This document introduces the SATA hard disk installation and RAID configuration methods supported by a motherboard, the concept of RAID and its usage methods, and the RAID configuration methods supported by the motherboard.
This guide provides instructions for installing Serial ATA (SATA) hard disks and configuring various RAID levels on motherboards that use Intel ICH6R or ICH7R southbridge chipsets. It covers basic RAID concepts, installation precautions, BIOS settings, and the Intel RAID BIOS utility.
The document walks you through creating, sizing, and deleting RAID volumes, selecting stripe sizes, and choosing RAID levels such as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage. It also includes safety warnings and tips for optimal performance.
| Supported RAID levels | RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Matrix Storage |
|---|---|
| Minimum drives for RAID 10 | 4 hard disks |
| Minimum drives for RAID 5 | 3 hard disks |
| RAID 0 stripe size options | 8 KB to 128 KB (default 128 KB) |
You can select a stripe size between 8 KB and 128 KB; 128 KB is the default and gives the best performance for most desktops and workstations.
No, RAID 0 improves performance but provides no fault tolerance; a disk failure will cause data loss.
A RAID 10 configuration requires a minimum of four hard disk drives.