Rms2Mh080

26 Intel® Integrated RAID Module RMS2MH080 Hardware User’s Guide
(SSP), Serial Management Protocol (SMP), and Serial Tunneling Protocol (STP). The
SSP protocol enables communication with other SAS devices. STP allows the SAS RAID
controller to communicate with SATA devices using the SATA commands.
SAS Expander Support
The Intel
®
Integrated RAID Module RMS2MH080 supports LSI* expanders, Vitesse
SAS expanders, and PMC expanders that are used as a component in Intel enclosures.
Other expanders may be supported post launch, based on market conditions and customer
requirements.
Support for Non-Hard Disk Drive Devices
As SAS-based non-hard drive devices were not available when this controller was in
development, support for these devices will be determined as they become available. For
information on support for non-hard drive devices, see the Integrated RAID Module
RMS2MH080 Tested Hardware and Operating System List.
Enclosure Management Support
The Intel
®
Integrated RAID Module RMS2MH080 SES2 enclosure management in-band
to expander-based backplanes and out-of-band to direct-connect backplanes. These RAID
Controllers also support the internal SAS sideband signal SFF-8485 (SGPIO) enclosure
management interface.
RAID Functionality and Features
Hierarchy
The fundamental purpose of a RAID system is to present a usable data storage medium
(virtual drive) with some level of redundancy to a host operating system. The Intel®
RAID firmware is based on the concept of associating physical drives in arrays and then
creating a virtual drive from that array that includes a functional RAID level. To create a
virtual drive and present it to the host operating system, the RAID firmware typically
follows these steps:
1. One or more physical drives are selected and associated as an array.
2. One or more arrays are associated and given a RAID level. This process creates a
virtual drive and provides an option to initialize the virtual drive.
3. The RAID firmware presents the virtual drive to the operating system.