MSI Ms6728 Ver 1 Manual

							Intel  ICH5R Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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Appendix. Using 4- or 6-Channel
Audio Function
The southbridge ICH5R 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.
1. Supports 150 MB/s transfers with CRC error checking
2. Data handling optimizations including tagged command queuing,
elevator seek and packet chain command
Appendix B: Intel ICH5R Serial ATA
RAID Introduction
MSI Reminds You...
All the information/volumes listed in your system might differ from
the illustrations in this appendix. 
						

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Introduction
Following are the Parallel ATA (P-ATA) and Serial ATA (S-ATA) device
configurations supported by Intel ICH5R.
ATA Operate Mode
There are two modes to select: Legacy mode and Native mode.
Legacy  Mode:
--- In this mode, system BIOS just assign the traditional 14 and 15 IRQs
to use for HDD.
--- Older OSs  that do not support switch to Native Mode (DOS, Win98/
ME...) should set SATA and PATA to Legacy Mode.
--- Maximum 4 ATA devices to connect.
--- Combine mode and Non-Combine mode.
h Non-Combined Mode: P-ATA devices only .
        Maximum of 4 devices.
h Non-Combined Mode: S-ATA devices only.
        Maximum of 2 devices.
h Combined Mode: S-ATA devices
           P-ATA devices
           Maximum of 2 devices each, thus total 4 devices
            at  maximum.
Native  Mode:
--- In this mode, system BIOS will search all available IRQs to use for HDD.
--- New OS that support switch to Native Mode (WinXP, Win2K) can set
SATA and PATA to Native Mode.
--- Comprehend both Legacy and/or Native Modes.
--- Maximum 6 ATA devices to connect (4 for P-ATA & 2 for S-ATA).
MSI Reminds You...
BIOS provides a BIOS setup option for Native Mode or Legacy
Mode user selection. Please refer to P.3-23 On-Chip IDE
Configuration for details. 
						

							Intel  ICH5R Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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What is RAID 0 (striping)?
RAID 0 leverages the read/write capabilities of two or more hard drives
working in unison to maximize the storage performance of a computer system.
Data in a RAID 0 volume is arranged into blocks that are interleaved among
the disks so that reads and writes can be performed in parallel (see below
diagram). This technique, known as striping, is the fastest of all of the RAID
levels, especially for reading and writing large sequential files. Real world
usage models where RAID 0 can be of particular benefit include loading large
files into an image editing application such as Adobe* Photoshop*, saving
large movie files in a video editing application such as Adobe* Premiere*, or
creating CD or DVD images with a CD/DVD authoring package such as Roxio*
Easy CD Creator*.
The hard drives in a RAID 0 volume are combined to form one volume
which appears as a single virtual drive to the operating system. For example,
two 40 GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array will appear as a single 80 GB hard
drive to the operating system.
No redundancy information is stored in a RAID 0 volume. This means
that if one hard drive fails, all data on both drives is lost. This lack of redun-
dancy is also reflected by the RAID level 0, which indicates no redundancy.
RAID 0 is not recommended for use in servers or other environments where
data redundancy is a primary goal.
Minimum Disks: 2
Advantage:Highest transfer rates
Redundancy:None - if one disk fails all data will be lost
Application: Typically used in desktops and workstations for
maximum performance for temporary data and
high I/O rate 
						

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What is RAID 1 (mirroring)?
A RAID 1 array contains two hard drives where the data between the
two is mirrored in real time. Since all of the data is duplicated, the operating
system treats the usable space of a RAID 1 array as the maximum size of one
hard drive in the array. For example, two 40 GB hard drives in a RAID 1 array
will appear as a single 40 GB hard drive to the operating system.
The primary benefit of RAID 1 mirroring is that it provides good data
reliability in the case of a single disk failure. When one disk drive fails, all data
is immediately available on the other without any impact to the data integrity.
In the case of a disk failure, the computer system will remain fully operational
to ensure maximum productivity.
The performance of a RAID 1 array is greater than that of a single drive
since data can be read from multiple disks simultaneously, although disk
writes do not realize the same benefit as is the case with RAID 0.
Minimum Disks: 2
Advantage:100% redundancy of data. One disk may fail, but data
will continue to be accessible. A rebuild to a new disk is
recommended to maintain data redundancy.
Redundancy:Excellent - disk mirroring means that all data on one disk
is duplicated on another disk.
Application: Typically used for smaller systems where capacity of
one disk is sufficient and for any application(s) requir-
ing very high availability. 
						

							Intel  ICH5R Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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BIOS Configuration
The Intel RAID Option ROM should be integrated with the system
BIOS on all motherboards with a supported Intel chipset. The Intel RAID
Option ROM is the Intel RAID implementation and provides BIOS and DOS
disk services. Please use  +  keys to enter the “Intel(R) RAID for
Serial ATA” status screen, which should  appear early in system boot-up,
during the POST (Power-On Self Test).
MSI Reminds You...
The “Driver Model”, “Serial #” and “Size” in the following
example might be different from your system.
After the above message shows, press  and  keys
simultaneously to enter the RAID Configuration Utility.
Using the Intel RAID Option ROM
1. Creating, Deleting and Resetting RAID Volumes:
The Serial ATA RAID volume may be configured using the RAID
Configuration utility stored within the Intel RAID Option ROM. During the
Power-On Self Test (POST), the following message will appear for a few seconds: 
						

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2. Creating, Deleting and Resetting RAID Volumes:
After pressing the  and  keys simultaneously, the following
window will appear:
(1) Create RAID Volume
1.  Select option 1 “Create RAID Volume” and press  key. The following
screen appears:
MSI Reminds You...
The following procedure is only available with a newly-built
system or if you are reinstalling your OS. It should not be used to
migrate an existing system to RAID 0. 
						

							Intel  ICH5R Serial ATA RAID Introduction
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2.  Specify a RAID Volume name and then press the  or  key
to go to the next field.
3.  Select the strip value for the RAID 0 or RAID 1 array by using the “upper
arrow” or “down arrow” keys  to scroll through the available values, and
pressing the  key to select and advance to the next field. The
available values range from 4KB to 128 KB in power of 2 increments. The
strip value should be chosen based on the planned drive usage. Here are
some suggested selections:
16 KB – Best for sequential transfers
64 KB – Good general purpose strip size
128 KB – Best performance for most desktops and workstations.
     The default value.
     Select the RAID level (Striping for RAID0 and Mirror for RAID1) by
scrolling through the available values by using the “upper arrow” or
“down arrow”, and press the  key to select and advance to the
next field. 
						

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 5. Then press  to create the specified volume and the following
prompt will show:   4. From the Strip size, press the  or  key to advance to the
Create Volume prompt. The window will appear as follows: 
						

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6. Press  to confirm the selection or press  to create the RAID
volume again. Then you will return to the main menu with an
updated status as follows:
7. Scroll to option 4 Exit and press  to exit the RAID Configuration
utility. The following prompt appears:
       8.  Click  to confirm the exit. 
						

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(2) Delete RAID Volume
Here you can delete the RAID volume, but please be noted that all data on
RAID drives will be lost.
Select option 2 Delete RAID Volume from the main menu window and press
 key to select a RAID volume for deletion. The following window will
appear:
MSI Reminds You...
If your system currently boots to RAID and you delete the RAID
volume in the Intel RAID Option ROM, your system will become
unbootable.