Configuring your Intel® RAID Product in Pre-boot Environment on Intel® Server Boards and Intel® Server Systems

Documentation

Troubleshooting

000005877

08/20/2021

You can change settings or configure your Intel® RAID Controllers in the pre-boot environment (before the operating system has been installed or booted). The method to open the configuration utility depends on the Intel RAID Controller and the boot mode (legacy BIOS or UEFI) of the Intel server you are using:

Click or the topic for details:

Intel RAID Products Legacy BIOS1 UEFI Notes
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU
(Intel
® VROC) NVMe*
Not supported
Press F2 to enter BIOS Setup. Navigate to Advanced -> PCI Configuration -> UEFI Option Rom Control. Under Storage Controller, select the Intel RAID Controller you want to configure.
Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) must be correctly configured in the system BIOS for these options to display.
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU
(Intel
® VROC) SATA2 
During server boot, press <Ctrl>+<I> when Press <CTRL-I> to enter Configuration Utility screen is displayed.

View the RAID BIOS simulator

Intel VROC SATA / RSTe must be correctly configured in the system BIOS for these options to display.
Intel® Embedded Server
RAID Technology 2 (ESRT2)
During server, press <Ctrl>+<E> when Press <Ctrl><E> to enter ESRT2 SATA screen is displayed.


View the RAID BIOS simulator
Intel ESRT2 must be correctly configured in the system BIOS for these options to display.
  • For Intel® Server Board S2600WF/S2600BP/S2600ST/M20MYP Families, Intel ESRT2 supports UEFI boot mode only.
  • Intel ESRT2 can be enabled via Intel Server BIOS Setup -> Advanced -> Mass Storage Controller Configuration -> SATA/sSATA Controller.
  • If Intel ESRT2 is enabled on one controller, you may not enable Intel ESRT2 or Intel VROC SATA/RSTe on the other controller. For example, you may not enable Intel ESRT2 on both SATA and sSATA controller at the same time.
  • Refer to your Intel Server Technical Product Specification and Intel ESRT2 software user guide for details.

Trimode MR-/iMR-based Intel® RAID Controllers:

  • RS3P4TF160F
  • RMSP3AD160F
  • RMSP3CD080F
  • RMSP3HD080E
  • RSP3TD160F
  • RSP3DD080F
  • RSP3MD088F
  • RSP3WD080E
Not supported

Refer to the Intel RAID Configuration Utilities section of the software user guide and MegaRAID (MR) Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) for further details.

12 Gb/s MR-/iMR-based Intel® RAID Controllers

  • RMS3AC160
  • RMS3CC080
  • RMS3CC040
  • RMS3HC080
  • RS3DC080
  • RS3DC040
  • RS3MC044
  • RS3WC080
  • RS3SC008
During server boot, press <Ctrl>+<R> when Press <Ctrl><R> to enter the RAID BIOS Console screen is displayed.

View the RAID BIOS simulator

6 Gb/s MR-based Intel® RAID Controllers
  • RMS25CB080
  • RMS25CB040
  • RMS25PB080
  • RMS25PB040
  • RMT3CB080
  • RMT3PC080
  • RS25AB080
  • RS25DB080
  • RS25NB080
  • RS25SB080
During server boot, press <Ctrl>+<G> when Press <Ctrl><G> to enter the RAID BIOS Console is displayed.

View the RAID BIOS simulator

IR-based Intel® RAID Controllers
  • RMS3JC080
  • RS3UC080
  • RS3FC044
  • RMS25JB080
  • RMS25JB040
  • RMS25KB080
  • RMS25KB080

IT-based Intel® Storage Controllers

  • RS3P4QF160J
  • RMSP3JD160J
  • RSP3GD016J
  • RSP3QD160J
  • RMS3VC160
  • RS3GC008
  • RS3UC080J
  • RS25GB008
During server boot, press <Ctrl>+<C> when Press Ctrl-C to start Avago Config Utility screen is displayed.

Refer to the software user guide for further details.

The IT-based controllers have no settings to configure as they support passthrough mode only. However, you can see properties of the controller.

The RMSP3/RSP3 and RS3P4 families support UEFI mode only.

For legacy BIOS boot mode, If you don't see the prompt to enter the RAID BIOS or configuration utility during the server boot, try to disable Quiet Boot.
Formerly known as Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel RSTe)

 

Post-boot configuration and monitoring utilities are also available that aren't covered on this guide.

  • CLI-based monitoring and Configuring Utilities (post-boot): CmdTool2 and the StorCli are RAID utilities used to configure, monitor, and diagnose controllers and RAID configurations. These utilities use commands, and they run from the EFI shell, Windows*, and Linux* OS. 
  • GUI-based monitoring and Configuring Utilities (post-boot): Intel® RAID Web Console 2 (RWC2) and Intel® RAID Web Console 3 (RWC3) are RAID graphic utilities used to configure, monitor, and diagnose controllers and RAID configurations. They run on the Windows and Linux OS. 

 

 

Related topics
No RAID BIOS During POST for the Tri-Mode Intel® RAID Controllers
Why is the Intel® RAID Controller in the Mass Storage Controller Configuration Menu Greyed Out?
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