Serial Ata (Sata) Support; Sata Interfaces; Sata Raid With Ich5-R Controller - Intel S875WP1LX Specification

Functional Architecture
3.3

Serial ATA (SATA) Support

3.3.1

SATA Interfaces

The Serial ATA controller provided by the ICH5-R offers two independent SATA ports with a
theoretical maximum transfer rate of 150MB/s per port. One device can be installed on each
port for a maximum of two SATA devices when using ICH5-R. Server board with order code of
S875WP1 includes only two SATA ports through the ICH5-R. Server board with order code
S875WP1LX includes an additional four SATA ports using an onboard Promise* Serial ATA
controller, for a maximum of six SATA drives. A point-to-point interface is used for host to device
connections, unlike IDE which supports a master/slave configuration and two devices per
channel.
For compatibility, the underlying SATA functionality is transparent to the operating system. The
SATA controller can operate in both legacy and native modes. In legacy mode, standard IDE I/O
and IRQ resources are assigned (IRQ 14 and 15). In native mode, standard PCI resource
steering is used. Native mode is the preferred mode for configurations using the Windows XP
and Windows 2000 operating systems.
Key features include:
•
Two SATA ports
•
Maximum throughput of 150MB/s
•
Smaller cable
NOTE
•
Many SATA drives use new low-voltage power connectors and require adaptors or
power supplies equipped with low-voltage power connectors. For more information, see:
http://www.serialata.org/
•
ATA and SATA add-in controllers may experience resource conflicts IRQ 14 and 15.
Refer to the tested hardware and operating system list at (URL). In some instances,
onboard SATA controller may need to be disable to use those add-in controllers.
3.3.2

SATA RAID with ICH5-R Controller

Support for RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) on the two SATA ports from the
ICH5-R controller is planned for a future date. See
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/S875WP1-E/
information.
18
S875WP1-E TPS
for the availability
Revision 4.0