Feature |
Description |
Desktop/
Server |
Mobile |
Matrix RAID |
Creates, manages, and uses up to two independent RAID volumes
within a single array. Creates up to three independent RAID arrays, each
with two hard drives, on any of the six Serial ATA ports. |
Yes |
No |
RAID Level Migration |
Migrates from RAID 0, 1, and 10 to RAID 5. |
Yes |
No |
RAID Spare |
Marks one or more hard drives as the destination for automatic
rebuilds. |
Yes |
Yes |
RAID Volume Verification |
Identifies any inconsistencies or bad data on a RAID 0, RAID
1, RAID 5, or RAID 10 volume. |
Yes |
Yes |
RAID Volume Verification and Repair |
Identifies and repairs any inconsistencies or bad data on
a RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10 volume. |
Yes |
Yes |
Large Sector Drive Support |
Allows hard drives with a logical sector size of ½
KB and a physical sector size of ½ KB, 1 KB, 2 KB, or 4 KB to be
used in the storage subsystem. |
Yes |
Yes |
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) |
Uses advanced Serial ATA features such as Native Command
Queuing and Native Hot Plug. |
Yes |
Yes |
Aggressive Link Power Management |
Allows the Serial ATA controller to put the Serial ATA device
into a lower power state. |
No |
Yes |
Asynchronous Notification |
Allows an ATAPI device to notify the Serial ATA controller
that the device requires attention. |
No |
Yes |
Write-Back Cache |
Groups multiple I/O requests from the host into fewer requests
and writes from the cache to the volumes at defined intervals. This RAID
5 feature enhances the read and write latency of an array. |
Yes |
No |
Parameter |
Value |
Status |
No active migrations: No migrations or rebuilds
are occurring. |
Rebuilding: One or more RAID volumes
are being rebuilt. |
Adding hard drives: The Intel® Matrix Storage
Manager driver is adding one or more members and migrating data in the array. |
Replacing hard drives: One or more RAID volumes
are being rebuilt on a spare hard drive as the result of a SMART event on
a hard drive in that volume. |
Initializing: RAID 5 volume parity is initializing,
or data on a RAID volume is being verified or verified and repaired. |
Hard Drive Write Cache Enabled |
Reports whether the Write Cache is enabled for all hard drives
in the array. |
Size |
Reports the capacity of the array in gigabytes. |
Free Space |
Reports the amount of space in the array that is not being
used by a RAID volume. Free space can be used to create a second RAID volume.
|
Number of Hard Drives |
Reports the number of hard drives that are a part of the
array. |
Hard Drive Member [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] |
Reports the manufacturer and model number of each hard drive
that is a member of the array. |
Number of Volumes |
Reports the number of RAID volumes in the array. If the number
of volumes is equal to 1 and there is free space available, then a second
RAID volume can be created in the array. |
Volume Member [1, 2] |
Reports the name of each RAID volume in the array. |
Parameter |
Value |
RAID Volume Status |
Normal: Volume data is fully accessible |
Failed: For RAID 0 volumes, one or more members
are missing or have failed. For RAID 1 volumes, both members have failed.
For RAID 5 or RAID 10 volumes, two or more members are missing or have failed.
