Datasheet

Appendix C: Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines

C-1

Appendix C

Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines

After all the hardware has been installed, you must ﬁ rst conﬁ gure SATA HostRAID or

SAS HostRAID before you install the Windows Operating System and other software

drivers. (The LSI SAS HostRAID is available on the X7DCL-3 only.)

Important Notes

This chapter describes RAID conﬁ guration instructions for the Intel ICH9R 1.

Host RAID Controller designed for Windows OS. To conﬁ gure the LSI SAS

HostRAID, please refer to the LSI folder for the LSI SAS HostRAID Utility and

documentation included on the CD-ROM that came with your system.

If you do not wish to conﬁ gure onboard SATA or SAS RAID functions, please 2.

go directly to Section C-2 and Appendix D for the operating system & other

software installation instructions.

C-1 Introduction to Serial ATA and Parallel ATA

To conﬁ gure the SATA RAID functions, you must ﬁ rst use the Intel ICH9R SATA

RAID Utility program to conﬁ gure the RAID Level that you desire before installing

the Windows operating system and other software drivers. The necessary drivers

are all included on the Super Micro CD that came packaged with your system.

Note: the current version of the ICH9R SATA RAID Utility can only support Windows

XP/2000/2003 Operating Systems.

Serial ATA (SATA)

Serial ATA (SATA) is a physical storage interface that uses a single cable with a

minimum of four wires to create a point-to-point connection between devices. It is a

serial link, which supports transfer rates up to 3.0 Gbps. Because the serial cables

used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Parallel ATA (PATA),

SATA systems have better airﬂ ow and can be installed in smaller chassis. In addi-

tion, PATA cables are limited to a length of 40cm, while SATA cables can be up to

one meter in length. Overall, SATA provides better functionality than PATA.

Introduction to the Intel ICH9R Serial RAID

Located in the South Bridge of the Intel 5100 chipset, the I/O Controller Hub (ICH9R)

provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It supports 1-

channel UltraATA/100 Bus Master IDE controller (PATA) and six SATA ports. The

ICH9R supports the following PATA and SATA device conﬁ gurations: Legacy mode

and Native mode.