Users guide

Intel® RAID Software User Guide 50
6 Intel
®
IT/IR RAID Controller
Configuration Utility
This chapter explains how to create mirrored volumes and integrated striping volumes
with the Intel SAS-3 BIOS Configuration Utility (SAS3 BIOS CU).
6.1 Overview
This section provides an overview of Intel Integrated RAID features that support the
creation of mirrored volumes and striped volumes.
6.1.1 Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring
Enhanced Features
Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring + Striping, and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced
volumes support the following features:
• Configurations of one or two mirrored volumes on each Intel SAS-3 controller. Each
volume can consist of two mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring volume; three
to ten mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volume; or four, six,
eight, or ten mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume.
• (Optional) Two global hot spare disks per Intel SAS-3 controller to automatically
replace failed disks in mirrored volumes.
• Ability of mirrored volumes to run in optimal mode or in degraded mode if one
mirrored disk in an Integrated Mirroring volume fails or if one or more mirrored
disks fail in an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume or Integrated Mirroring
Enhanced volume.
• Support for hot swapping.
• Support for OCE for RAID 1 volumes. OCE permits you to increase the size of a
RAID 1 volume by replacing the existing disk drives with higher-capacity disk
drives. Data is protected during the expansion process, and the RAID 1 volume
remains online.
• Presentation of a single virtual drive to the operating system for each mirrored
volume.
• Support for both SAS disks and SATA disks, although you cannot combine the two
types of disks in the same volume. However, an Intel SAS-3 controller can support
one volume with SATA disks and a second volume with SAS disks.
• Automatic background initialization after a volume is created.
• Consistency checking.