Dell XPS 400 Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode, Creating a RAID Level 0 Configuration

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and the Intel Matrix Storage Console. Both methods require that you set your computer to RAID-enabled mode before starting any of the RAID configuration procedures in this document.

Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode

1Enter system setup (see page 113).

2Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Drives, and press <Enter>.

3Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight SATA Operation, and press <Enter>.

4Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight RAID On, press <Enter>, and then press <Esc>.

NOTE: For more information about RAID options, see "System Setup Options" on page 116.

5Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight Save/Exit, and press <Enter> to exit system setup and resume the boot process.

Configuring for RAID Using the Intel® RAID Option ROM Utility

NOTE: Although any size drives may be used to create a RAID configuration using the Intel RAID Option ROM utility, ideally the drives should be of equal size. In a RAID level 0 configuration, the size of the configuration will be the size of the smallest drive multiplied by the number (two) of drives in the configuration. In a RAID level 1 configuration, the size of the configuration will be the smaller of the two drives used.

Creating a RAID Level 0 Configuration

NOTICE: You will lose any data on your hard drives when you create a RAID configuration using the following procedure. Back up data you want to keep before continuing.

NOTE: Use the following procedure only if you are reinstalling your operating system. Do not use the following procedure to migrate an existing storage configuration to RAID level 0 configuration.

1Set your computer to RAID-enabled mode (see page 30).

2Press <Ctrl><i> when you are prompted to enter the Intel® RAID Option ROM utility.

3Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Create RAID Volume, and press <Enter>.

4Enter a RAID volume name or accept the default, and press <Enter>.

5Press the up- and down-arrow keys to select RAID0(Stripe), and press <Enter>.

6If there are more than two hard drives available, press the up- and down-arrow keys and spacebar to select the two or three drives you want to use to make up your configuration, and then press <Enter>.

NOTE: Select the strip size closest to the size of the average file you want to store on the RAID volume. If you do not know the average file size, choose 128 KB as your strip size.

7Press the up- and down-arrow keys to change the strip size, and press <Enter>.

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Setting Up and Using Your Computer