Nvidia NVRAID - User manual

Quick Start Guide
NVRAID
Quick Start Guide

Quick Start Guide for
NVRAID
This Quick Start guide is for configuring a non-bootable NVRAID for the first time
under Windows XP. Refer to the NVRAID manual for information on how to
configure a bootable NVRAID.
Setting Up a Non-Bootable
RAID Array
Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS.
Run the Windows ForceWare™ Setup application and install the RAID
software.
Configure the RAID 0 array using the NVRAIDMAN.
Initialize the NVRAID array disks.
Choose the Hard Disks to be RAID-Enabled in the System
BIOS
The following steps assume you are booting from a parallel ATA hard drive, and
want to do RAID0 on two serial ATA hard drives.
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Setting Up BIOS
1. Start your computer, and then press Delete to enter the BIOS setup.
The BIOS CMOS Setup Utility window displays.
Figure 1. BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Window
2. Use the arrow keys to select Integrated Peripherals, and then press Enter.
The Integrated Peripherals window is displayed.
Figure 2. Integrated Peripherals Window
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3. Use the arrow keys to select RAID Conifg, and then press Enter. The RAID
Config window is displayed.
Figure 3. RAID Config Window
4. From the RAID Config window, enable RAID.
5. Enable the disks that you want to use as RAID disks. In this example you
need to enable the SATA ports that are connected to your hard drives.
6. Press F10 to save the configuration and exit.
7. The PC reboots.
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Run Windows ForceWare Setup Application and Install the
RAID Software
After enabling the drives in the system BIOS that are RAID-enabled, boot into
Windows and install the RAID software.
Launch nForce ForceWare by double clicking on Setup to display the NVIDIA
Windows nForce Drivers window (Figure 4).
Figure 4. NVIDIA Windows nForce Drivers
Make sure that the NVIDIA IDE Driver is selected as shown in Figure 4. Click on
Next and follow the instructions. When the installation is complete, reboot the PC.
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Configure the RAID 0 Array Using the NVRAIDMAN
Do the following after the NVRAID drivers have been installed and the PC has
been rebooted.
1. Click on StartÎProgramsÎNVIDIA CorporationÎRAID Manager.
2. Select RAID Manager to display the
nvraid screen (Figure 5).
Figure 5. nvraid Configuration Screen
3. Click
Create Array to display the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard window.
Figure 6. NVIDIA Create Array Wizard Opening Screen
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4. Click on Next>.
Figure 7. RAID Array Selection
5. Click on Mirroring and select Striping from the dropdown list,as shown in
Figure 8.
Figure 8. RAID Array Selection
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6. Leave the Stripe Size set to 64 K as shown in Figure 8 and click on Next.
The following screen should be displayed.
Figure 9. Free Disk Selection
7. Select the drivers that you want to use for the two disk strip set by clicking to
the left of the name of each drive as shown in the following screen shot.
Figure 10. Drivers Selected
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8. Click Next.
9. Click Next again.
10. Click Finish. The following screen is displayed.
Figure 11. Two Disk Striped Array
You now have a two disk striped array with a total size of 153.38 GB. However, the
array can not be used yet since you need to create a partition and format that
partition. See Initialize NVRAID Array Disks in the next paragraph.
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Initialize NVRAID Array Disks
Now that the two-disk array has been created, it needs to be partitioned and
formatted.
1. Click on StartÎSettingsÎControl Panel
2. Double click on Administrative Tools.
3. Double click on Computer Management.
4. Click on Disk Management. The following screen is displayed.
Figure 12. Disk Management
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5. The 153.38 GB is for the two disk striped array that was created earlier. To
create a partition on it, right click on the Unallocated partition and select
New Partition….
Figure 13. Creating a New Partition
6. Follow the Wizard for setting up and formatting the partition. Once that is
done, you can start using the newly created stripped array.
7.
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