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Intel® VROC Quick Configuration Guide 

3.

 

Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD)

 

Intel® VMD is a new feature introduced with the Intel® Xeon® processor Scalable family. This native feature 

provides RAID support for NVMe* drives directly connected to the processor’s PCIe* lanes through a 

supported backplane. This section describes how to enable and configure this functionality. 

Each member of the Intel® Xeon® processor Scalable family has three Intel® VMD domains (numbered one, 
two, and three). Each Intel® VMD domain manages 16 PCIe* lanes divided into four Intel® VMD ports (named 
A, B, C, and D) consisting of four PCIe* lanes each.  Some of these Intel® VMD ports are routed to specific 
risers and slots in the system, while other Intel® VMD ports are routed to specific chipset uplinks, SAS 
modules, or onboard Oculink connectors. This routing is fixed (non-configurable); please refer to the relevant 
motherboard's Technical Product Specification for details on this routing.    

Note:

 Intel® VMD ports routed to specific chipset uplinks cannot be used for Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe RAID) 

configurations. 

There are two different ways to connect NVMe* drives to Intel® VMD ports: 

1.

 

NVMe* drives connect directly to VMD ports in a 1:1 fashion when using the onboard Oculink* ports 
or by using PCIe* retimers. Each NVMe* drive then uses four dedicated PCIe* lanes, providing full 
bandwidth to each drive. 

2.

 

Several NVMe* drives connect to one VMD port by using either 8x4 or 8x8 PCIe* switches.  Eight PCIe* 
lanes are then shared by the NVMe* ports, providing limited bandwidth to each drive. 

The RAID volume may be used as a bootable drive only if all drives in the RAID volume are connected to a 
single Intel® VMD domain.  It is possible to create RAID volumes spanning multiple Intel® VMD domains, 
however such RAID configurations cannot be made bootable. 

3.1

 

Enabling the Intel® VMD ports 

By default, all Intel® VMD ports are disabled in BIOS Setup.  For Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe RAID), the 
appropriate Intel® VMD ports must be enabled by selecting the following menu options in order after 
entering BIOS Setup: 

1.

 

Advanced 

2.

 

PCI Configuration 

3.

 

Volume Management Device 

 

Содержание VROC

Страница 1: ...Intel Server Products and Solutions Intel VROC VMD NVMe RAID Quick Configuration Guide A quickstart guide detailing configuration rules and procedures Rev 1 2 March 2020 ...

Страница 2: ...2 Blank page ...

Страница 3: ...ate Published Revision Changes December 2019 1 0 Initial release December 2019 1 1 Corrections made to the list of supported OSs and VMD definition Section 2 Preparing the server hardware and drivers added Appendix B Added March 2020 1 2 Removed Secure Boor restriction ...

Страница 4: ...y cause the product to deviate from published specifications Current characterized errata are available on request Intel disclaims all express and implied warranties including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability fitness for a particular purpose and non infringement as well as any warranty arising from course of performance course of dealing or usage in trade This document ...

Страница 5: ...damage can result Installing or removing jumpers A jumper is a small plastic encased conductor that slips over two jumper pins Some jumpers have a small tab on top that you can grip with your fingertips or with a pair of fine needle nosed pliers If your jumpers do not have such a tab take care when using needle nosed pliers to remove or install a jumper grip the narrow sides of the jumper with the...

Страница 6: ...is guide includes the following Section 1 Product Overview Provides the product overview supported hardware and operating systems Section 2 Preparing the server hardware and drivers Provides the steps required to prepare the system to support Intel VROC RAID configurations Section 3 Intel Volume Management Devices Intel VMD Provides definition of the Intel VMD feature and instructions to enable it...

Страница 7: ...ng the Intel VROC VMD NVMe RAID HII Configuration Utility 11 Appendix A Glossary 15 Appendix B Updating Firmware on Intel NVMe drives using the Intel SSD Data Center Tool 16 List of Tables Table 1 VROC driver requirements 7 List of Figures Figure 1 RSTe NVMe release note documentation style 6 Figure 2 Steps to enter the Volume Management Device Port Window 9 Figure 3 VMD port Example A 9 Figure 4 ...

Страница 8: ...Intel VROC Quick Configuration Guide 3 Blank page ...

Страница 9: ...d S2600BP product family a k a Buchanan Pass Intel Server Board S2600ST product family a k a Sawtooth Pass The guide supports RAID configurations created using validated NVMe drives connected through a supported backplane To increase the number of supported NVMe drives approved PCIe switches and retimers are also supported Note For a list of supported devices consult the Tested Hardware Lists THOL...

