5.4Promise® RAID configurations

The motherboard includes the Promise® PDC20378 controller chipset to support Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configurations. Using two Serial ATA hard disks on SATA_RAID1/SATA_RAID2 interfaces, and two ATA133 hard disks on the PRI_RAID interface, you may set up RAID0, RAID1, RAID0+1, and Multi-RAID configurations. Use the MBFastTrak378™ BIOS and the FastBuild™ utility to configure a disk array.

RAID 0 (called data striping) optimizes two identical hard disk drives to read and write data in parallel, interleaved stacks. Two hard disks perform the same work as a single drive but at a sustained data transfer rate, double that of a single disk alone, thus improving data access and storage.

RAID 1 (called data mirroring) copies and maintains an identical image of data from one drive to a second drive. If one drive fails, the disk array management software directs all applications to the surviving drive as it contains a complete copy of the data in the other drive. This RAID configuration provides data protection and increases fault tolerance to the entire system.

RAID 0+1 is data striping and data mirroring combined without parity (redundancy data) having to be calculated and written. The advantage of RAID 0 + 1 is fast data access (like RAID 0), but with the ability to loose one drive and have a complete duplicate surviving drive or set of drives (like RAID 1).

1. If you use either Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating system (OS), copy first the Promise FastTrak 378 Driver from the support CD to a floppy disk before creating RAID configurations.

2.Refer to the FastTrak 378 Quick Start Guide and SATA Quick Start Guide in the support CD for detailed information on RAID configurations under different operating systems.

ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard user guide

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