ASROCK Fatal1ty H87 Performance Series Operator's manual

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Guide to SATA Hard Disks
Installation and RAID Conguration
1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation ..............................2
1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation ................2
2. GuidetoRAIDCongurations ...........................................3
2.1 Introduction of RAID.................................................3
 2.2 RAIDCongurationPrecautions ..............................6
 2.3 InstallingWindows®8/864-bit/7/764-bitWith
RAID Functions ........................................................7
 2.4 SettingtheBIOSRAIDItems ...................................8
 2.5 ConguringaRAIDarray .........................................8
2.5.1 ConguringaRAIDarrayUsingUEFISetupUtility...... 8
2.5.2 ConguringaRAIDarrayUsingIntelRAIDBIOS ...... 13
3. InstallingWindows®onaHDDunder2TBinRAID
 mode  ..................................................................17
4. InstallingWindows®onaHDDlargerthan2TBin
 RAIDmode ..................................................................18

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1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation
1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation
IntelchipsetsupportsSerialATA(SATA)harddiskswithRAID
functions,includingRAID0,RAID1,RAID5,RAID10andIntel
RapidStorage.PleasereadtheRAIDcongurationsinthis
guidecarefullyaccordingtotheIntelsouthbridgechipsetthat
yourmotherboardadopts.YoumayinstallSATAharddiskson
thismotherboardforinternalstoragedevices.Thissectionwill
guideyouhowtocreateRAIDonSATAports.

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2. GuidetoRAIDCongurations
2.1 Introduction of RAID
ThismotherboardadoptsIntelsouthbridgechipsetthatinte-
gratesRAIDcontrollersupportingRAID0/RAID1/IntelRapid
Storage/RAID10/RAID5functionwithfourindependentSe-
rialATA(SATA)channels.Thissectionwillintroducethebasic
knowledgeofRAID,andtheguidetocongureRAID0/RAID
1/IntelRapidStorage/RAID10/RAID5settings.
RAID
Theterm“RAID”standsfor“RedundantArrayofIndependent
Disks”,whichisamethodcombiningtwoormoreharddisk
drivesintoonelogicalunit.Foroptimalperformance,please
installidenticaldrivesofthesamemodelandcapacitywhen
creatingaRAIDset.
RAID 0 (Data Striping)
RAID0iscalleddatastripingthatoptimizestwo
identicalharddiskdrivestoreadandwritedata
inparallel,interleavedstacks.Itwillimprovedata
accessandstoragesinceitwilldoublethedata
transferrateofasinglediskalonewhilethetwo
harddisksperformthesameworkasasingle
drivebutatasustaineddatatransferrate.
WARNING!!
AlthoughRAID0functioncanimprovetheaccessperformance,
it does not provide any fault tolerance. Hot-Plug any HDDs of
theRAID0Diskwillcausedatadamageordataloss.
RAID 1 (Data Mirroring)
RAID1iscalleddatamirroringthatcopiesand
maintainsanidenticalimageofdatafromone
drivetoaseconddrive.Itprovidesdataprotection
andincreasesfaulttolerancetotheentiresystem
sincethediskarraymanagementsoftwarewill
directallapplicationstothesurvivingdriveasit

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Intel Rapid Storage
TheIntelRapidStoragetechnologysupportedallowsyouto
createaRAID0andRAID1setusingonlytwoidenticalhard
diskdrives.TheIntelRapidStoragetechnologycreatestwo
partitionsoneachharddiskdrivetocreateavirtualRAID0
andRAID1sets.Thistechnologyalsoallowsyoutochange
theharddiskdrivepartitionsizewithoutlosinganydata.
RAID 10
RAID10isastripedcongurationwithRAID1segments
whosesegmentsareRAID1arrays.Thiscongurationhasthe
samefaulttoleranceasRAID1,andhasthesameoverhead
forfault-toleranceasmirroringalone.RAID10achieveshigh
input/outputratesbystripingRAID1segments.Insome
instances,aRAID10congurationcansustainmultiplesimul-
taneousdrivefailure.Aminimumoffourharddiskdrivesis
requiredforthissetup.

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RAID 5
RAID5stripesbothdataandparityinformationacrossthreeor
moreharddiskdrives.AmongtheadvantagesofRAID5con-
gurationincludebetterHDDperformance,faulttolerance,and
higherstoragecapacity.TheRAID5congurationisbestsui-
tedfortransactionprocessing,relationaldatabaseapplications,
enterpriseresourceplanning,andotherbusinesssystems.Use
aminimumofthreeidenticalharddiskdrivesforthissetup.

