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5 Configuring RAID in a Dell workstation | 1.0

1 Introduction

This chapter provides introduction to this document along with the scope and Glossary of terms.

1.1 Overview

This document helps with configuring RAID volumes on SATA, SAS, and NVMe drives using Intel® Rapid

Storage Technology Enterprise (Intel® RSTe), Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) and Broadcom

MegaRAID® SAS 9440-8i and 9460-16i RAID controllers. Intel® RSTe supports only SATA drives. Intel®

VROC supports only NVMe drives. MegaRAID SAS 9440-8i/9460-16i support SAS, SATA and NVMe drives.

This document only gives a high-level overview to manage RAID configurations. To get detailed explanation

of RAID related terms, and technologies refer to the documentation and specifications of the corresponding

controller/technology/protocol.

1.2 Scope

This document provides examples for RAID configurations using the Precision 5820 | 7820 | 7920 Tower

platforms. In these platforms, Intel® RSTe, Intel® VROC, MegaRAID SAS 9440-8i and MegaRAID SAS 9460-

16i are the supported controllers. So only these controllers are used to explain RAID configurations.

In some of the screenshots, a firmware version may be listed. The versions are to be treated as examples

only. Actual firmware version on your installation may be slightly different than what is presented in this

document.

NVMe related sections are new to the current platforms and did not present in previous generations. As a new

technology, NVMe related sections are subject to change as the technology evolves.

1.3 Glossary of Terms

Definition of terms found throughout this document

Acronym/Terminology

Remarks

SAS Serial attached SCSI. More info: http://www.t10.org/

SATA Serial ATA. ATA stands for AT attachment. More info: http://www.sata-io.org/

PCIe PCI Express. More info: https://pcisig.com/specifications/pciexpress/

NVMe NVM Express. NVM stands for Non-Volatile Memory. http://nvmexpress.org/

Intel

RSTe Intel

Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel

RSTe)

Intel

VMD Intel

Volume Management Device (Intel

VMD)

Intel

VROC Intel

Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel

VROC)

PCIe HSBP PCIe High speed Backplanes – required to connect NVMe drives

HDD Hard Disk Drive