Configuring Your Computer For Raid; Configuring For Raid Using The Intel Raid Option Rom Utility - Dell XPS M2010 Owner's Manual

If a drive failure occurs, subsequent read and write operations are directed to the surviving drive. A
replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data from the surviving drive. Also, because data is
duplicated on both drives, a RAID level 1 configuration using two 120-GB hard drives collectively has a
maximum of 120 GB on which to store data.

Configuring Your Computer for RAID

At some point you may want to configure your computer for RAID if you did not select a RAID
configuration when you purchased your computer. You must have at least two hard drives installed in
your computer to set up a RAID configuration.
NOTE:
Your computer was configured with RAID On as the default, whether or not you ordered RAID.
You can use one of two methods to configure RAID hard drive volumes. One method uses the Intel
RAID Option ROM utility and is performed before you install the operating system onto the hard drive.
The second method uses the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, or Intel Matrix Storage Console, and this
method is performed after you have installed the operating system and the Intel Matrix Storage Console.
Both methods require that you set your computer to RAID-enabled mode before starting any of the
RAID configuration procedures in this document.
Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode
1 Enter system setup (see page 109).
2 Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Onboard Devices, and press <Enter>.
3 Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight SATA Operation, and press <Enter>.
4 Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight RAID On, and press <Enter>.
5 If the setting was changed from RAID Autodetect/ATA to RAID On, a pop-up window displays. If the
pop-up window displays, press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight Yes, and press <Enter>.
If the setting didn't change, the pop-up window will not display. Go on to step 6.
6 Press <Esc>.
NOTE:
For more information about RAID options, see "System Setup Screens" on page 110.
7 Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight Save/Exit, and press <Enter> to exit system setup and
resume the boot process.

Configuring for RAID Using the Intel RAID Option ROM Utility

NOTE:
Although any size drives may be used to create a RAID configuration using the Intel RAID Option ROM
utility, ideally the drives should be of equal size. In a RAID level 0 configuration, the size of the configuration will be
the size of the smallest drive multiplied by the number (two) of drives in the configuration. In a RAID level 1
configuration, the size of the configuration will be the smaller of the two drives used. If you want to migrate existing
data, see "Configuring for RAID Using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager" on page 115.
System Setup Program
113