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2.2 RAID Congurations Precautions
1. PleaseusetwonewdrivesifyouarecreatingaRAID
0(striping)arrayforperformance.Itisrecommended
tousetwoSATAdrivesofthesamesize.Ifyouuse
twodrivesofdifferentsizes,thesmallercapacityhard
diskwillbethebasestoragesizeforeachdrive.For
example,ifoneharddiskhasan80GBstoragecapa-
cityandtheotherharddiskhas60GB,themaximum
storagecapacityforthe80GB-drivebecomes60GB,
andthetotalstoragecapacityforthisRAID0setis
120GB.
2. Youmayusetwonewdrives,oruseanexistingdrive
andanewdrivetocreateaRAID1(mirroring)array
fordataprotection(thenewdrivemustbeofthe
samesizeorlargerthantheexistingdrive).Ifyou
usetwodrivesofdifferentsizes,thesmallercapacity
harddiskwillbethebasestoragesize.Forexample,
ifoneharddiskhasan80GBstoragecapacityand
theotherharddiskhas60GB,themaximumstorage
capacityfortheRAID1setis60GB.
3. Pleaseverifythestatusofyourharddisksbeforeyou
setupyournewRAIDarray.
WARNING!!
  PleasebackupyourdatarstbeforeyoucreateRAIDfunctions.
  IntheprocessyoucreateRAID,thesystemwillaskifyouwant
  to“ClearDiskData”ornot.Itisrecommendedtoselect“Yes”,
  andthenyourfuturedatabuildingwilloperateunderaclean
  environment.

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2.3 Installing Windows®8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit With
RAID Functions
IfyouwanttoinstallWindows®8 / 8 64-bit / 7/764-bitOSon
yourSATA/SATA2/SATA3HDDswithRAIDfunctions,please
followtheproceduresbelow.
STEP 1: Set up UEFI.
A.EnterUEFISETUPUTILITYAdvancedscreen
StorageConguration.
 B.Set“SATAModeSelection”to[RAID]forIntelSATA2/SATA3
ports.
STEP 2: Set RAID conguration.
Pleaserefertop.8-16ofthisdocumentforinstructionsonhow
tosetRAIDconguration.
STEP 3: Use ASRock Easy RAID Installer
Follow this step only if you use a HDD larger than 2TB; otherwise,
skip to STEP4.
EasyRAIDInstallercancopytheRAIDdriverfromasupport
CDtoyourUSBstoragedevicewithjustonesimpleclickin
UEFIsetup.Pleasenotethatthisfeatureisnotavailableforall
models.
A.PluginyourUSBashdriveintoaUSBport.
B.EnterUEFISETUPUTILITYToolandhighlight“Easy
RAIDInstaller”.Press[Enter]toconrmtheselection.
C.Followtheonscreeninstructiontocompletetheprocess.
STEP 4: Install Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit OS on your
system.

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2.4 Setting the BIOS RAID Items
After installing the hard disk drives, please set the necessary
RAIDitemsintheBIOSbeforesettingyourRAIDconguration.
Boot your system, and press <F2> key to enter BIOS setup
utility.GotoAdvanced Storage Congurationandsetthe
option SATA Mode Selection to [RAID]. Press <F10> key to
saveyourchangebeforeyouexitBIOSsetup.
2.5 Conguring a RAID array
YoucancongureaRAIDarrayusingeitherUEFISetupUtility
or Intel®RAIDBIOSsetuputility.
2.5.1 Conguring a RAID array Using UEFI Setup Utility
STEP 1:
For Windows®8:
Go to UEFI SETUP UTILITY Boottoset“FastBoot”to[Ultra
Fast].
or
Go to UEFI SETUP UTILITY Boottodisable“CSM”.
For Windows®7:
Go to UEFI SETUP UTILITY Boot CSM toset“Launch
StorageOpROMpolicy”to[UEFIonly].

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STEP 2:
EnterIntel(R) Rapid Storage Technology in Advanced page.
STEP 3:
SelecttheoptionCreate RAID Volumeandpress<Enter>.

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STEP 4:
Key-inaavolumenameandpress<Enter>,orsimplypress
<Enter>toacceptthedefaultname.
STEP 5:
SelectyourdesiredRAID Levelandpress<Enter>.

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STEP 6:
SelecttheharddrivestobeincludedintheRAIDarrayand
press<Enter>.
STEP 7:
SelectastripesizefortheRAIDarrayandpress<Enter>.

