Compaq Dc7800 - Convertible Minitower PC User manual

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) and Redundant

Array of Independent Disks (RAID) on HP Compaq dc7800

Business PCs

Using Intel Matrix Storage Manager

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Basics of AHCI and RAID Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Single Drive AHCI Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Basic RAID Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

RAID 0 with two hard drives (Striped) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

RAID 1 with two hard drives (Mirror) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

RAID 5 with three hard drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Intel Matrix Storage Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Recommended configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

HP Backup and Recovery interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Other supported configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Unsupported configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Configuring RAID on non-factory preinstalled configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Enabling RAID through F10 System BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Configuring RAID Option ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Configuring RAID Volume using the Option ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Notes for operating system installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Intel Matrix Storage Manager software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Console Software Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Using the Intel Matrix Storage Console interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

RAID migrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Migration to RAID 1 from two non-RAID hard drives using

Intel Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Migration to RAID 0 from two non-RAID hard drives using

Intel Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Migration to RAID 0 from three non-RAID hard drives using

Intel Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Migration to RAID 5 from three non-RAID hard drives using

Intel Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Migration to Matrix RAID 5 and RAID 0 from three non-RAID hard drives using

Intel Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Migration to RAID Matrix Mode (0 + 1) from two non-RAID hard drives using

Matrix Storage Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Language support table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Introduction

This whitepaper covers two drive technologies that are provided on the HP Compaq dc7800 Business PC

products, AHCI and RAID. This whitepaper provides a basic overview of AHCI and RAID technology, sup-

ported factory configurations of HP Compaq dc7800 Business PCs, other supported RAID configurations,

and basic instructions on how to migrate non-RAID to RAID configurations in the field. HP also provides a

Smart IV Hard Drive technical whitepaper for HP Compaq dc7800 Business PC products on HP.com.

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) functionality provides customer benefits such as NCQ, which

is intended to increase the performance of the hard disk drive. HP Compaq dc7800 Business PC products

provide support for AHCI in single and multiple drive configurations.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a category of hard drives that employ two or more drives

in combination for fault tolerance and performance. Initially used with servers, desktop PCs are increas-

ingly using RAID by adding a RAID controller and extra IDE or SCSI disks. Newer system boards often

have RAID controllers.

RAID technology takes advantage of Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) and the integration

of RAID into the Intel Q35/ICH9-D0 chipset. This white paper provides a basic overview of RAID technol-

ogy, supported factory configurations of HP Compaq dc7800 Business PCs, other supported RAID config-

urations, and basic instructions on how to migrate non-RAID to RAID configurations in the field.

Basics of AHCI and RAID Technology

Definitions

Table 1 Basic AHCI and RAID Definitions

AHCI Advanced Host Controller Interface, a specification for hardware and software, is a regis-

ter interface for SATA, intended to add higher speed, NCQ and other features

ATA Advanced Technology Attachment.

BIOS Basic Input/Output System, also known as system ROM.

Chipset Term used to define a collection of integrated components required to make a PC function.

HDD Hard disk drive.

ICH Intel Input/Output Controller Hub, inside this component resides the mass storage controller.

ICH is part of the Intel Q35 chipset.

IDE Integrated Drive Electronics.

INF Information file (.inf) used by Microsoft operating systems that support the Plug & Play feature.

When installing a driver, this file provides the operating system needed information about driver

filenames, driver components, and supported hardware.

Single Drive AHCI Configuration

To take advantage of single drive AHCI support, a change is required in F10 setup. To run a single drive

configuration on HP Compaq dc7800 Business PCs in AHCI mode:

1. Turn on or restart the computer by clicking Start > Shut Down > Restart the Computer.

2. Press F10 as soon as the monitor light turns green.

If you do not press F10 at the appropriate time, you must restart the computer, and then press F10

again to access the utility.

3. Select your language from the list, and then press Enter.

4. Use the arrow keys to select Storage.

5. Use the down arrow key to select Storage Options, and then press Enter.

6. Change SATA Emulation from IDE to RAID.

NOTE: Make sure the Intel Matrix Storage driver is loaded in the SW image prior to making the F10

setup change. The operating system will not boot without this driver. The dc7800 factory SW image

already contains this driver. This driver is also provided as a softpaq at www.hp.com.

Single Drive AHCI Configurations are supported on the dc7800 SFF and dc7800 CMT products.

Migration Term used to describe the movement of data from one configuration or usage model to another.

NCQ Native Command Queuing.

Option ROM Piece or software module inside the System BIOS which provides extended support for a partic-

ular piece of hardware. The RAID Option ROM provides boot support for RAID volumes as well

as a user interface for managing and configuring the systems RAID volumes.

PCI Peripheral Components Interface.

PCIe PCI express. A serial version of PCI.

PnP Plug and Play.

RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

ROM Read Only Memory.

SATA Serial ATA.

Strip Set of data on a single hard drive in a RAID volume.

Stripe Group of all strips going horizontally across all the hard drive members of a RAID volume.

Basic RAID Types

This section provides a brief explanation of the supported RAID configurations for HP Compaq dc7800 Busi-

ness PCs.

RAID 0 with two hard drives (Striped)

Even though HP supports RAID 0, it is not the recommended configuration for business PC users. Lack of

redundancy causes less than half the reliability of a single hard drive system since the Mean Time

Between Failure (MTBF) of RAID 0 is equal to the MTBF of an individual drive, divided by the number of

drives.

Table 2 RAID 0 with two hard drives (Striped)

In the previous table, each “Data Segment n” represents a group of data, known as a strip. In this case,

each row represents a stripe. RAID 0 represented in the table above shows how information is segmented,

made into chunks or strips, and stored across the stripes of the hard drive members of this RAID volume.

