Western Digital WD Serial ATA RAID Controller User Manual page 5

Introduction/Getting Started
1
Thank you for purchasing a WD SATA RAID Controller. This installation manual provides
instructional steps and information to make the installation process of your new WD SATA
Controller as quick and easy as possible.
The WD (WD) SATA (SATA) RAID Controller is a cost-effective, high performance RAID
controller that adds performance and reliability to PC desktops and/or servers using SATA
drives.
The WD SATA RAID Controller has two independent data channels to support a maximum
of two SATA drives per card. The WD SATA RAID Controller supports:
Striping (RAID 0) - Identical drives can read and write data in parallel to increase
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performance.
Mirroring (RAID 1) - Mirroring increases read performance through load balancing and
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elevator sorting while creating a complete backup of your files.
A WD SATA RAID Controller striped array can double the sustained data transfer rate of
SATA drives.
The WD SATA RAID Controller offers fault tolerant, data redundancy for entry-level
network file servers or simply for desktop PC users wanting to continually protect valuable
data on their PC. Each model offers RAID 1 mirroring (for two drives).
Should a drive that is part of a mirrored array fail, the WD SATA RAID Controller uses the
mirrored drive (which contains identical data) to assume all data handling. When a new
replacement drive is later installed, WD SATA RAID Controller rebuilds data to the new
drive from the mirrored drive to restore fault tolerance.
The WD SATA RAID Controller bootable BIOS supports individual drives larger than 137
GB. With FAT32 and NTFS partitioning, the array can be addressed as one large single
volume.
WD Array Management Software
The WD Array Management Software offers local and remote management as well as
monitoring of all WD arrays that exist anywhere on a network. Windows-based GUI provides
e-mail notification of all major events/alarms, memory cache management, logging for
Windows 2000 servers, array maintenance, rebuild, and access to all components in array
(server, controller, data channels, individual drives, and enclosure). For information on using
WD Array Management, refer to the WD Array Management Software User Manual,
available from support.wdc.com.
WD SERIAL ATA RAID CONTROLLER
USER MANUAL
INTRODUCTION/GETTING STARTED - 1