Note: Under certain circumstances, a RAID 10 volume may be reported as degraded
although two members are missing or have failed. |
Degraded: Only RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
volumes can be in this state. This indicates that a member has failed or
is missing. |
SMART Event: A hard drive has exceeded its
recoverable error level and reported a SMART event. |
Rebuilding: Only RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10
volumes can be in this state. This indicates that data is being copied to
a mirror or spare drive and that data redundancy is being restored. |
Migrating: Indicates that data is being migrated
to a second hard drive or array, and that a RAID volume is being created. |
Verifying: Indicates that data on the RAID
volume is being verified. |
Recovery Volume Status |
Updated: Only recovery volumes set to the continuous
update policy can be in this state. Data on the recovery drive matches data
on the master drive. |
Needs Update: Only recovery volumes set to
the on request update policy can be in this state. Data on the recovery
drive does not match data on the master drive. |
Volume Update in Progress: Data on the master
drive is being copied to the recovery drive. Only changes since the last
update process are being copied. |
Recovery in Progress: Data on the recovery
drive is overwriting all data on the master drive. |
Master Drive Read-Only: You selected
the option to access the master drive files in Windows* Explorer, which
makes the drive read-only. |
Recovery Drive Read-Only: You selected the
option to access the recovery drive files in Windows* Explorer, which makes
the drive read-only. |
Master Drive Missing: The master drive
that was used to create the recovery volume is no longer detected. |
Recovery Drive Missing: The recovery drive
that was used to create the recovery volume is no longer detected. |
Verification Errors |
Reports the number of inconsistencies found during RAID volume
data verification. This is only valid during the verification process or
during the verification and repair process. |
Blocks with Media Errors |
Reports the number of blocks with media errors found during
RAID volume data verification. This is only valid during the verification
process or during the verification and repair process. |
System Volume |
Reports whether the volume contains protected operating system
files. |
Volume Write-Back Cache Enabled |
Reports whether the Write-Back Cache feature is enabled for
the volume. This is valid for RAID 5 volumes only. |
RAID Level |
Reports the RAID level being used for the volume. |
Strip Size |
Reports the size of each logical contiguous data block used
in the volume, for RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10 volumes. The strip size is
indicated in kilobytes. |
Size |
Reports the total capacity of the volume in gigabytes. |
Number of Hard Drives |
Reports the number of hard drives that the volume spans.
|
Hard Drive Member [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] |
For RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 volumes, reports the
manufacturer and model number of each hard drive being used by the volume.
|
Master Hard Drive |
For recovery volumes, reports the manufacturer and model
number of the master drive. |
Recovery Hard Drive |
For recovery volumes, reports the manufacturer and model
number of the recovery drive. |
Parent Array |
Reports the name of the array that contains this volume.
|
Parameter |
Value |
Usage |
Array Member: The hard drive has been grouped
with other drives to form an array containing RAID volumes. The RAID volumes
may be exposed to the operating systems; however, the individual drives
are not. |
Array Member (Master): The hard drive is the
source drive for the recovery volume. |
Array Member (Recovery): The hard drive is
the target drive for the recovery volume. |
Non-RAID Hard Drive: The hard drive has no
RAID meta-data on it, and it is both visible and available for use by the
operating system. |
None: The hard drive contains meta-data that
prevents it from being exposed to the operating system, but the hard drive
is not an array member. |
Status |
Normal: The hard drive is present and functioning
as expected. |
Error Occurred: The hard drive has exceeded
its recoverable error threshold. This will be shown in the Intel Matrix
Storage Manager option ROM User Interface. |
SMART Event: The hard drive has exceeded its
recoverable error threshold and is at risk of failure. |
Missing: The hard drive is not present. |
Incompatible Version: The hard drive contains
RAID meta-data that is reporting a version that is incompatible with the
current version of RAID software. |
Failed: Indicates the same condition as 'Error
Occurred'. This will be shown in the Intel® Matrix Storage Console. |
Device Port |
Reports the port on the Serial ATA controller to which the hard drive is connected. |
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode |
Reports the Serial ATA transfer mode between the Serial ATA
controller and the Serial ATA hard drive. The typical values for this parameter
are:
- Generation 1: 150 Mbytes/s
- Generation 2: 300 Mbytes/s.
|
Model |
Reports the model number of the hard drive. |
Serial Number |
Reports the manufacturer's serial number for the hard drive. |
Firmware |
Reports the version of the firmware within the hard drive. |
Native Command Queuing Support |
Reports whether or not the hard drive supports Native Command
Queuing. |
Hard Drive Write Cache Enabled |
Reports whether or not the Write Cache feature is enabled
for the Hard Drive. |
Number of Volumes |
Reports the number of volumes on the array. |
Volume Member [1, 2] |
Reports the name of each volume that the hard drive is a
member of. |
Parent Array |
Reports the name of the RAID array that the hard drive is
a member of. |
Parameter |
Value |
Usage |
Non-RAID Hard Drive: This hard drive is not
used in a RAID array or volume. This hard drive could be used as a RAID
Spare or as a data storage device. |
Spare: This hard drive has been marked as the
destination drive for auto-rebuilds. |
Unknown hard drive usage: The usage for this
hard drive could not be determined. This could be due to an incompatibility
between this software version and the hard drive configuration. |
Status |
Normal: The hard drive is present and functioning
as expected. |
Error Occurred: The hard drive has exceeded
its recoverable error threshold. This will be shown in the Intel Matrix
Storage Manager option ROM User Interface. |
SMART Event: The hard drive has exceeded its
recoverable error threshold and is at risk of failure. |
Failed: Indicates the same condition as 'Error
Occurred'. This will be shown in the Intel Matrix Storage Console. |
Device Port |
Reports the port on the Serial ATA controller to which the hard drive is connected. |
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode |
Reports the Serial ATA transfer mode between the Serial ATA
controller and the Serial ATA hard drive. The typical values for this parameter
are:
- Generation 1: 150 Mbytes/s
- Generation 2: 300 Mbytes/s.
