ASROCK M3A790GMH/128M

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AMD RAID Installation Guide

1. AMD BIOS RAID Installation Guide …………………………………………………………………….. 2

1.1 Introduction to RAID ……………………………………………………………………………….. 2

1.2 RAID Configurations Precautions ………………………………………………………………… 3

1.3 Installing Windows XP / XP 64-bit / Vista / Vista 64-bit With RAID Funtions ………………… 3

1.3.1 Installing Windows XP / XP 64-bit With RAID Funtions …………………………………. 3

1.3.2 Installing Windows Vista / Vista 64-bit With RAID Funtions …………………………….. 4

1.4 Create Disk Array ………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

2. AMD Windows RAID Installation Guide ……………………………………………………………… 10

2.1 Components of RAIDXpert Installation Software ……………………………………………. 10

2.2 Browser Support ………………………………………………………………………………… 10

2.3 Installing RAIDXpert ……………………………………………………………………………. 10

2.4 Logging into RAIDXpert ………………………………………………………………………… 13

2.5 Regular Connection……………………………………………………………………………... 13

2.6 Secure Connection………………………………………………………………………………. 13

2.7 Creating a New Logical Drive ………………………………………………………………….. 14

2.8 Connecting to RAIDXpert from the Internet ………………………………………………….. 17

2.9 Running RAIDXpert without Network Connection …………………………………………… 17

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This document, titled "AMD RAID Installation Guide," serves as a comprehensive manual for configuring and managing RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) functions using AMD's FastBuild BIOS utility and the RAIDXpert software. It covers both BIOS-level setup and Windows-based management, providing detailed instructions for various RAID configurations, operating system installations, and ongoing maintenance.

Function Description:

The AMD RAID Installation Guide outlines two primary methods for managing RAID:

AMD BIOS RAID Installation: This section details how to configure RAID functions directly within the BIOS environment using the onboard FastBuild BIOS utility. It's the initial setup phase, crucial for defining RAID arrays before operating system installation.
AMD Windows RAID Installation: This part focuses on using the RAIDXpert RAID management software within a Windows environment. RAIDXpert offers both local and remote management capabilities for AMD SB750 SATA logical drives across a network. Its browser-based GUI allows for monitoring, configuration, and maintenance tasks after the operating system is installed.

The core function of RAID is to combine multiple hard disk drives into one or more logical units to improve performance, provide data redundancy, or both. The guide explains several RAID levels:

RAID 0 (Data Striping): Optimizes two or more identical hard disk drives for parallel read/write operations, significantly improving data access and storage performance by doubling the data transfer rate. However, it offers no fault tolerance; a single drive failure results in data loss.
RAID 1 (Data Mirroring): Copies and maintains an identical image of data from one drive to a second. This provides data protection and increases fault tolerance, as the system can continue operating if one drive fails.
RAID 10 (Stripe Mirroring): Combines RAID 0 and RAID 1 techniques, offering both improved performance (data striping) and resiliency (disk mirroring). Data is striped across multiple drives and duplicated on another set of drives.
JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks): Refers to one or more physical drives working independently. The AMD SB750 controller adds concatenation, allowing the capacity of multiple drives to be combined into a single large volume. Data fills one drive before moving to the next. JBOD does not offer performance or security advantages of RAID logical drives.
RAID Ready: Arranges individual physical drives as if attached to the PC's motherboard controller. It doesn't offer performance or security advantages but allows the AMD SB750 Controller to accommodate up to four physical drives, more than many standard motherboards.

Important Technical Specifications:

Controller Compatibility: The RAIDXpert software is specifically designed to work with AMD SB750 SATA RAID controllers. Other brands of RAID controllers are explicitly stated as not supported.
Operating System Support: The guide provides installation procedures for Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows Vista, and Windows Vista 64-bit on RAID disks.
Browser Support for RAIDXpert: For the Host PC running RAIDXpert, supported browsers include Internet Explorer 6.0, Mozilla Suite 1.7, Mozilla Firefox 1.0, or Netscape Navigator 7.1.
RAIDXpert Components: The installation includes the RAIDXpert RAID management software and a private Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to prevent incompatibility issues with other JREs.
RAID 0 Precautions: Requires two new, identical SATA drives for optimal performance. If drives of different sizes are used, the smaller capacity dictates the base storage size for each drive, limiting the total array capacity.
RAID 1 Precautions: Can use two new drives or one existing and one new drive. The new drive must be of the same size or larger than the existing drive. The smaller capacity drive determines the base storage size for the RAID 1 set.
Stripe Block Size (RAID 0, 5, 10): Choices are 64 KB and 128 KB.
Write Cache Policy: Fixed as "Write Through" for RAID 0, 5, and 10, and cannot be changed.
Gigabyte Boundary Policy (RAID 0, 1, 5): Options include "GigaByte Boundary" (rounds down to the nearest whole gigabyte, default) and "None" (no boundary function).
Initialization Policies:
- Fast Initialization: Erases reserve and master boot sectors.
- Full Initialization: Erases all sectors (for RAID 0, 1, and 5 only).
- None: No initialization (not recommended).

Usage Features:

BIOS Configuration (FastBuild Utility):
- Accessed by pressing <Ctrl+F> during boot-up after setting "SATA Operation Mode" to [RAID] in BIOS.
- Allows viewing drive assignments, defining logical drives (RAID 0, 1, 10, JBOD, RAID Ready), deleting logical drives, and configuring the controller.
- Users can select RAID levels, assign physical drives, and define logical drive capacity (either full capacity or split among multiple logical drives).
- Option to create a driver diskette for OS installation (Windows XP/XP 64-bit).
Windows Configuration (RAIDXpert Software):
- Installation: Requires logging in as Administrator, inserting the software CD, and following prompts. Users can choose installation folder and decide on External SSL Security.
- Login: Can be accessed via HTTP (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:25902/ati) or HTTPS for secure connections (e.g., https://127.0.0.1:8443/amd). Default login ID and password are "admin" (case sensitive).
- Remote Management: RAIDXpert supports both local and remote access over a network, allowing monitoring and management from other PCs.
- Logical Drive Creation: Through the "Logical Drive View" and "Create" tab, users can select RAID levels, choose free physical drives, assign a name, set stripe block size, gigabyte boundary policy, and initialization policy.
- Offline Mode: RAIDXpert can be run without a network connection from the Host PC, though it requires specific steps to bypass connection warnings.

Maintenance Features:

Data Backup Warning: Crucially, the guide emphasizes backing up data before creating RAID functions, especially when clearing disk data during setup.
Fault Tolerance: RAID 1 and RAID 10 inherently offer data protection and increased fault tolerance, ensuring system operation even if one drive fails. RAID 0, however, lacks this feature.
Monitoring: RAIDXpert's browser-based GUI provides monitoring of all components in the RAID configuration, including server, controller, logical drives, physical drives, and enclosure.
Event Logging: RAIDXpert offers drive event logging to track activities and potential issues.
Email Notification: The software can send email notifications for major events or alarms (e.g., errors or degraded conditions).
Logical Drive Maintenance: RAIDXpert supports various maintenance tasks for logical drives, including rebuild operations.
Partitioning and Formatting: After creating a new logical drive, users must partition and format it using the PC's operating system before it can be used.