapter 1: Intel® RAID Configuration Intel® RAID Configuration 1.1 Intel® RAID configurations 1 If your motherboard supports Intel® Rapid Storage Technology, you can create RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 or RAID 10 configurations. Please refer to your motherboard’s user manual for details on the actual supported RAID configurations.
1.1.3 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology in UEFI BIOS To enter the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology in UEFI BIOS: 1. Enter the BIOS Setup during POST. Refer to Chapter 3 in your motherboard’s user manual for details on entering and navigating through the BIOS Setup. 2. Go to Advanced > PCH Storage Configuration, then set SATA Mode Selection to [Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration (RAID)].
Creating a RAID set To create a RAID set: 1. From the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology menu, select Create RAID Volume and press . The following screen appears: 2. When the Name item is selected, enter a name for the RAID set and press . 3. When the RAID Level item is selected, press to select the RAID level to create, and then press . 4. Under Select Disks, press and select X for the disks you want to include in the RAID set.
5. When the Strip Size item is selected, press to select strip size for the RAID array (for RAID 0, 10 and 5 only), and then press . The available strip size values range from 4 KB to 128 KB. The following are typical values: - RAID 0: 128 KB - RAID 10: 64 KB - RAID 5: 64 KB We recommend a lower strip size for server systems, and a higher strip size for multimedia computer systems used mainly for audio and video editing. 1-8 6.
Deleting a RAID set Be cautious when deleting a RAID set. You will lose all data on the hard disk drives when you delete a RAID set. To delete a RAID set: 1. From the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology menu, select the RAID volume you want to delete and press . The following screen appears: 2. When the Delete item is selected, press , then select Yes to delete the RAID volume and return to the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology menu, or select No to cancel.
1.1.4 Intel® Virtual Raid on CPU in UEFI BIOS Some motherboards support Intel® Virtual Raid on CPU with RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 solution. RAID 0 can be created without a KEY module, while RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 requires a KEY module. • The KEY module is purchased separately. • The Hyper M.2 x16 card is purchased separately. • Due to CPU behavior, CPU RAID functions with Intel® CPU RSTe only supports Intel® Core™ X-series Processors (6-core or above) and Intel® SSD modules.
Creating a RAID set To create a RAID set: 1. From the Intel® Virtual Raid on CPU menu, select Create RAID Volume and press . The following screen appears: 2. When the Name item is selected, enter a name for the RAID set and press . 3. When the RAID Level item is selected, press to select the RAID level to create, and then press . 4. When the Enable RAID spanned over VMD Controllers item is selected, press and select X to enable this function. 5.
6. When the Strip Size item is selected, press to select strip size for the RAID array (for RAID 0, 10 and 5 only), and then press . The available strip size values range from 4 KB to 128 KB. The following are typical values: - RAID 0: 128 KB - RAID 10: 64 KB - RAID 5: 64 KB We recommend a lower strip size for server systems, and a higher strip size for multimedia computer systems used mainly for audio and video editing. 1-12 7.
Deleting a RAID set Be cautious when deleting a RAID set. You will lose all data on the hard disk drives when you delete a RAID set. To delete a RAID set: 1. From the Intel® Virtual Raid on CPU menu, select the RAID volume you want to delete and press . The following screen appears: 2. When the Delete item is selected, press , then select Yes to delete the RAID volume and return to the Intel® Virtual Raid on CPU menu, or select No to cancel.
1.1.5 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM utility To enter the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM utility: 1. Turn on the system. 2. During POST, press + to display the utility main menu. RAID Volumes: None defined. Physical Devices: Port Device Model 0 ST3160812AS 1 ST3160812AS 2 ST3160812AS 3 ST3160812AS Serial # 9LS0HJA4 9LS0F4HL 3LS0JYL8 9LS0BJ5H Size 149.0GB 149.0GB 149.0GB 149.
Creating a RAID set To create a RAID set: 1. From the utility main menu, select 1. Create RAID Volume and press . The following screen appears: Name: Volume 0 RAID Level: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Disks: dssdsdsds Strip Size:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Capacity:aaaaaaaaaaaaaa Sync:aaaaaaaaaa Create volume [HELP] Enter a unique volume name that has no special characters and is 16 characters or less. 2. Enter a name for the RAID set and press . 3.
