MSI Km4mv Manual

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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 combining 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 redun-
dant 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.  Different RAID levels
represent different performance levels, security levels and implementation costs.
The RAID levels which the VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Host Controller supports are RAID
0 and RAID 1. The table below  briefly introduced these RAID levels.
Introduction
RAID Level  No. of Drives  Capacity  Benefits 
RAID 0 
(Striping) 2    Number drives * 2  Highest performance without data 
protection 
RAID 1 
(Mirroring) 2  Smallest size  Data protection 
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. 
						

							VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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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: 
						

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Create Disk Array
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the Create Array command and press
.
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.
MSI Reminds You...
The “Channel”, “Drive  Name”, “Mode” and “Size (GB)” in the following
example might be different from your system. 
						

							VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
4-5 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. 
						

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Delete Disk Array
A RAID can be deleted after it has been created.  To delete a RAID, use the following
steps:
1. Select Delete Array in the main menu and press .  The channel
column will be activated.
2. Select the member of an array that is to be deleted and press .  A
warning message will show up, press Y to delete or press N to cancel.
Deleting a disk array will destroy all the data on the disk array except RAID 1 arrays.
When a RAID is deleted, the data on these two hard disk drives will be reserved and
become two normal disk drives.
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 
						

							VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Create and Delete Spare Hard Drive
If a RAID 1 array is created and there are drives that do not belong to other arrays,
the one that has a capacity which is equal to or greater than the array capacity can
be selected  as a spare drive  for the RAID 1 array.  Select Create/Delete Spare
and  press , the channel column will then be activated.  Select the drive that
you want to use as a spare drive and press , the selected drive will be
marked as Spare.  The spare drive cannot be accessed in an OS.
To delete a spare drive, highlight Create/Delete Spare and press .  The
spare drive will be highlighted, press  to delete the spare drive.
View Serial Number of Hard Drive
Highlight Serial Number View and press .  Use arrow key to select a drive,
the selected drive’s serial number can be viewed in the last column.  The serial
number is assigned by the disk drive manufacturer.
Press the F1 key to show the array status on the lower screen.  If there are no disk
arrays then nothing will be displayed on the screen. 
						

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Rebuild Broken RAID 1 Array
When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if any member disk drives of RAID has
failed or is absent. If BIOS detects any disk drive failures or missing disk drives, the
status of the array will be marked as broken.
If BIOS detects a broken RAID 1 array but there is a spare hard drive available for
rebuilding the broken array, the spare hard drive will automatically become the mir-
roring drive. BIOS will show a main interface just like a duplicated RAID 1. Selecting
Continue to boot enables the user to duplicate the array after booting into operat-
ing system.
If BIOS detects a broken RAID 1 array but there is  no  spare  hard  drive available for
rebuilding the array, BIOS will provide several operations to solve such problem.
Duplicate Critical RAID 1 Array
When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if the RAID 1 array has any inconsis-
tencies between user data and backup data.  If BIOS detects any inconsistencies,
the status of the disk array will be marked as critical, and BIOS will prompt the user
to duplicate the RAID 1 in order to ensure the backup data consistency with the user
data.
If user selects Continue to boot, it will enable duplicating the array after booting
into OS. 
						

							VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
4-9 1. Power off and Check the Failed Drive:
This item turns off the computer and replaces the failed hard drive with a good one.
If your computer does not support APM, you must turn off your computer manually.
After replacing the hard drive, boot into BIOS and select Choose replacement
drive and rebuild to rebuild the broken array.
2. Destroy the Mirroring Relationship:
This item cancels the data mirroring relationship of the broken array.  For broken RAID
1 arrays, the data on the surviving disk will remain after the destroy operation.
However, Destroy the Mirroring Relationship is not recommend because the
data on the remaining disk will be lost when the hard drive is used to create another
RAID 1 array.
3. Choose Replacement Drive and Rebuild:
This item enables users to select an already-connected hard drive to rebuild the
broken array.  After choosing a hard drive, the channel column will be activated.
 Highlight the target hard drive and press , a warning message will appear.
Press Y to use that hard drive to rebuild, or press N to cancel.  Please note selecting
option Y will destroy all the data on the selected hard drive.
4. Continue to boot:
This item enables BIOS to skip the problem and continue booting into OS. 
						

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Install Driver in Windows OS
h  New Windows OS (2000/XP/NT4) Installation
     The following details the installation of the drivers while installing Windows XP.
1. Start the installation:
Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 when the message Press F6 if  you need
to install third party SCSI or RAID driver appears.
2. When the Windows Setup window is generated, press S to specify an
Additional Device(s).
3. Insert the driver diskette VIA VT6420/VT8237 Disk Driver into drive A: and
press .
4. Depending on your operation system, choose VIA Serial ATA RAID
Controller(Windows XP), VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)
or VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows NT4) from the list that appears
on Windows XP Setup screen, press the  key.
5. Press  to continue with installation or if you need to specify any addi-
tional devices to be installed, do so at this time. Once all devices are specified,
press  to continue with installation.
6. From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the  key. Setup will now
load all device files and then continue the Windows XP installation
h  Existing Windows XP Driver Installation
1. Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. The CD will auto-run and the setup screen will appear.
3. Under the Driver tab, click on VIA SATA RAID Utility.
4. The drivers will be automatically installed.
h  Confirming Windows XP Driver Installation
1. From Windows XP, open the Control Panel from My Computer followed by
the System icon.
2. Choose the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager tab.
3. Click the + in front of the SCSI and RAID Controllers hardware type. The
driver VIA IDE RAID Host Controller should appear.
Installing RAID Software & Drivers 
						

							VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Installation of VIA SATA RAID Utility
The VIA SATA RAID Utility is the software package that enables high-performance
RAID 0 arrays in the Windows* XP operating system. This version of VIA SATA RAID
Utility contains the following key features:
h Serial ATA RAID driver for Windows XP
h VIA SATA RAID utility
h RAID0 and RAID1 functions
Insert the MSI CD and click on the VIA SATA RAID Utility to install the software.
The InstallShield Wizard will begin automatically for installation. Click on the Next
button to proceed the installation in the welcoming window.