User Guide

53987 Rev. 3.01 June 2016
AMD-RAIDXpert2 User Guide
Chapter 2
Getting Started
23
Notes:
1. At the AMD BIOS Configuration Utility (also referred to as the Option-ROM) arrays can be created or
deleted, and Critical or Offline arrays are indicated. INT13 support can be turned off completely at the
BIOS Configuration Utility.
2. See Chapter 3, Arrays, Disks and RAID Levels, on page 24, for detailed information about
understanding arrays, RAID levels, and performance and reliability considerations.
3. The unique ability of RAIDXpert2 to provide online expansion to RAID levels across multiple disks
becomes extremely valuable when expanded storage is a requirement.
4. Disk roaming allows arrays to be moved from port to port, either within the same system or between
systems.
5. See the system’s motherboard specifications for the supported device interface.
6. Multiple RAID levels (array types) per disk allows the administrator to create different RAID levels on
the same disks. For example: The administrator wants data redundancy for the user data, and creates a
RAID5 set using part of the disks’ data. At the same time the administrator wants performance for the
swap spaces, and creates a RAID0 array using the rest of the disks’ capacities (space). This feature is
useful in collecting unused capacity from disks with different capacities.
7. This feature increases data integrity for redundant array types, by logging areas of an array that have
been written to. In the event of a system crash, the logged area’s consistency is checked and/or
corrected. Without this feature, data corruption might occur.
8. Arrays can be instantly created and used by skipping the background consistency check. For certain
types of redundant arrays this is a viable option and has no data integrity drawbacks. A consistency
check can always be done at a later time. If an initialization is skipped when using RAID5, the array is
not redundant until a consistency check is performed.
9. Disks can be added to the system and to an array while the system is operating, but is not recommend
for disks that are part of the Boot Virtual Disk or which are connected to the AMD 300-Series Chipset.