|
Model |
Reports the model number of the hard drive. |
Serial Number |
Reports the manufacturer's serial number for the hard drive. |
Firmware |
Reports the version of the firmware within the hard drive. |
Native Command Queuing Support |
Reports whether or not the hard drive supports Native Command
Queuing. |
System Hard Drive |
Reports whether or not the hard drive contains protected
operating system files. |
Size |
Reports the total capacity of the hard drive in gigabytes. |
INTEL STORAGE FEATURES |
Intel® Matrix Storage Manager |
Serial ATA storage software that enables power features and
increased performance on mobile systems, and performance and protection
features on other systems. |
Intel® Matrix Storage Manager option ROM |
The option ROM is a code module built into the system BIOS
that provides boot support for RAID volumes as well as a user interface
for configuring and managing RAID volumes. |
Matrix RAID |
Software that can create, manage, and use two independent
RAID volumes within a single RAID array. |
Intel® Matrix Storage Console |
The software that provides the management interface for the
Serial ATA AHCI and RAID subsystem within the supported operating systems.
|
Intel® Rapid Recover Technology |
This technology allows you to copy data from a master drive
to a recovery drive either continuously or on request. To utilize this technology,
create a recovery volume. |
RAID TERMINOLOGY |
Auto-rebuild |
The process of restoring a RAID 1, 5, or 10 volume in the
event that a RAID member fails or is missing. If a spare hard drive is present,
the software will automatically use it as a replacement for the failed hard
drive. An auto-rebuild process will also occur if a RAID 1 member is removed
and then reinserted, in order to re-establish the mirroring. RAID 0 volumes
cannot use the auto-rebuild process. |
Auto-recover |
The process of automatically recovering volumes that have
failed due to a missing disk. For RAID 0 volumes, if all member disks are
present and the volume is failed, the option ROM will mark the volume as
'Failed'. For redundant RAID volumes, if the most recently removed member
disk is replaced and if enough non-failed disks are present the volume state
will be changed to 'Degraded'. |
Continuous Update Policy |
When a recovery volume is using this policy, data on the
master drive is copied to the recovery drive automatically as long as both
drives are connected to the system. |
RAID |
Redundant Array of Independent Drives: RAID allows data to
be distributed across multiple hard drives to provide data redundancy or
to enhance data storage performance. |
RAID Array |
A logical grouping of physical hard drives. |
Master Drive |
The hard drive that is the designated source drive in a recovery
volume. |
Member |
A hard drive used within a RAID array. |
On Request Update Policy |
When a recovery volume is using this policy, data on the
master drive is copied to the recovery drive when you request it. Only changes
since the last update process are copied. |
RAID Volume |
A fixed amount of space across a RAID array that appears
as a single physical hard drive to the operating system. Each RAID volume
is created with a specific RAID level to provide data redundancy or to enhance
data storage performance. |
RAID Level |
A defined set of characteristics applied to a RAID volume,
which determines how data is stored and managed to improve read/write performance
or to increase fault tolerance. |
RAID 0 (striping) |
The data in the RAID volume is striped across the array's
members. Striping divides data into units and distributes those units across
the members without creating data redundancy, but improving read/write performance. |
RAID 1 (mirroring) |
The data in the RAID volume is mirrored across the RAID array's
members. Mirroring is the term used to describe the key feature of RAID
1, which writes duplicate data to each member; therefore, creating data
redundancy and increasing fault tolerance. |
RAID 5 (striping with parity) |
The data in the RAID volume and parity are striped across
the array's members. Parity information is written with the data in a rotating
sequence across the members of the array. This RAID level is a preferred
configuration for efficiency, fault-tolerance, and performance. |
RAID 10 (striping and mirroring) |
The RAID level where information is striped across a two
disk array for system performance. Each of the drives in the array has a
mirror for fault tolerance. RAID 10 provides the performance benefits of
RAID 0 and the redundancy of RAID 1. However, it requires four hard drives. |
Recovery Drive |
The hard drive that is the designated target drive in a recovery
volume. |
Recovery Volume |
A volume utilizing Intel® Rapid Recover Technology. |
Metadata |
Metadata means 'data about data' or 'information about information'.
