Appendix C: Software Installation
C-1
C-1 Introduction to the Adaptec Embedded Serial ATA
RAID
Controller
Driver
Serial ATA (SATA)
Serial ATA(SATA) is a physical storage interface. It 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 SATA Transfer rates from 150MBps. Because the
serial cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Paral-
lel 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 can only extend
to 40cm long, while Serial ATA cables can extend up to one meter. Overall, Serial
ATA provides better functionality than Parallel ATA.
Introduction to the Intel 6300ESB (Hance Rapids) I/O Control-
ler Hub
Located in the South Bridge of the Intel E7320 Lindenhurst VS Chipset, the
6300ESB (Hance Rapids) I/O Controller Hub provides the I/O subsystem with ac-
cess to the rest of the system. It supports 2-channel Ultra ATA/100 Bus Master IDE
controller (PATA) and two Serial ATA (SATA) Host Controllers, which support up to
two Serial ATA ports and up to two RAID drives. The 6300ESB (Hance Rapids)
I/O Controller Hub supports the following Parallel ATA (PATA) and Serial (SATA)
device confi gurations:
Appendix C
Installing Software Drivers and Windows Operating
System
After all the hardware has been installed, you must fi rst confi gure the Adaptec
Embedded Serial ATA RAID Driver before you install the Windows operating system.
The necessary drivers are all included on the Supermicro bootable CDs that came
packaged with your motherboard. (For the information on Adaptec's SATA HostRAID
Utility based on Marvell's chip, please refer to Appendix D.)
