Motherboard With NVIDIA Raid Configurations
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
This section describes the following types of RAID arrays that Motherboards with NVIDIA RAID
supports:
• RAID 0
RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write times for many applications.
• RAID 1
RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.
• RAID 0+1
RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays.
• RAID 5
RAID 5 provides fault tolerance and better utilization of disk capacity.
• Spanning (JBOD)
JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes into one large
disk.
• Free Disk and Dedicated Spare Disk
A Free Disk or Dedicated Disk can be automatically used in case one drive of a fault-tolerant array fails. NVIDIA RAID defines a fault-tolerant array as either RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or RAID 5. A free disk can be used by any available faulttolerant array, while a dedicated disk can be used only by the array to which it is assigned.
• Bootable RAID
This allows you to install the operating system onto the RAID volume.
• Morphing
Morphing is the ability to convert from one RAID mode to another RAID mode. This allows the user to upgrade their current disk or array for better performance, higher security, and increased capacity. More importantly, this is accomplished withouthaving to go through multiple steps. The morphing feature gives the user an upgradeable option to manage storage easily.
• Hot Plug Array
A nice flexibility feature is the ability to move MediaShield RAID arrays from one nForce system to another. Since most nForce systems support SATA hot plug capability, you can add/remove a RAID array even while the system is running.
• Basic Configuration Instructions
The following are the basic steps for configuring NVIDIA RAID:
Non-Bootable RAID Array
1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS.
2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Stripe Mirroring
(RAID 0+1), or Spanning (JBOD) and create the desired RAID array.
3. Install the operating system on one hard disk, then reboot the computer.
4. Run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the RAID driver.
5. Initialize the NVRAID Array.