Technical Product Specification

Software Intel® RAID Controller RS2WC080 and RS2WC040 TPS
Revision 1.0
Intel Order Number E64400-001
16
3.1.1.2 RAID BIOS
The RAID BIOS is the expansion ROM software defined in the PCI Express* Specification. It
performs the RAID controller initialization from the host system memory during POST.
3.1.1.3 Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 Configuration Utility
The Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 configuration utility provides a graphical user interface to
manage all aspects of the RAID subsystem and many features of the RAID controller. To
access this utility, press <Ctrl> + <G> during system boot time. For details about this utility, see
the Intel
®
RAID Software User’s Guide (Document number: D29305-00x).
3.1.1.4 RAID Firmware Engine
The RAID firmware contains the algorithms for mapping physical to virtual devices, RAID level
algorithms, data redundancy calculation algorithms, and error detection, logging, and reporting
capabilities.
3.1.2 API
To configure the Intel
®
RAID Controller RS2WC080 and RS2WC040, a set of interfaces known
as the IOCTL interface is provided, which allows an application to issue commands to the
controller through the driver. Commands can be issued to determine adapter properties and
change the parameter settings. The API package defines a higher level of commands and
functions for developers who want to configure the RAID adapters with their own utility. This is
implemented as a 32-bit dynamic link library (DLL) for Microsoft Windows* operating systems
and through a set of binaries for other operating systems. Access to the API libraries is
restricted.
3.1.3 Operating System Driver
The operating system driver communicates between the host resident application and the RAID
controller using specific communication protocols.
3.2 User Interface
3.2.1 Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 Configuration Utility
The Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 configuration utility is an X-ROM based utility. To access this
utility, press <Ctrl> + <G> during POST. This utility usually starts at the completion of POST, but
it may expand and operate during POST if sufficient PMM memory is available.
This utility is GUI-based and is most easily used with a mouse. The utility enables the user to
configure the RAID controller properties, manage physical devices attached to the RAID
controller, create and manage virtual drives. The Intel
®
RAID BIOS Console 2 configuration
utility includes a configuration wizard that simplifies the process of creating disk arrays and
virtual drives. The following table describes the available options.