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RAID and non-RAID combination
I am getting an 8KNXP motherboard which has the Intel ICH5R
chip/controller as well as the SIL3112 chip/controller. I was wondering if one was able to use 1 of the two chips to run 2 HD in a non-RAID situation and set the other chip to run 2 RAID 0 drives. Looking at the manual for the board and BIOS (I have ordered but not yet received the board and downloaded the manual) it seems like the BIOS has only one SATA RAID enable or disable function. Does that mean that one can not do what I propose above?? If not, does that mean that with SATA RAID enabled and 4 HD you need to have either a RAID 0/1 array or two RAID 0 arrays?? If one can not have two non-RAID and two RAID SATA drives can you have 2 PATA non-RAID drives in combination with a SATA RAID 0 array? This is a bit confusing and I can't seem to ferret it out with the downloaded motherboard manual that I have and am trying to figure out what HD to purchase for the system I want to build. Thanks. Howard |
#2
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This is getting rather confusing...I called tech support at the store
where I purchased the motherboard and asked about this and they said if there is only one apparent SATA RAID control in the BIOS that you can not use a RAID array on one of the two chips and not on the other. However since I spoke with them I have read a review of the board that says that you can and someone on another forum has told me that you can as well. This is what I wrote back to him and I would certainly apprciate anything you folks could do to help me sort this out!: I would like to run 2 SATA non-RAID discs and 2 in RAID 0 array. Looking at the BIOS I can not understand how one would disable the RAID controller on one of the two SATA chips and not the other. The first related BIOS option appears to be "On-chip SATA" which will let you manually configure SATA Port 0 and 1 and then comes "SATA RAID function" which says it can 'enable SATA RAID function when SATA mode set to SATA Port 0 & SATA Port 1 only (Default value)'. So I assume by setting the above in the BIOS you can enable RAID on one of the SATA chips....though I am unsure which of the 2 chips. The problem is then that I don't see a similar BIOS control for the second chip clearly marked. The only things in the BIOS instruction manual that makes me think they might be the RAID controller for the other chip are the following items: "Onboard H/W SATA" that can 'enable or disable onboard SATA function' "Serial ATA Function" which can 'set onboard SATA chip function as RAID (default value) or base. The other RAID settings refer to GIGARAID which is the IDE RAID controller. In addition for this GIGARAID there are BIOS settings for " GIGARAID Function" as well as "Onboard H/W GIGARAID to enable or disable IDE RAID. So with two such controls for GIGARAID it confuses me even more for what the H/W SATA means in that it might refer to the earlier SATA RAID controller. So, if you could help out with which SATA RAID controller goes to which chip and how to separately turn the two RAID controllers on and off, I would be very appreciative as I am holding offf on buying drives until I understand if I can set them up the way I am anticipating. Thanks Howard I am getting an 8KNXP motherboard which has the Intel ICH5R chip/controller as well as the SIL3112 chip/controller. I was wondering if one was able to use 1 of the two chips to run 2 HD in a non-RAID situation and set the other chip to run 2 RAID 0 drives. Looking at the manual for the board and BIOS (I have ordered but not yet received the board and downloaded the manual) it seems like the BIOS has only one SATA RAID enable or disable function. Does that mean that one can not do what I propose above?? If not, does that mean that with SATA RAID enabled and 4 HD you need to have either a RAID 0/1 array or two RAID 0 arrays?? If one can not have two non-RAID and two RAID SATA drives can you have 2 PATA non-RAID drives in combination with a SATA RAID 0 array? This is a bit confusing and I can't seem to ferret it out with the downloaded motherboard manual that I have and am trying to figure out what HD to purchase for the system I want to build. Thanks. Howard |
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#4
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Howard,
