Guide to SATA Hard Disks

Installation and RAID Configuration

1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation...............................2

1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation.................2

2. Guide to RAID Configurations............................................3

2.1 Introduction of RAID..................................................3

2.2 RAID Configuration Precautions...............................6

2.3 Installing Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 / 8.1 64-bit / 8

/ 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit With RAID Functions..............7

2.4 Configuring a RAID array..........................................8

2.4.1 Configuring a RAID array Using UEFI Setup Utility....... 9

2.4.2 Configuring a PCIE SSD RAID Array Using UEFI

Setup Utility.................................................................. 13

2.4.3 Configuring a RAID array Using Intel RAID BIOS....... 18

3. Installing Windows® on a HDD under 2TB in RAID

mode ...................................................................22

4. Installing Windows® on a HDD larger than 2TB in

RAID mode ...................................................................23

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1. Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation

1.1 Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disks Installation

Intel chipset supports Serial ATA (SATA) hard disks with RAID
functions, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel
Rapid Storage. Please read the RAID configurations in this
guide carefully according to the Intel southbridge chipset that
your motherboard adopts. You may install SATA hard disks on
this motherboard for internal storage devices. This section will
guide you how to create RAID on SATA ports.

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2. Guide to RAID Configurations

2.1 Introduction of RAID

This motherboard adopts Intel southbridge chipset that inte-
grates RAID controller supporting RAID 0 / RAID 1/ Intel Rapid
Storage / RAID 10 / RAID 5 function with four independent Se-
rial ATA (SATA) channels. This section will introduce the basic
knowledge of RAID, and the guide to configure RAID 0 / RAID
1/ Intel Rapid Storage / RAID 10 / RAID 5 settings.

RAID
The term “RAID” stands for “Redundant Array of Independent
Disks”, which is a method combining two or more hard disk
drives into one logical unit. For optimal performance, please
install identical drives of the same model and capacity when
creating a RAID set.

RAID 0 (Data Striping)

RAID 0 is called data striping that optimizes two
identical hard disk drives to read and write data
in parallel, interleaved stacks. It will improve data
access and storage since it will double the data
transfer rate of a single disk alone while the two
hard disks perform the same work as a single
drive but at a sustained data transfer rate.

WARNING!!
Although RAID 0 function can improve the access performance,
it does not provide any fault tolerance. Hot-Plug any HDDs of
the RAID 0 Disk will cause data damage or data loss.

RAID 1 (Data Mirroring)

RAID 1 is called data mirroring that copies and
maintains an identical image of data from one
drive to a second drive. It provides data protection
and increases fault tolerance to the entire system
since the disk array management software will
direct all applications to the surviving drive as it
contains a complete copy of the data in the other
drive if one drive fails.

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Intel Rapid Storage
The Intel Rapid Storage technology supported allows you to
create a RAID 0 and RAID 1 set using only two identical hard
disk drives. The Intel Rapid Storage technology creates two
partitions on each hard disk drive to create a virtual RAID 0
and RAID 1 sets. This technology also allows you to change
the hard disk drive partition size without losing any data.

RAID 10
RAID 10 is a striped configuration with RAID 1 segments
whose segments are RAID 1 arrays. This configuration has the
same fault tolerance as RAID 1, and has the same overhead
for fault-tolerance as mirroring alone. RAID 10 achieves high
input / output rates by striping RAID 1 segments. In some
instances, a RAID 10 configuration can sustain multiple simul-
taneous drive failure. A minimum of four hard disk drives is
required for this setup.

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RAID 5
RAID 5 stripes both data and parity information across three or
more hard disk drives. Among the advantages of RAID 5 confi-
guration include better HDD performance, fault tolerance, and
higher storage capacity. The RAID 5 configuration is best sui-
ted 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.

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 1. Please use two new drives if you are creating a RAID
0 (striping) array for performance. It is recommended
to use two SATA drives of the same size. If you use
two drives of different sizes, the smaller capacity hard
disk will be the base storage size for each drive. For
example, if one hard disk has an 80GB storage capa-
city and the other hard disk has 60GB, the maximum
storage capacity for the 80GB-drive becomes 60GB,
and the total storage capacity for this RAID 0 set is
120GB.
2. You may use two new drives, or use an existing drive
and a new drive to create a RAID 1 (mirroring) array
for data protection (the new drive must be of the
same size or larger than the existing drive). If you
use two drives of different sizes, the smaller capacity
hard disk will be the base storage size. For example,
if one hard disk has an 80GB storage capacity and
the other hard disk has 60GB, the maximum storage
capacity for the RAID 1 set is 60GB.
3. Please verify the status of your hard disks before you
set up your new RAID array.

