Bull Cedoc NovaScale R423, Installation And User Manual

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Appendix C: Intel HostRAID
C-1
Appendix C. Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines
After all the hardware has been installed, you must fi rst confi gure Intel's ESB2
SATA RAID before you install the Operating System and other software drivers.
Important Notes to the User:
If you do not wish to confi gure onboard SATA RAID functions, please go directly
to Section C-2, Appendix D and Appendix E for Operating System & Other
Software Installation.
This chapter describes RAID Confi guration Instructions for the Intel ESB2 RAID
Controller designed for the Windows OS.
C-1 Introduction to Serial ATA and Parallel ATA
To confi gure the SATA RAID functions, you must fi rst use the Intel ESB2 SATA
RAID Utility program to confi gure the RAID Level that you desire before installing
the Windows XP/2000/2003 operating system and other software drivers. (The
necessary drivers are all included in the NovaScale R423 Resources CD that came
with your motherboard.) The current version of the ESB2 SATA RAID Utility can
only support the Windows XP/2000/2003 Operating Systems.
Serial ATA (SATA)
Serial ATA (SATA) is a physical storage interface that uses a single cable with a
minimum of four wires to create a point-to-point connection between devices. It
is a serial link, which supports transfer rates up to 3.0 Gbps. Because the serial
cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Parallel ATA
(PATA), SATA systems have better airfl ow and can be installed in smaller chassis
than Parallel ATA. In addition, the cables used in PATA are limited to a length of
40cm, while Serial ATA cables can be up to one meter in length. Overall, SATA
provides better functionality than PATA.
Introduction to the Intel ESB2 Serial RAID
Located in the South Bridge of the 5400 chipset, the I/O Controller Hub (ESB2)
provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It supports
an 1-channel UltraATA/100 Bus Master IDE controller (PATA) and six Serial ATA
(SATA) ports. The ESB2 supports the following PATA and SATA device confi gura-
tions: Legacy mode and Native mode.
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