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STEP 8:
Select Create Volumeandpress<Enter>tostartcreatingthe
RAIDarray.
 IfyouwanttodeleteaRAIDvolume,selecttheoptionDelete
ontheRAIDvolumeinfopageandpress<Enter>.

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2.5.2 Conguring a RAID array Using Intel RAID BIOS
Reboot your computer. Wait until you see the RAID software
promptingyoutopress<Ctrl+I>.
 Press <Ctrl+I>.Then,the IntelRAID Utility-Create RAID
Volumewindowappears.
 IntheCreateVolumeMenu,underNameitem,pleasekey-ina
uniquenamewith1-16lettersforyourRAIDvolumethenpress
<Enter>.
Volume0

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 Use the up or down arrow keys to select your desired RAID
Level.YoumayselectRAID0(Stripe),RAID1(Mirror),RAID
5orRAID10foryourRAIDlevel.Press<Enter>,andthenyou
can select Strip Size.
If you selected RAID 0 (Stripe), use the up or down keys to
selectthestripesizeforyourRAID0arraythenpress<Enter>.
Theavailable valuesrangefrom8KB to128KB.Thedefault
selection is 128 KB. The strip value should be chosen based
ontheplanneddriveusage.
•8/16KB-lowdiskusage
•64KB-typicaldiskusage
•128KB-performancediskusage
 Afteryousetdiskblocksize,press<Enter>tosetdisk
Capacity.
Volume0
Volume0

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 AftersettingupCapacity,pleasepress<Enter>.
Press<Enter>undertheCreate Volumeitem.Theutility
promptsaconrmationmessageasbelow.
Volume0
Volume0
Volume0

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 Press<Y>tocompletethesetupofRAID.
Afterthecompletion,youwillseethedetailedinformationabout
theRAIDthatyousetup.
 Please notethatyouareonlyallowedto createoneRAID
partitionatatimeunderBIOSRAIDenvironment.Ifyou want
to create an extra RAID partition, please use the RAID utility
underWindowsenvironmenttocongureRAIDfunctionsafter
youinstallOS.
 IfyouwanttodeleteaRAIDvolume,pleaseselecttheoption
Delete RAID Volume,press<Enter>,andthenfollowthe
instructionsonthescreen.

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3. Installing Windows® on a HDD under 2TB in
RAID mode
 AftertheUEFIand RAIDBIOSsetup youmaystart
installing Windows®8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit OS as
usual.

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4. Installing Windows® on a HDD larger than
2TB in RAID mode
 Windows®7 / 8 doesnotsupportHDD’slargerthan2TB.
PleasemakesuretouseWindows®7 64-bit or Windows®8
64-bit.
AftertheUEFIandRAIDBIOSsetup,pleasefollowthe
stepsbelow.
STEP 1: Copy Intel® RAID drivers into a USB ash
disk
 You can download the drivers fromASRock's website
andunzipthelesintoaUSBashdiskorcopytheles
fromASRock's motherboard support CD. (Please copy
thelesunderthefollowingdirectory:
32bit:..\i386\Win7_Intel..
64-bit:..\AMD64\Win7-64_Intel..
STEP 2: Install Windows®7 64-bit / 8 64-bit OS
Press<F11>tolaunchbootmenuatsystemPOSTand
choosetheitem“UEFI:<Opticaldiskdrive>“toboot.

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 Start Windows® Installation. When you see “Where do
youwanttoinstallWindows?”page,pleaseclick“Load
Driver”.
 Plug the USB flash disk into your USB port; select
“Browse”tofindtheRAIDdriver.Thenchoosethe
directoryyouhavecopiedintherststep.
 PleasekeeptheUSBflashdiskinstalleduntilthe
system'sfirstreboot.ContinuetoinstalltheOSby
followingtheinstructions.

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IfyouinstallWindows®864-bit/764-bitonalargeharddisk(ex.Disk
volume>2TB),itmaytakemoretimetobootintoWindows®or install
driver/utilities.Ifyouencounterthisproblem,youwillneedtofollowthe
instructionsbelowtoxthisproblem.
Windows® 7 64-bit / 8 64-bit:
A.PleaserequestthehotxKB2505454throughthislink:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2505454/
B.AfterinstallingWindows®764-bit/864-bit,installthehotxkb2505454.
(Thismaytakealongtime;>30mins.)
C.Rebootyoursystem.(Itmaytakeabout5minutestoreboot.)
D.Windows®willinstallthishotxthenrebootbyitself.
E.Pleasestarttoinstallmotherboarddriversandutilities.