How Do I Set Up a RAID 10 Array with the Intel® Embedded Server RAID Technology II (Intel® ESRT2)?

Documentation

Install & Setup

000024444

05/26/2021

To create, add, or modify a virtual drive configuration, follow these steps, taken from the Intel® RAID Software User Guide.

Steps to Create the RAID 10 Array when in Legacy Boot Mode

  1. Follow the initial six steps on this page and refer to the corresponding screenshots. When on step 5, make sure the Quiet Boot option in the Main menu is disabled.
  2. In the Boot Mode menu, make sure Legacy is the set option for Boot Mode.
  3. Press F10 to save the changes to get the system rebooted.
  4. When prompted during POST, press <Ctrl>+<E> to start the Intel® Embedded Server RAID BIOS Configuration utility.
  5. Select Configure from the Main Menu.
  6. Select a configuration method:
    • Easy Configuration doesn't change existing configurations but allows new configurations.
    • New Configuration deletes any existing arrays and virtual drives and creates only new configurations.
    • View/Add Configuration enables you to view or modify an existing configuration.

      For each configuration method, a list of available physical drives is displayed. These drives are in the READY state. If you select a physical drive in the list, information about each drive is displayed.
  7. Use the arrow keys to move to a drive and press the space bar to add it to the array.
    Note The utility limits each drive to the size of the smallest drive. The status for each selected drive that is added to an array changes status from READY to ONLIN A[array#]-[drive#]. For example, ONLIN A00-01 means array 0, disk drive 1.
  8. This step is optional. Create a global hot-spare drive by highlighting a drive that is marked READY. Press the <F4> key. Then select Yes from the pop-up menu.
  9. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to create a second array, if needed. When you have selected drives for all desired arrays, press the <F10> key.
  10. Select an array by highlighting it. Press the <Enter> key to set the properties.
  11. The virtual drive configuration screen is displayed. This screen shows the following:
    • Virtual drive number
    • RAID level
    • Virtual drive size
    • Number of stripes in the physical array
    • Stripe size
    • State of the virtual drive
    • Access Policy

      To set these options, highlight a property and press the <Enter> key. The available parameters for that property are displayed for the selection.
  12. For RAID level, select RAID 10.
  13. Consider whether you need to override the default virtual drive size. By default, all available space in the array is assigned to the current virtual drive. For RAID 10 arrays, only one virtual drive can be defined for the entire array.
     
    Note If you create an SSD virtual drive and set the access policy to Read-only, it's strongly recommended that you reboot the system for the changes to take effect. Otherwise, you'll still have access to create files and delete them.
  14. This step is optional. Change the default Write Cache and Read Ahead policies. See the Creating Virtual Drives section.
  15. When you've finished defining the current virtual drive, select Accept and press the <Enter> key.
  16. Repeat steps 8 through 13 for all virtual drives.
  17. Save the configuration when prompted. Press any key to return to the Main Menu.
  18. Select Initialize and use the space bar to highlight the virtual drive to initialize.
    Caution
    		 All data on the virtual drive is erased during an initialization.
  19. Press the <F10> key. Select Yes at the prompt and press the <Enter> key to begin the initialization. A graph shows the progress of the initialization.
  20. After the initialization is complete, press the <Esc> key to return to the previous menu. Pressing the <Esc> key closes the current menu. If a process is running when you press the <Esc> key, you're given the following options:
    • Abort: When Abort is selected, the task is stopped and won't resume. If an initialization has started, Abort doesn't restore data.
    • Stop: When Stop is selected, the current task stops. Stop is available only if AutoResume is enabled on the adapter. See AutoResume/AutoRestore for information.
    • Continue: The task continues normally. Continue cancels the press of the <Esc> key. If AutoResume is enabled, the task resumes from the point at which it was stopped.

 


Steps to Create the RAID 10 Array when in UEFI Boot Mode

 

  1. Follow the initial 14 steps on this page and refer to the corresponding screenshots. When on step 5 on the page, make sure the Quiet Boot option in the Main menu is disabled.
  2. Highlight the Select RAID Level option and choose RAID10.
  3. For the Span 1 section, hit Enter where it reads Select Drives.
  4. On the next screen, use the space bar to select the first two drives. If all of the drives are selected, it will instead result in an Insufficient number of drives added for the selected RAID level after applying changes.
  5. Apply the changes.
  6. For the Span 2 section, go into its Select Drives option.
  7. As you did for step 4, on the next screen, use the space bar again to select the remaining two drives.
  8. Apply the changes.
  9. When prompted with the Do you want to continue with this operation? question, select Yes.
  10. When you're back in the Virtual Drive Management window, hit Enter on Save Configuration.