ASRock Rack W480M WS Installation guide

  • Hello! I've reviewed the user manual for SATA hard disks and RAID configuration. This document provides detailed instructions on how to install SATA hard disks and set up RAID arrays using various levels, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and also covers Intel Rapid Storage Technology. It also includes instructions for RAID configuration using BIOS and installing Windows OS with RAID. Feel free to ask any question about these topics.
  • What RAID levels are supported?
    What is RAID 0?
    What is RAID 1?
    How many drives do I need for RAID 10?
    How many drives are needed for RAID 5?
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Guide to SATA Hard Disks
Installation and RAID Conguration
1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation ..............................2
1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation ................2
2. GuidetoRAIDCongurations ...........................................3
2.1 Introduction of RAID .................................................3
2.2 RAIDCongurationPrecautions ..............................6
2.3 InstallingWindows®OSWithRAIDFunctions .........7
2.4 ConguringaRAIDarrayUsingIntelRAIDBIOS ....8
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1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation
1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation
IntelchipsetsupportsSerialATA(SATA)harddiskswithRAID
functions,includingRAID0,RAID1,RAID5,RAID10andIntel
RapidStorage.PleasereadtheRAIDcongurationsinthis
guidecarefullyaccordingtotheIntelsouthbridgechipsetthat
yourmotherboardadopts.YoumayinstallSATAharddiskson
thismotherboardforinternalstoragedevices.Thissectionwill
guideyouhowtocreateRAIDonSATAports.
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2. GuidetoRAIDCongurations
2.1 Introduction of RAID
ThismotherboardadoptsIntelsouthbridgechipsetthatinte-
gratesRAIDcontrollersupportingRAID0/RAID1/IntelRapid
Storage/RAID10/RAID5functionwithfourindependentSe-
rialATA(SATA)channels.Thissectionwillintroducethebasic
knowledgeofRAID,andtheguidetocongureRAID0/RAID
1/IntelRapidStorage/RAID10/RAID5settings.
RAID
Theterm“RAID”standsfor“RedundantArrayofIndependent
Disks”,whichisamethodcombiningtwoormoreharddisk
drivesintoonelogicalunit.Foroptimalperformance,please
installidenticaldrivesofthesamemodelandcapacitywhen
creatingaRAIDset.
RAID 0 (Data Striping)
RAID0iscalleddatastripingthatoptimizestwo
identicalharddiskdrivestoreadandwritedata
inparallel,interleavedstacks.Itwillimprovedata
accessandstoragesinceitwilldoublethedata
transferrateofasinglediskalonewhilethetwo
harddisksperformthesameworkasasingle
drivebutatasustaineddatatransferrate.
WARNING!!
AlthoughRAID0functioncanimprovetheaccessperformance,
it does not provide any fault tolerance. Hot-Plug any HDDs of
theRAID0Diskwillcausedatadamageordataloss.
RAID 1 (Data Mirroring)
RAID1iscalleddatamirroringthatcopiesand
maintainsanidenticalimageofdatafromone
drivetoaseconddrive.Itprovidesdataprotection
andincreasesfaulttolerancetotheentiresystem
sincethediskarraymanagementsoftwarewill
directallapplicationstothesurvivingdriveasit
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Intel Rapid Storage
TheIntelRapidStoragetechnologysupportedallowsyouto
createaRAID0andRAID1setusingonlytwoidenticalhard
diskdrives.TheIntelRapidStoragetechnologycreatestwo
partitionsoneachharddiskdrivetocreateavirtualRAID0
andRAID1sets.Thistechnologyalsoallowsyoutochange
theharddiskdrivepartitionsizewithoutlosinganydata.
RAID 10
RAID10isastripedcongurationwithRAID1segments
whosesegmentsareRAID1arrays.Thiscongurationhasthe
samefaulttoleranceasRAID1,andhasthesameoverhead
forfault-toleranceasmirroringalone.RAID10achieveshigh
input/outputratesbystripingRAID1segments.Insome
instances,aRAID10congurationcansustainmultiplesimul-
taneousdrivefailure.Aminimumoffourharddiskdrivesis
requiredforthissetup.