Only 1 thing I would recommend - and this appears not to concern you - don't use the ITE controller (the GigaRaid / PATA IDE one). All reports are that it is slow. From the books: Sata Raid Function - User Manual for Silicon Image controller. (This is called the OnBoard SATA controller or SII SATA0 / . The connectors are towards the center of the m/b). Page 1: SATARaid Features Raid 0 and 1 Hot Spare and On-line Mirror Rebuilding (Really? how with only 2 discs?) HDD's function normally when not in RAID sets. + lots of other neat features. GA-8knxp - User's Manual Page 6 On Board SATA RAID (should read OnChip for consistency) (The connectors are towards the edge - check the diag.) Built in ICH5R Supports RAID 0 RAID Only Supports XP ___ The OnChip (ICH5R or Intel) SATA controller supports both RAID and plain IDE devices - from experience. If it is confiured to Map to IDE 0 then all OS can use the device without drivers, but not as RAID and at the expense of the PATA IDE controller at the same position. The latest bios (F6) and Intel drivers with the IAA 3.5 update reportedly support RAID 1 as well. I have an Asus P4P800 running with that config at the moment and the 8KNXP is running plain discs on the SATA controller reliably. According to common sense and many peoples statements, since the Intel RAID (onChip) does not go through the PCI bus it could give better performance... But from what I have heard there is no difference between existing integrated SATA and PCI connected SATA although the seagate website says differently. So it would seem you have all options - if you run XP you can RAID on the OnChip SATA as well. The Silicon Image one - according to the manual will do RAID under Xp, 200, 98, & ME. OK? - Tim "Howard" wrote in message om... This is getting rather confusing...I called tech support at the store where I purchased the motherboard and asked about this and they said if there is only one apparent SATA RAID control in the BIOS that you can not use a RAID array on one of the two chips and not on the other. However since I spoke with them I have read a review of the board that says that you can and someone on another forum has told me that you can as well. This is what I wrote back to him and I would certainly apprciate anything you folks could do to help me sort this out!: I would like to run 2 SATA non-RAID discs and 2 in RAID 0 array. Looking at the BIOS I can not understand how one would disable the RAID controller on one of the two SATA chips and not the other. The first related BIOS option appears to be "On-chip SATA" which will let you manually configure SATA Port 0 and 1 and then comes "SATA RAID function" which says it can 'enable SATA RAID function when SATA mode set to SATA Port 0 & SATA Port 1 only (Default value)'. So I assume by setting the above in the BIOS you can enable RAID on one of the SATA chips....though I am unsure which of the 2 chips. The problem is then that I don't see a similar BIOS control for the second chip clearly marked. The only things in the BIOS instruction manual that makes me think they might be the RAID controller for the other chip are the following items: "Onboard H/W SATA" that can 'enable or disable onboard SATA function' "Serial ATA Function" which can 'set onboard SATA chip function as RAID (default value) or base. The other RAID settings refer to GIGARAID which is the IDE RAID controller. In addition for this GIGARAID there are BIOS settings for " GIGARAID Function" as well as "Onboard H/W GIGARAID to enable or disable IDE RAID. So with two such controls for GIGARAID it confuses me even more for what the H/W SATA means in that it might refer to the earlier SATA RAID controller. So, if you could help out with which SATA RAID controller goes to which chip and how to separately turn the two RAID controllers on and off, I would be very appreciative as I am holding offf on buying drives until I understand if I can set them up the way I am anticipating. Thanks Howard I am getting an 8KNXP motherboard which has the Intel ICH5R chip/controller as well as the SIL3112 chip/controller. I was wondering if one was able to use 1 of the two chips to run 2 HD in a non-RAID situation and set the other chip to run 2 RAID 0 drives. Looking at the manual for the board and BIOS (I have ordered but not yet received the board and downloaded the manual) it seems like the BIOS has only one SATA RAID enable or disable function. Does that mean that one can not do what I propose above?? If not, does that mean that with SATA RAID enabled and 4 HD you need to have either a RAID 0/1 array or two RAID 0 arrays?? If one can not have two non-RAID and two RAID SATA drives can you have 2 PATA non-RAID drives in combination with a SATA RAID 0 array? This is a bit confusing and I can't seem to ferret it out with the downloaded motherboard manual that I have and am trying to figure out what HD to purchase for the system I want to build. Thanks. Howard |
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