5. Use the up/down arrow key to select a drive, and then press to select. A small triangle marks the selected drive. Press after completing your selection. 6. Use the up/down arrow key to select the strip size for the RAID array (for RAID 0, 10 and 5 only), and then press . The available strip size values range from 4 KB to 128 KB.
Deleting a RAID set Be cautious when deleting a RAID set. You will lose all data on the hard disk drives when you delete a RAID set. To delete a RAID set: 1. From the utility main menu, select 2. Delete RAID Volume and press . The following screen appears: Name Volume0 [DELETE VOLUME MENU] Level Drives RAID0 (Stripe) 2 Capacity 298.0GB Status Normal Bootable Yes [HELP] Deleting a volume will reset the disks to non-RAID. WARNING: ALL DISK DATA WILL BE DELETED.
Exiting the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM utility To exit the utility: 1. From the utility main menu, select 6. Exit, then press . The following warning message appears: [CONFIRM EXIT] Are you sure you want to exit? (Y/N): 2. 1-18 Press to exit or press to return to the utility main menu.
1.2 Installing the RAID controller driver during Windows® 10 OS installation After creating the RAID sets, you are now ready to install an operating system to the independent drives or bootable array. This part provides the instructions on how to install the RAID controller drivers during OS installation. If you plan on using the CPU RAID configuration spanned across different PCIE slots as OS drives, please install the Hyper M.2 x16 cards to the supported PCIE slots.
4. A message appears, reminding you to insert the installation media containing the driver of the RAID controller driver. Click Browse to continue. • If you have only one optical drive installed in your system, eject the Windows OS installation disc and replace it with the motherboard Support DVD. • If you do not have an optical drive, you can use another computer with an optical drive to copy the RAID driver from the support DVD to a USB flash drive. 5.
Chapter 2: AMD RAID Configuration AMD RAID Configuration 2.1 RAID configurations 2 If your motherboard supports RaidXpert2 Configuration Utility, you can create Volume, RAIDABLE, RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 10 (depends on system licensing) configurations. Please refer to your motherboard’s user manual for details on the actual supported RAID configurations.
2.1.2 Installing storage devices The motherboard supports Serial ATA hard disk drives and PCIE SSD storage devices. For optimal performance, install identical drives of the same model and capacity when creating a disk array. Refer to Chapter 2 in your motherboard’s user manual for details on installing storage devices to your motherboard. 2.1.3 RaidXpert2 Configuration Utility in UEFI BIOS To enter the RaidXpert2 Configuration Utility in UEFI BIOS: 1. Enter the BIOS Setup during POST.
Creating a RAID set To create a RAID set: 1. From the RaidXpert2 Configuration Utility menu, go to Array Management > Create Array to enter the Create Array menu. The following screen appears: 2. When the Select RAID Level item is selected, press to select the RAID level to create, and then press . 3. When the Select Physical Disks item is selected, press to enter the Select Physical Disks menu. The following screen appears: 4.
2-4 5. When the Array Size: item is selected, enter the RAID volume capacity that you want and press . The default value indicates the maximum allowed capacity. 6. When the Array Size Unit: item is selected, press to select the size unit for the RAID array, and then press . 7. When the Read Cache Policy: item is selected, press to select the read policy for the RAID array, and then press . 8.
Deleting a RAID set Be cautious when deleting a RAID set. You will lose all data on the hard disk drives when you delete a RAID set. To delete a RAID set: 1. From the RaidXpert2 Configuration Utility menu, go to Array Management > Delete Array to enter the Delete Array menu. The following screen appears: 2. Toggle the array(s) that you want to delete to On. 3.
2.2 Installing the RAID controller driver during Windows® 10 OS installation After creating the RAID sets, you are now ready to install an operating system to the independent drives or bootable array. This part provides the instructions on how to install the RAID controller drivers during OS installation. To install the RAID controller driver when installing Windows® 10 OS: 1. Boot the computer using the Windows® 10 OS installation disc. Follow the screen instructions to start installing Windows® 10. 2.
4. A message appears, reminding you to insert the installation media containing the driver of the RAID controller driver. Click Browse to continue. • If you have only one optical drive installed in your system, eject the Windows OS installation disc and replace it with the motherboard Support DVD. • If you do not have an optical drive, you can use another computer with an optical drive to copy the RAID driver from the support DVD to a USB flash drive. 5.
2-8 Chapter 2: AMD RAID Configuration
