Intel SROMBSASMR (AXXROMBSASMR) 3.1 Common Layers

Software Intel® Integrated RAID Module SROMBSASMR (AXXROMBSASMR) Technical Product Specification

3.1 Common Layers

The firmware is composed of multiple software layers, allowing for maximum flexibility, reuse,

and maintainability. These layers are described below.

3.1.1.1 MFC Settings

MFC default settings are factory programmed and consist of two types of settings:

 Settings that cannot be modified in the field. These include the PCI IDs.

 Settings that can be modified using a utility. These include default cache settings,

rebuild rates, and other BIOS and operational defaults. Access to the MFC modification

utility is restricted.

Additional information about MFC definitions and default settings is available upon request.

3.1.1.2 RAID BIOS

The RAID BIOS is the expansion ROM software defined in the PCI specification. It performs the

RAID controller initialization from the host system memory during POST.

3.1.1.3 Intel® RAID BIOS Console 2 Configuration Utility

The Intel® RAID BIOS Console 2 configuration utility provides a graphical user interface to

manage all aspects of the RAID subsystem and many features of the RAID controller. The utility

is accessed by pressing the <Ctrl> + <G> keys during system boot time. For details about this

utility, see the Intel® RAID Software User’s Guide (Document number: D29305-00x).

3.1.1.4 RAID Firmware Engine

The RAID firmware contains the algorithms for mapping physical to virtual devices, RAID level

algorithms, data redundancy calculation algorithms, and error detection, logging, and reporting

capabilities.

To configure the Intel® Integrated RAID Module SROMBSASMR, a set of interfaces known as

the IOCTL interface is provided, which allows an application to issue commands to the

controller through the driver. Commands can be issued to determine adapter properties and

change the parameter settings. The API package defines a higher level of commands and

functions for developers who want to configure the RAID adapters with their own utility. This is

implemented as a 32-bit dynamic link library (DLL) for Microsoft Windows* operating systems

and through a set of binaries for other operating systems. Access to the API libraries is

restricted.

Revision 1.2

Intel order number E59029-003