User's and BIOS Manual (1.1b)

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 Intel's ESB2

SATA RAID before you install the Windows Operating System and other software

drivers.

Important Notes to the User:

Note 1: If you do not wish to conﬁ gure onboard SATA RAID functions, please go

directly to Section C-2 and Appendix D for Operating System & Other Software

Installation.

Note 2: This chapter describes RAID Conﬁ guration Instructions for the Intel ESB2

RAID Controller designed for the Windows OS.

C-1 Introduction to Serial ATA and Parallel ATA

To conﬁ gure the SATA RAID functions, you must ﬁ rst use the Intel ESB2 SATA

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

the Windows XP/2000/2003 operating system and other software drivers. (The

necessary drivers are all included on the Supermicro CD that came packaged with

your motherboard.) Note: the current version of the ESB2 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 addition, the cables used in PATA are limited to a length of 40cm, while Serial

ATA cables can be up to one meter in length. Overall, SATA provides better func-

tionality than PATA.

Introduction to the Intel ESB2 Serial RAID

Located in the South Bridge of the 5000V chipset, the I/O Controller Hub (ESB2) pro-

vides 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 Serial ATA (SATA) ports.

The ESB2 supports the following PATA and SATA device conﬁ gurations: Legacy

mode and Native mode.