MSI Ms6728 Ver 1 Manual

							Intel  ICH5R Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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(2) Step 2 of 3: Select the RAID Volume Name and Strip Size
In Step 2, select the RAID volume name and strip size, and click Next:
h  RAID Volume Name:
A desired RAID volume name needs to be typed in where the ‘RAID_Volume1’
text currently appears above. The RAID volume name has a maximum limit of
16 characters. The RAID volume name must also be in English alphanumeric
ASCII characters.
h  RAID Level:
Select the desired RAID level:
RAID 0 (Performance) – A volume optimized for performance will allow
you to access your data more quickly.
RAID 1 (Redundancy) – A volume optimized for data redundancy will
provide you with a realtime duplicate copy of
your data. Note: Only half of the available vol-
ume space will be available for data storage.
h  Strip Sizes:
Select the desired strip size setting. As indicated, the optimal setting is 128KB.
Selecting any other option may result in performance degradation. Even though
128KB is the recommended setting for most users, you should choose the
strip size value which is best suited to your specific RAID usage model. The
most typical strip size settings are:
4KB: For specialized usage models requiring 4KB strips
8KB: For specialized usage models requiring 8KB strips
16KB: Best for sequential transfers 
						

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Before you continue to Step 3 of 3 by clicking Next in Step 2 of 3, read the
next 2 dialogue boxes carefully. Please note that once you have selected
Migrate on Step 3 of 3, the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition will
have claimed the disks to be used in creating a new volume and this operation
cannot be undone. It is critical that you backup all important data before
selecting Ye s to these dialogue boxes:
(2) Step 3 of 3: Confirm the creation of new RAID volume
In Step 3, confirm the creation of the new RAID volume and then click
Migrate: 32KB: Good for sequential transfers
64KB: Good general purpose strip size
128KB: Best performance for most desktops and workstations 
						

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Migration Process
The migration process may take up to two hours to complete depending
on the size of the disks being used and the strip size selected. A dialog
window will appear stating that the migration process may take considerable
time to complete and you must click Ye s in order to start the migration. While
you can still continue using your computer during the migration process,
once the migration process starts, it cannot be stopped. If the migration process
gets interrupted and your system is rebooted for any reason, it will pick up the
migration process where it left off. You will be provided with an estimated
completion time (the remaining time will depend on your system) once the
migration process starts as illustrated in the following example:
The following screen appears if the migration process is completed
successfully. Then you have to reboot your system to use the full capacity of
the new volume. 
						

							VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Appendix. Using 4- or 6-Channel
Audio Function
Appendix C: VIA VT6420 Serial ATA
RAID Introduction
VIA VT6420 provides a hybrid solution that combines two independent
SATA ports for support of up to two Serial ATA (Serial ATA RAID) drives.
Serial ATA (SATA) is the latest generation of the ATA interface. SATA
hard drives deliver blistering transfer speeds of up to 150MB/sec. Serial ATA
uses long, thin cables, making it easier to connect your drive and improving
the airflow inside your PC.
The key features of VT6420 SATA RAID are:
1. Support two SATA + two PATA.
2. Only SATA supports RAID.
3. Supports ATA 133 high performance hard disk drive.
4. Supports hard disk drive larger than 137 GB (48-bits LBA).
5. Dual independent ATA channels and maximum connection of four
hard disk drives allowed.
6. Supports Ultra DMA mode 6/5/4/3/2/1/0, DMA mode 2/1/0, and PIO
mode 4/3/2/1/0.
7. Supports PCI Plug and Play. PCI interrupt sharing and coexists with
mainboard IDE controller.
8. Supports IDE bus master operation.
9. Supports RAID 0, 1, and JBOD.
10. 4 KB to 64 KB striping block size support.
11. Bootable disk or disk array support.
12. Windows-based RAID configure and management software tool.
(Compatible with BIOS)
13. Real-time monitoring of device status and error alarm with popup mes-
sage box and beeping.
14. Supports hot-swap failed disk drive in RAID 1 array.
15. Mirroring automatic background rebuilds support.
16. ATA SMART function support.
17. Microsoft Windows 98, Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP operating systems
support.
18. Event log for easy troubleshooting.
19. On-line help for easy operation for RAID software. 
						

