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Appendix C: Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines

C-1

Appendix C

Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines

After all the hardware has been installed, you must ﬁ rst conﬁ gure SATA HostRAID

or SAS HostRAID before you install the Windows Operating System and other

software drivers. (The LSI SAS HostRAID is available on the X7DCL-3 only.)

Important Notes to the User:

This chapter describes RAID Conﬁ guration Instructions for the Intel ICH9R

Host RAID Controller designed for the Windows OS. To conﬁ gure the LSI

SAS HostRAID for the X7DCL-3, please refer to the LSI folder for the LSI

SAS HostRAID Utility and documentation. The LSI folder is included in the

CD-ROM that came with your motherboard.

If you do not wish to conﬁ gure onboard SATA or SAS RAID functions, please

go directly to Section C-2 and Appendix D for the operating system & other

software installation instructions.

C-1 Introduction to Serial ATA and Parallel ATA

To conﬁ gure the SATA RAID functions, you must ﬁ rst use the Intel ICH9R SATA

RAID Utility program to conﬁ gure the RAID Level that you desire before installing

the Windows XP/2000/2003 operating system and other software drivers. The

necessary drivers are all included on the Super Micro CD that came packaged

with your motherboard. Note: the current version of the ICH9R SATA RAID Utility

can only support Windows XP/2000/2003 Operating Systems.

Serial ATA (SATA)

Serial ATA (SATA) is a physical storage interface that uses a single cable with a

minimum of four wires to create a point-to-point connection between devices. It

is a serial link, which supports transfer rates up to 3.0 Gbps. Because the serial

cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Parallel ATA

(PATA), SATA systems have better airﬂ ow and can be installed in smaller chassis.

In addition, the cables used in PATA are limited to a length of 40cm, while Se-

rial ATA cables can be up to one meter in length. Overall, SATA provides better

functionality than PATA.

Introduction to the Intel ICH9R Serial RAID

Located in the South Bridge of the Intel 5100 chipset, the I/O Controller Hub

(ICH9R) provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It

supports six Serial ATA (SATA) ports. The ICH9R supports the following SATA

conﬁ gurations: Legacy mode and Native mode.