To better illustrate the concept of RAID 0 and striping, the following graphic shows how a sequence of

data “ABCD...” is stored in a RAID 0 mode. In this example, each letter represents a segment or strip. The

graphic shows how the various pieces of the information go to different hard drives. If any segment of

RAID 0 fails, all information from all members is lost.

First Disk Second Disk

Data Segment 1 Data Segment 2

Data Segment 3 Data Segment 4

Data Segment 5 Data Segment 6

Data Segment 7 Data Segment 8

Data Segment 9 Data Segment 10

Data Segment 11 Data Segment 12

Data Segment 13 Data Segment 14

Data Segment 15 Data Segment 16

Figure 1 Performance - RAID 0 with two hard drives

At a higher reliability cost with faster performance, the HP Compaq dc7800 Business PC Convertible

Minitower also allows for RAID 0 with three hard drives. RAID 0 with two or three hard drives is a sup-

ported configuration.

RAID 0 with three hard drives is shown in the following figure:

Figure 2 RAID 0 - Three hard drives

RAID 1 with two hard drives (Mirror)

Because it is a very cost-effective way to increase system storage reliability and a great value proposition,

RAID 1 is the only RAID configuration that HP preconfigures for HP Compaq dc7800 Business PCs. RAID

1 provides high availability with minimal performance impact, as well as greater reliability compared to

a single hard drive configuration.

RAID 1 has redundancy and hence is a true RAID. It more than doubles reliability because the MTBF of

RAID 1 is equal to the MTBF of an individual drive multiplied by the number of drives (2). In other words,

the probability of one hard drive failure on a given day is the square root of that same probability. Hypo-

thetically, if the chances that a single hard drive fails is 1:2000, with RAID 1 the chance that both of your

hard drives fail is 1:4,000,000.

Mirroring, segmentation, and striping have no real meaning in RAID 1. In the table and graphic, the data

is arranged in rows for representation of different pieces of data.

Table 3 RAID 1 with two hard drives (Mirror)

In the previous table, each “Data Segment n” represents a group of data, known as a strip. In this case,

each rows represent a stripe. This table shows how information is duplicated in both hard drives. The size

of the strips is mostly irrelevant and not a configurable option.

To better illustrate the concept of RAID 1 and mirroring, the following figure shows how a sequence of

data “ABCD...” is stored in a RAID 1 volume. In this example, each letter represents a data segment. The

graphic shows how the various pieces are replicated for both of the hard drives; hence, if any one mem-

ber of the RAID 1 volume fails, the information is kept in the surviving members. After a hard drive failure,

the user interface sends a notification so the failed hard drive can be replaced. No user information is lost

in this scenario.

First Disk Second Disk

Data Segment 1 Data Segment 1

Data Segment 2 Data Segment 2

Data Segment 3 Data Segment 3

Data Segment 4 Data Segment 4

Data Segment 5 Data Segment 5

Data Segment 6 Data Segment 6

Data Segment 7 Data Segment 7

Data Segment 8 Data Segment 8

Figure 3 Reliability: RAID 1 - Mirroring

RAID 5 with three hard drives

RAID 5 has been used in servers for many years and is one of the most common types of RAID. RAID 5

uses striping with parity data in distributed blocks across all member disks. Therefore, the mass storage

controller can simultaneously write new information to two hard drives and parity information to the third

hard drive, so if one hard drive fails, the RAID controller can rebuild all the information after the volume

degradation occurred. Hence, RAID 5 with three hard drives has similar performance to RAID 0 with two

hard drives, and the reliability of RAID 1 with a minimum of three hard drives.

Table 4 RAID 5 with 3 hard drives (Parity)

In the previous table, each “Data Segment x” represents a strip. A stripe is made with strip “Data Segment

x”, “Data Segment y” and strip “Parity for x and y.” Notice that the strip “Parity for x and y” is used to

store the required information to recreate the data if any one of the RAID volume members is compro-

mised.

To better illustrate the concept of RAID 5 (parity based RAID), the following figure shows how a sequence

of data “ABCD...” is stored in a RAID 5. In this example, each letter represents a segment or strip. The fig-

ure shows how the various pieces of the information go to different hard drives, hence if any one member

of the RAID 5 fails, the information from all members is not lost.

Figure 4 RAID 5 with three hard drives

First Disk Second Disk Third Disk

Data Segment 1 Data Segment 2 Parity for 1 and 2

Data Segment 3 Parity for 3 and 4 Data Segment 4

Parity for 5 and 6 Data Segment 5 Data Segment 6

Data Segment 7 Data Segment 8 Parity for 7 and 8

Data Segment 9 Parity for 9 and 10 Data Segment 10

Parity for 11 and 12 Data Segment 11 Data Segment 12

Data Segment 13 Data Segment 14 Parity for 13 and 14

Data Segment 15 Parity for 15 and 16 Data Segment 16

Parity for 17 and 18 Data Segment 17 Data Segment 18

Intel Matrix Storage Technology

This technology provides protection against data loss from a hard drive failure and faster access to digital

photo, video, and music files by supporting NCQ as well as RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. Matrix RAID enables

two RAID levels to be combined for data loss protection plus performance. Intel Matrix Storage Technol-

ogy was previously known as Intel Application Accelerator 4.x and Intel Application Accelerator RAID

Edition 3.x.

Figure 5 Matrix RAID combining reliability and performance with the same two hard drives

Using Intel Matrix Storage technology, you can configure the HP Compaq dc7800 Business PC Convert-

ible Minitower with two RAID volumes using three hard drives - a RAID 0 volume for ultimate perfor-

mance, and a second volume as RAID 5 with reliability and performance improvements.

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