SUPER MICRO Computer 6015B-T, 6015B-3 user manual Appendix D Adaptec HostRAID Setup, X7DBR-E only

Appendix D: Adaptec HostRAID Setup

Appendix D

Adaptec HostRAID Setup

(X7DBR-E only)

After all the hardware has been installed, you must first configure theAdaptec Embedded Serial ATA RAID before you install the Windows operating system. The necessary drivers are all included on the Supermicro bootable CDs that came packaged with your motherboard. Note: The following section provides information on the Adaptec SATA RAID Driver based on the Intel Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2) Controller.

D-1 Introduction

Serial ATA (SATA)

Serial ATA (SATA) is a physical storage interface. It uses a single cable with a minimum of four wires to create a point-to-point connection between devices. It is a serial link which supports SATA Transfer rates up to 3.0 Gbps. Because the serial cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Paral- lel ATA(PATA), SATA systems have better airflow and can be installed in smaller chassis than Parallel ATA. In addition, the cables used in PATA can only extend to 40cm long, while Serial ATA cables can extend up to one meter. Overall, Serial ATA provides better functionality than Parallel ATA.

Intel ESB2 I/O Controller Hub

Located in the South Bridge of the Intel 5000P Chipset, the ESB2 I/O Controller Hub provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It supports 1-channel Ultra ATA/100 Bus Master IDE controller (PATA) and one Adaptec's Serial ATA (SATA) Host Controller, which support up to six Serial ATA drives, up to two RAID volumes and up to four drives in RAID Configurations. See the table below for details.

* Adaptec’s SATA HostRAID Controller Firmware supports:

Drives supported	Six
Number of RAID Volumes supported	Two
Total Drives in RAID Configurations	Four

Examples of Valid RAID Configurations:

Two drives of RAID 1 + two drives of RAID 0

Two drives of RAID 1 + two drives of RAID 1

Three drives of RAID 0

Four drives of RAID 0

Examples of Invalid RAID Configurations:

Three drives of RAID 0 + two drives of RAID 1

(*Note: this table is applicable to Adaptec’s HostRAID Controller Firmware only.)

D-1