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Announcement: Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise (Intel® RSTe) and Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Consolidation

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Content Type Product Information & Documentation

Article ID 000055059

Last Reviewed 09/19/2024

Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is an enterprise RAID solution that unleashes the performance of NVMe* SSDs. Intel® VROC is enabled by a feature in Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors called Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD), an integrated controller inside the CPU PCIe root complex. NVMe SSDs are directly connected to the CPU, allowing the full performance potential of fast storage devices to be realized. Intel® VROC enables these benefits without the complexity, cost, and power consumption of traditional hardware RAID host bus adapter (HBA) cards placed between the drives and the CPU.

The release of Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) 6.0 (launched in 2019) includes the consolidation of the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel® RSTe) and Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) product names. Only the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) name will remain and include all functionality. The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel® RSTe) name will no longer be used.

What changed?

Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) and Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel® RSTe) were previously related products in the same product family. The SATA RAID portion of the product family was called Intel® RSTe and the NVMe* RAID portion was called Intel® VROC. However, starting in 2019, with the launch of Intel® VROC 6.0, the Intel® RSTe name was removed, and all RAID solutions in this product family were branded as Intel® VROC. The SATA functionality remains, but is now branded as Intel® VROC (SATA RAID). Intel® RSTe is no longer a referenced product by Intel. The name may still appear in some legacy products, but all new references will solely use the Intel® VROC nomenclature.

New Naming Convention

Starting with Intel® VROC 6.0, the Intel® VROC package will consist of three sub-products within the same software solution. The hardware will determine which subset is enabled:

Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID): For platforms with CPU(s) that have Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) architecture.
Intel® VROC (SATA RAID): For platforms with chipset that include this functionality.
Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID): For platforms with CPU(s) that do not have Intel® VMD architecture and therefore, Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) is not possible.

The Intel® VROC software installer will automatically detect the hardware (CPU/chipset) present on a system and enable the applicable sub-product.

Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID)

RAID for NVMe* SSDs connected to Intel® VMD PCIe* lanes.

Original Intel® VROC product set.
License: License key is required.
CPUs: Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors with Intel® VMD.
Example platforms: Eagle Stream, Whitley, Purely.

Intel® VROC (SATA RAID)

RAID for SATA SSDs or HDDs connected to the PCH.

Original Intel® RSTe product set for SATA.
License: Included in chipset.
Chipsets: Selected chipsets such as the Intel® C620 Series.
Example platforms: Grantley, Mehlow, Purely and others (refer to each platform for specific supported technologies).

Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID)

RAID for NVMe* SSDs connected to a CPU that does not have Intel® VMD technology.

Original Intel® RSTe product set for NVMe*.
License: Included in chipset.
CPUs: Older Intel® Xeon® Processors that do not have Intel® VMD technology.
Example platforms: Grantley, Mehlow, Tatlow.

Platforms with Intel® VMD Technology

Platforms with Intel® VMD technology present but not enabled at the platform/OEM level will not have access to the feature set of Intel® VROC (NonVMD NVMe* RAID).

User Guides for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)

Resources for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)