Setting Up Raid; Raid Definitions - Asus P5M2 User Manual

5.1

Setting up RAID

For P5M2 model, the Intel
Embedded SATA RAID Utility and the Intel
support SATA hard disk drives and allow creation of RAID 0, RAID 1, Software
RAID 5, and RAID 10 configuration.
For P5M2/SAS model, the onboard LSI 1068 controller provides RAID 0, RAID 1,
and RAID 1E configuration. The Intel
®
the Intel Matrix Storage Manager which supports RAID 1, RAID 0, RAID 10, and
software RAID 5.
5.1.1

RAID definitions

RAID 0 (Data striping) optimizes two identical hard disk drives to read and write
data in parallel, interleaved stacks. Two hard disks perform the same work as a
single drive but at a sustained data transfer rate, double that of a single disk alone,
thus improving data access and storage. Use of two new identical hard disk drives
is required for this setup.
RAID 1 (Data mirroring) copies and maintains an identical image of data from one
drive to a second drive. If one drive fails, the disk array management software
directs all applications to the surviving drive as it contains a complete copy of
the data in the other drive. This RAID configuration provides data protection and
increases fault tolerance to the entire system. Use two new drives or use an
existing drive and a new drive for this setup. The new drive must be of the same
size or larger than the existing drive.
RAID 1-E (Enhanced RAID 1) has a striped layout with each stripe unit having a
secondary (or alternate) copy stored on a different disk. You can use three or more
hard disk drives for this configuration.
RAID 5 stripes both data and parity information across three or more hard disk
drives. Among the advantages of RAID 5 configuration include better HDD
performance, fault tolerance, and higher storage capacity. The RAID 5 configuration
is best suited for transaction processing, relational database applications,
enterprise resource planning, and other business systems. Use a minimum of three
identical hard disk drives for this setup.
RAID 0+1 is data striping and data mirroring combined without parity (redundancy
data) having to be calculated and written. With the RAID 0+1 configuration you get
all the benefits of both RAID 0 and RAID 1 configurations. Use four new hard disk
drives or use an existing drive and three new drives for this setup.
If you want to boot the system from a hard disk drive included in a created RAID
set, copy first the RAID driver from the support CD to a floppy disk before you
install an operating system to the selected hard disk drive. Refer to Chapter 6
for details.
ASUS P5M2 Series
®
ICH7R Southbridge chip comes with the LSI Logic
®
Matrix Storage Manager. These utilities
®
ICH7R Southbridge chip comes with only
5-1