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Introduction
This section gives a brief introduction on the RAID-related background
knowledge and a brief introduction on VIA SATA RAID Host Controller.  For
users wishing to install their VIA SATA RAID driver and RAID software,
proceed to Driver and RAID Software Installation section.
RAID Basics
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a method of combin-
ing two or more hard disk drives into one logical unit. The advantage of an
Array is to provide better performance or data fault tolerance. Fault tolerance
is achieved through data redundant operation, where if one drives fails, a
mirrored copy of the data can be found on another drive. This can prevent
data loss if the operating system fails or hangs. The individual disk drives in
an array are called “members”. The configuration information of each member
is recorded in the “reserved sector” that identifies the drive as a member. All
disk members in a formed disk array are recognized as a single physical drive
to the operating system.
Hard disk drives can be combined together through a few different
methods. The different methods are referred to as different RAID levels.  Dif-
ferent RAID levels represent different performance levels, security levels and
implementation costs. The RAID levels which the VIA VT6420 SATA RAID
Host Controller supports are RAID 0 and RAID 1. The table below  briefly
introduced these RAID levels.
RAID Level  No. of Drives  Capacity  Benefits 
RAID 0 
(Striping) 2  Number drives * 
Smallest size Highest performance without data 
protection 
RAID 1 
(Mirroring) 2  Smallest size  Data protection 
JBOD 
(Spanning) 2  Sum of all drives  No data protection and 
performance improving, but disk 
capacity is fully used.  
						

							VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 0 reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple
drives.  If any disk member fails, it affects the entire array. The disk array data
capacity is equal to the number of drive members times the capacity of the
smallest member.  The striping block size can be set from 4KB to 64KB.  RAID
0 does not support fault tolerance.
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1 writes duplicate data onto a pair of drives and reads both sets of
data in parallel.  If one of the mirrored drives suffers a mechanical failure or
does not respond, the remaining drive will continue to function.  Due to
redundancy, the drive capacity of the array is the capacity of the smallest
drive.  Under a RAID 1 setup, an extra drive called the .spare drive. can be
attached.  Such a drive will be activated to replace a failed drive that is part of
a mirrored array.  Due to the fault tolerance, if any RAID 1 drive fails, data
access will not be affected as long as there are other working drives in the
array.
JBOD (Spanning)
A spanning disk array is equal to the sum of the all drives when the
drives used are having different capacities.  Spanning stores data onto a drive
until it is full, then proceeds to store files onto the next drive in the array.
When any disk member fails, the failure affects the entire array.  JBOD is not
really a RAID and does not support fault tolerance. 
						

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BIOS Configuration
When the system powers on during the POST (Power-On Self Test)
process, press  key to enter the BIOS configuration.
The Serial ATA RAID volume may be configured using the VIA Tech.
RAID BIOS. Always use the arrow keys to navigate the main menu, use up and
down arrow key to select the each item and press  to call out the list of
creation steps. The main interface of BIOS configuration utility is as below: 
						

							VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Create Disk Array
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the Create Array command
and press .
MSI Reminds You...
The “Channel”, “Drive  Name”, “Mode” and “Size (GB)” in the
following example might be different from your system.
Select Array Mode  and press , a list of array modes will appear.
Highlight the target array mode that you want to create, and press  to
confirm the selection.  If RAID 1 or RAID 0/1 is selected, an option list will
popup and enable the users to select Create only or Create and duplicate.
Create only will allow BIOS to only create an array.  The data on the mirroring
drive may be different from the source drive.  Create and duplicate lets BIOS
copy the data from the source to the mirroring drive. 
						

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If user selects a RAID 0 array in step 2, the block size of the array can also
be selected.  Use the arrow key to highlight Block Size and press ,
then select a block size from the popup menu.  The block size can be 4KB to
64KB. After array mode is selected, there are two methods to create a disk
array.  One method is “Auto Setup” and the other one is “Select Disk Drives”.
Auto Setup allows BIOS to select the disk drives and create arrays automatically,
but it does  not duplicate the mirroring drives even if the user selected Create
and duplicate for RAID 1.  It is recommended all disk drives are new ones when
wanting to create an array.  Select Disk Drives lets the user select the array
drives by their requirements.  When using  Select Disk Drives, the channel
column will be activated.   Highlight the target drives that you want to  use and
press  to select them.  After all drives have been selected, press 
to go back to the creation steps menu. 
						

							VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Use the arrow key to highlight Start Create Process and press .
A warning message will appear, Press Y to finish the creation, or press N to
cancel the creation.
Important note: All existing content in the hard drive will be destroyed
after array creation.
MSI Reminds You...
Even though 64KB is the recommended setting for most users, you
should choose the block size value which is best suited to your
specific RAID usage model.
4KB: For specialized usage models requiring 4KB blocks
8KB: For specialized usage models requiring 8KB blocks
16KB: Best for sequential transfers
32KB: Good for sequential transfers
64KB: Optimal setting