ASRock Rack EC262D4U-2L2T Installation guide

  • Hello! I've reviewed the user manual for SATA hard disk installation and RAID configuration, which covers various RAID levels including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10. It also details how to use Intel Rapid Storage and how to install Windows OS with RAID. I can help you with any questions you have about these topics. Just ask!
  • What RAID levels are supported?
    What is Intel Rapid Storage?
    How many hard drives are needed for RAID 10?
    How many hard 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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