For RAID volumes, metadata is information about the way the RAID volume
stores the user and system files on a RAID volume. |
Migration |
The process of converting a system's data storage configuration
from a non-RAID configuration (pass-thru) to a RAID configuration. |
RAID Level Migration |
The process of converting a system's data storage configuration
from one RAID level to another. |
Spare Hard Drive |
A Serial ATA hard drive that is designated by the RAID software
to be automatically used as the target of an auto-rebuild in the event that
a RAID member fails or is missing. RAID level 0 cannot use spares.
RAID levels 1, 5 and 10 can use one or more spares. |
Volume Initialization |
The process of initializing parity for RAID 5 volumes or ensuring
that each block of data on the mirror is identical to the
equivalent block of data on the source hard drive(s) for RAID 1 and RAID
10 volumes. |
STORAGE TERMINOLOGY |
RAID Controller |
The RAID controller creates and manages RAID arrays and RAID
volumes to improve read/write performance or to increase fault tolerance. |
Serial ATA Controller |
The Serial ATA controller is integrated into the I/O Controller
Hub in the system. This controller manages Serial ATA devices and serves
as their interface to the system. |
AHCI |
Advanced Host Controller Interface: an interface specification
that allows the storage driver to enable advanced Serial ATA features such
as Native Command Queuing, native hot plug, and power management. |
Hot Plug |
The unannounced removal and insertion of a Serial ATA hard
drive while the system is powered on. |
Native Command Queuing |
A command protocol in Serial ATA that allows multiple commands
to be outstanding within a hard drive at the same time. The commands are
dynamically reordered to increase hard drive performance. |
ATAPI Device |
A mass storage device with a parallel interface such as CD-ROM,
CD-RW, DVD-ROM, and tape drives. |
Serial ATA Hard Drive |
A hard drive with an interface that transmits data using
a serial protocol in order to communicate with the Serial ATA Controller. |
eSATA |
An external SATA drive. |
Serial ATA Storage Subsystem |
All of the hardware and software on a system that is related
to storing data on Serial ATA hard drives. |
Serial ATA Transfer Mode |
The rate at which the Serial ATA controller and Serial ATA
hard drive communicate with each other. |
Large Sector Hard Drives |
Serial ATA hard drives with a logical sector size ½ KB. These hard drives can have a physical sector size of ½ KB, 1 KB, 2 KB, or 4 KB. Any combination of these drives can be used in a single array. A volume created with large sector hard drives will have a logical sector size equal to ½ KB and a physical sector size equal to physical sector size of the hard drive with the largest physical sector size in the array. Refer to the information pane in the 'Advanced Mode' of the Intel® Matrix Storage Console to view logical and physical sector size for a hard drive or volume. |
SMART Event |
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology: an open
standard for developing hard drives and software systems that automatically
monitor a hard drive and report potential problems. |
Hard Drive Write Cache |
A cache memory within a hard drive, which temporarily stores
data before that data is copied to non-volatile storage. |
Volume Write Back Cache |
This is used with RAID 5 only. The Write-Back Cache feature
is supported by the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver to enhance read/write
performance of a RAID 5 array. Multiple I/O requests from the host are grouped
into fewer requests and written from the cache to the volumes at defined
intervals. The Write Back Cache can be enabled or disabled at any time without
the need to reboot the system. |
Link Power Management |
The ability of the Serial ATA controller to put the Serial
ATA device into a lower power state. |
Asynchronous Notification |
Allows an ATAPI device to send notification to the Serial
ATA controller that the device requires attention. |