Appendix C: Software Installation
C-1
Appendix C
Software Installation
After all the hardware has been installed, you must fi rst confi gure the Adaptec
Embedded Serial ATA RAID Driver before you install the Windows operating system.
The necessary drivers are all included on the Supermicro bootable CDs that came
packaged with your motherboard.
C-1 Introduction to the Adaptec Embedded Serial ATA RAID
Controller Driver
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 from 150MBps. Because the
serial cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Paral-
lel ATA(PATA), SATA systems have better airfl ow 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.
Introduction to the Intel ICH5R I/O Controller Hub
Located in the South Bridge of the Intel E8501 Chipset, the ICH5R I/O Controller
Hub provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It sup-
ports 2-channel Ultra ATA/100 Bus Master IDE controller (PATA) and tw o Seri al
ATA (SATA) Host Controllers, which support up to two Serial ATA ports and up to
two RAID drives. The ICH5R I/O Controller Hub supports the following Parallel ATA
(PATA) and Serial (SATA) device confi gurations:
ATA Operate Mode
You can select from the following two modes: Combined Mode and Enhanced
Mode.
Combined Mode:
In this mode, system BIOS assigns the traditional IRQ 14 and IRQ 15 for the use
of HDD. Up to 4 ATA devices are supported by this mode.
Within the Combined Mode, the following three modes are supported: