Configuring RAID with Intel RSTe

If your computer comes with the Intel RSTe configuration utility, you can follow the sections below to configure RAID with Intel RSTe.

Storage drive requirements for RAID levels

Your computer supports the following RAID levels:

RAID 0: striped disk array
- Consists of at least two SATA storage drives
- Supported strip size: 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, or 128 KB
- Better performance without fault tolerance
RAID 1: mirrored disk array
- Consists of two SATA storage drives
- Improved reading performance and 100% redundancy
RAID 10: striped and mirrored disk array (a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1)
- Consists of four SATA storage drives
- Supported strip size: 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, or 64 KB
RAID 5: block-level striped disk array with distributed parity
- Consists of at least three SATA storage drives
- Supported strip size: 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, or 128 KB
- Better performance and fault tolerance

Creating a RAID volume

Attention: All the existing data stored on the selected drives will be erased while the RAID volume is being created.

To create a RAID volume, do the following:

Enable RAID by doing the following:
1. Start the Setup Utility program. See Starting the Setup Utility program.
2. Select Devices > PCH SATA Configuration and press Enter.
3. Select Configure SATA as and press Enter. Then, select RAID and press Enter.
4. To save settings and exit the Setup Utility program, press F10 or Fn+F10 (depending on the keyboard settings), select Yes in the window displayed, and press Enter.
Start the Setup Utility program again. See Starting the Setup Utility program.
Select Advanced > Intel RSTe SATA Controller and press Enter.
Select Create RAID Volume and press Enter. The Create RAID Volume window is displayed.
Select and configure the options one by one.
1. Name: You can use the default name Volume0 or type a preferred name for the RAID volume.
2. RAID Level: You can set the RAID level to one of the following:
  - RAID0
  - RAID1
  - RAID10
  - RAID5
  Note: Some of the RAID levels might not be displayed because the number of installed SATA storage drives varies.
3. Select Disks: Select a storage drive and press Enter. Then, select X and press Enter to add it to a group.
4. Strip Size (if applicable): Select a strip size and press Enter.
5. Capacity: Customize the capacity of the RAID volume. The default RAID volume is the largest value.
Select Create Volume and press Enter to create a RAID volume.
To save settings and exit the Setup Utility program, press F10 or Fn+F10 (depending on the keyboard settings), select Yes in the window displayed, and press Enter.

Viewing the information about a RAID volume

To view the information about a RAID volume, do the following:

Start the Setup Utility program. See Starting the Setup Utility program.
Select Advanced > Intel RSTe SATA Controller and press Enter.
Select RAID Volumes and press Enter.
Select a RAID volume and press Enter to view the detailed information.

Deleting a RAID volume

Attention: All the existing data stored on the selected drives will be erased after you delete RAID volumes.

To delete a RAID volume, do the following:

Start the Setup Utility program. See Starting the Setup Utility program.
Select Advanced > Intel RSTe SATA Controller and press Enter.
Under RAID Volumes, select the RAID volume that you want to delete and press Enter. The RAID VOLUME INFO window is displayed.
Select Delete under Volume Actions and press Enter. When prompted, select Yes and press Enter to confirm the deletion of the selected RAID volume.
To save settings and exit the Setup Utility program, press F10 or Fn+F10 (depending on the keyboard settings), select Yes in the window displayed, and press Enter.