Страница 10: ...ts the U 2 form factor NVMe drives connected through supported backplanes Intel recommends that the drives are of the latest firmware version and makes available the Intel SSD Data Center Tool utility in order to update the firmware on Intel SSD DC family drives Other vendors provide similar tools The Intel SSD Data Center Tool runs on top of Windows or Linux operating systems and can be used when...

Страница 11: ...rsa excepting for the Linux OS If the system BIOS version is updating while the prior BIOS version has a newer RSTe NVMe UEFI driver embedded the RSTe OS driver must be updated first Note On a system with the Windows OS installed and an Intel VROC virtual drive present the Windows RSTe OS driver version must not be prior to the RSTe NVMe UEFI driver version otherwise unexpected behavior may happen...

Страница 12: ... Linux driver version required 00 01 0004 5 2 1 1001 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0009 5 2 1 1001 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0012 5 3 0 1052 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0013 5 3 0 1052 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0014 5 4 0 1039 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0015 5 4 0 1039 6 0 0 1357 or later 5 4 or later 00 01 0016 5 5 0 1028 6 0 0 1357 or lat...

Страница 13: ...ting Note Intel VMD ports routed to specific chipset uplinks cannot be used for Intel VROC VMD NVMe RAID configurations There are two different ways to connect NVMe drives to Intel VMD ports 1 NVMe drives connect directly to VMD ports in a 1 1 fashion when using the onboard Oculink ports or by using PCIe retimers Each NVMe drive then uses four dedicated PCIe lanes providing full bandwidth to each ...

Страница 14: ...Steps to enter the Volume Management Device Port Window Example A If an R2000WF system is being used and four NVMe drives are being connected to the four onboard Oculink connectors VMD ports 3A 3B 3C and 3D must be enabled Figure 3 VMD port Example A ...

Страница 15: ... on riser two VMD ports 1C and 1D must be enabled Figure 4 VMD port Example B Note If a retimer is used a x16 slot is required and all four VMD ports must be enabled Refer to the corresponding motherboard s TPS for supported riser and slot combinations Once the appropriate Intel VMD ports are enabled the system must be rebooted for the changes to take effect ...

Страница 16: ...The proper Intel VMD ports must be enabled and the system rebooted to have the Intel VROC VMD NVMe RAID HII visible Access the HII configuration utility by entering BIOS Setup and selecting the following menu options in order 1 Advanced 2 PCI Configuration 3 UEFI Option ROM Control 4 Intel Virtual RAID on CPU Figure 5 Steps to access the Intel VROC HII configuration utility 4 2 Creating RAID Volum...

Страница 17: ...alled Upgrade Key and the configured Intel VROC RAID volumes if any 2 Select All Intel VMD Controllers The Intel VROC managed VMD menu will appear showing all Intel VMD controllers with their corresponding NVME drives Figure 6 Intel VROC Managed VMD menu 3 Select Create RAID Volume The Create RAID Volume menu will appear Figure 7 Create RAID Volume menu ...

Страница 18: ...ent VMD controllers then select the drives that will be used for the chosen RAID level The resulting capacity of the volume defaults to the maximum available for the selected drives but may be decreased by the user Note Spanned RAID volumes cannot be made bootable Figure 8 Completed Create RAID Volume menu 5 Once the required fields are populated select Create Volume 6 Once the RAID volume is crea...

Страница 19: ...Intel VROC Quick Configuration Guide 14 Figure 9 Intel VROC Managed VMD menu 7 Exit the HII Configuration Utility by pressing F10 and reboot Then proceed to the Operating System installation ...

Страница 20: ...Quick Configuration Guide 15 Appendix A Glossary Term Definition Intel RSTe Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise NVMe NVM Express Intel VMD Intel Volume Management Devices Intel VROC Intel Virtual RAID on CPU ...

Страница 21: ...nstalled NVMe drives will be listed along with information like serial number model number firmware version index number etc see Figure 10 If the firmware needs to be updated this will be indicated in the FirmwareUpdateAvailable field showing the available version Figure 10 List of Intel NVMe drives shown by the isdct tool 3 Take note of the Index number for all the drives requiring the firmware u...

Страница 22: ...nfiguration Guide 17 5 Repeat step 4 for all the drives requiring the update 6 Reboot the system For more information pertaining to the SSD data center tool refer to the Intel Solid State Drive Data Center Tool User Guide ...

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