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RAID 5
RAID5stripesbothdataandparityinformationacrossthreeor
moreharddiskdrives.AmongtheadvantagesofRAID5con-
gurationincludebetterHDDperformance,faulttolerance,and
higherstoragecapacity.TheRAID5congurationisbestsui-
tedfortransactionprocessing,relationaldatabaseapplications,
enterpriseresourceplanning,andotherbusinesssystems.Use
aminimumofthreeidenticalharddiskdrivesforthissetup.
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2.2 RAID Congurations Precautions
1. PleaseusetwonewdrivesifyouarecreatingaRAID
0(striping)arrayforperformance.Itisrecommended
tousetwoSATAdrivesofthesamesize.Ifyouuse
twodrivesofdifferentsizes,thesmallercapacityhard
diskwillbethebasestoragesizeforeachdrive.For
example,ifoneharddiskhasan80GBstoragecapa-
cityandtheotherharddiskhas60GB,themaximum
storagecapacityforthe80GB-drivebecomes60GB,
andthetotalstoragecapacityforthisRAID0setis
120GB.
2. Youmayusetwonewdrives,oruseanexistingdrive
andanewdrivetocreateaRAID1(mirroring)array
fordataprotection(thenewdrivemustbeofthe
samesizeorlargerthantheexistingdrive).Ifyou
usetwodrivesofdifferentsizes,thesmallercapacity
harddiskwillbethebasestoragesize.Forexample,
ifoneharddiskhasan80GBstoragecapacityand
theotherharddiskhas60GB,themaximumstorage
capacityfortheRAID1setis60GB.
3. Pleaseverifythestatusofyourharddisksbeforeyou
setupyournewRAIDarray.
WARNING!!
  PleasebackupyourdatarstbeforeyoucreateRAIDfunctions.
  IntheprocessyoucreateRAID,thesystemwillaskifyouwant
  to“ClearDiskData”ornot.Itisrecommendedtoselect“Yes”,
  andthenyourfuturedatabuildingwilloperateunderaclean
  environment.
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2.3 Installing Windows® OS With RAID Functions
IfyouwanttoinstallWindows®OSonyourSATAHDDswith
RAIDfunctions,pleasefollowtheproceduresbelow.
STEP 1: Set up UEFI.
A.EnterUEFISETUPUTILITYAdvancedscreen
StorageConguration.
 B.Set“SATAModeSelection”to[RAID].
STEP 2: Set RAID conguration.
Pleaserefertop.8-11ofthisdocumentforinstructionsonhow
tosetRAIDconguration.
STEP 3: Install Windows® OS on your system.
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2.4 Configuring a RAID array Using Intel RAID
BIOS
Reboot your computer. Wait until you see the RAID software
promptingyoutopress<Ctrl+I>.
 Press<Ctrl+I>.Then,theIntelRAIDUtility-Create RAID
Volumewindowappears.
 IntheCreateVolumeMenu,underNameitem,pleasekey-ina
uniquenamewith1-16lettersforyourRAIDvolumethenpress
<Enter>.
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Use the up or down arrow keys to select your desired RAID
Level.YoumayselectRAID0(Stripe),RAID1(Mirror),RAID
5orRAID10foryourRAIDlevel.Press<Enter>,andthenyou
can select Strip Size.
If you selected RAID 0 (Stripe), use the up or down keys to
selectthestripesizeforyourRAID0arraythenpress<Enter>.
Theavailablevaluesrange from 8KBto128 KB.Thedefault
selection is 128 KB. The strip value should be chosen based
ontheplanneddriveusage.
8/16KB-lowdiskusage
64KB-typicaldiskusage
128KB-performancediskusage
 Afteryousetdiskblocksize,press<Enter>tosetdisk
Capacity.
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 AftersettingupCapacity,pleasepress<Enter>.
Press<Enter>undertheCreate Volumeitem.Theutility
promptsaconrmationmessageasbelow.
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 Press<Y>tocompletethesetupofRAID.
Afterthecompletion,youwillseethedetailedinformationabout
theRAIDthatyousetup.
 PleasenotethatyouareonlyallowedtocreateoneRAID
partitionatatimeunderBIOS RAID environment. Ifyouwant
to create an extra RAID partition, please use the RAID utility
underWindowsenvironmenttocongureRAIDfunctionsafter
youinstallOS.
 Ifyouwant todeleteaRAIDvolume,pleaseselecttheoption
Delete RAID Volume,press<Enter>,andthenfollowthe
instructionsonthescreen.
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