Users guide

Intel® RAID Software User Guide 142
— Cached IO: All reads are buffered in cache memory.
— Direct IO: Reads are not buffered in cache memory. Data is transferred to
cache and
to the host concurrently. If the same data block is read again, it
comes from cache memory.
• Disk Cache Policy: The cache policy applies to the cache on physical drives of the
current array.
— Enable: Enable disk cache. Enabling
the disk cache in Write-back mode
provides little or no performance enhancement, while the risk of data loss due
to power failure increases.
— Disable: Disable disk cache.
— NoChange: Leave the default disk cache policy unchanged.
• Disable BGI: Enable or disable background initialization. Set this option to “Yes”
to disable background initialization.
• Select Size: Set the size of the virtual drive in megabytes. The right pane of the
virtual drive configuration window lists the maximum capacity that can be selected,
depending on the RAID level chosen.
8.7 Creating a Hot Spare
To create a hot spare, follow these steps:
1. On the main screen, select the drive that should be
used as the hot spare.
Figure 77. Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 – Choosing a Hot Spare Drive
2. Select the disk group.