Supero X7DWU, User Manual

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Appendix C: Adaptec HostRAID Setup Guidelines
C-1
Appendix C
Adaptec HostRAID Setup Guidelines
After all the hardware components have been installed, you must confi gure the
Adaptec Embedded Serial ATA RAID and then install the Windows operating system.
All necessary drivers are included on the Supermicro bootable CDs that came with
your motherboard.
Note : The following section provides information on the Adaptec SATA RAID
Driver based on the Intel Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2) Controller.
C-1 Introduction to the Adaptec SATA RAID 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 up to 3.0 Gbps. 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 ESB2 I/O Controller Hub
Located in the South Bridge of the Intel 5400P Chipset, the ESB2 I/O Controller
Hub provides the I/O subsystem with access to the rest of the system. It supports
1-channel Ultra ATA/100 Bus Master IDE controller (PATA) and one Adaptec's Se-
rial ATA (SATA) Host Controller, which support up to six Serial ATA drives, up to
two RAID volumes and up to four drives in RAID Confi gurations. (See the table
below for details.)