WARNING!!
Please backup your data first before you create RAID functions.
In the process you create RAID, the system will ask if you want
to “Clear Disk Data” or not. It is recommended to select “Yes”,
and then your future data building will operate under a clean
environment.

Intel Rapid Storage Technology for PCIe Storage Use cases

Prerequisite:
* The PCIe Storage device must be attached to remapable PCIe slot or
PCIe M.2 connector.
* The PCIe Storage device must be AHCI-controller based.
* System must be in RAID mode.
* The system BIOS must use the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology UEFI
drive option, Legacy OROM doesn’t support PCIe storage function.

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2.3 Installing Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 / 8.1 64-bit / 8
/ 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit With RAID Functions
If you want to install Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 / 8.1 64-bit /8 / 8
64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit OS on your SATA / SATA2 / SATA3 HDDs
with RAID functions, please follow the procedures below.
STEP 1: Setting the BIOS RAID Items
After installing the hard disk drives, please set the necessary
RAID items in the BIOS before setting your RAID configuration.
Boot your system, and press <F2> key to enter BIOS setup
utility. Go to Advanced Storage Configuration and set
SATA Mode Selection to [RAID]. Press <F10> to save the
configuration changes and exit setup.
STEP 2: Use ASRock Easy RAID Installer
Easy RAID Installer can copy the RAID driver from a support
CD to your USB storage device with just one simple click in
UEFI setup. Please note that this feature is not available for all
models.
A. Plug in your USB flash drive into a USB port.
B. Enter UEFI SETUP UTILITY Tool and highlight “Easy
RAID Installer”. Press [Enter] to confirm the selection.
C. Follow the onscreen instruction to complete the process.
STEP 3: Set RAID configuration
Please refer to p.8 -17 of this document for instructions on how
to set RAID configuration.
STEP 4: Install Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 / 8.1 64-bit / 8 / 8 64-
bit / 7 / 7 64-bit OS on your system.

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 2.4 Configuring a RAID array
You can configure a RAID array using either UEFI Setup
Utility or Intel® RAID BIOS setup utility, depending on the HDD
capacity and the OS you are installing. Please refer to the table
below to choose the corresponding RAID Utility.

OS Windows 7
HDD Capacity Over 2.2 TB Under 2.2 TB
Ultra Fast Boot Not supported Not supported

UEFI SETUP UTILITY\Boot\

Option ROM Setting CSM [Launch Storage n/a
OpROM policy] = [UEFI only]

Required RAID Utility UEFI Setup Utility Intel® RAID BIOS setup utility

OS Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8
HDD Under 2.2 Under 2.2
Over 2.2 TB Over 2.2 TB
Capacity TB TB

Ultra Fast
Enabled Enabled Disabled Disabled
Boot

UEFI SETUP UTILITY\

Option ROM Boot\CSM [Launch
n/a n/a n/a
Setting Storage OpROM policy]
= [UEFI only]

Intel® RAID
Required UEFI Setup UEFI Setup UEFI Setup
BIOS setup
RAID Utility Utility Utility Utility
utility

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2.4.1 Configuring a RAID array Using UEFI Setup Utility

STEP 1:
Enter the UEFI Setup Utility by pressing <F2> or <Del> right
after you power on the computer.

STEP 2:
Go to Boot CSM and set Launch Storage OpROM policy
to [UEFI only].

STEP 3:
Go to Advanced Storage Configuration and set SATA
Mode Selection to [RAID], then press <F10> to save the
configuration changes and exit setup. Then Enter Intel(R)
Rapid Storage Technology in Advanced page.

STEP 4:
Select the option Create RAID Volume and press <Enter>.

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STEP 5:
Key-in a a volume name and press <Enter>, or simply press
<Enter> to accept the default name.

STEP 6:
Select your desired RAID Level and press <Enter>.

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STEP 7:
Select the hard drives to be included in the RAID array and
press <Enter>.

STEP 8:
Select a stripe size for the RAID array and press <Enter>.

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STEP 9:
Select Create Volume and press <Enter> to start creating the
RAID array.

If you want to delete a RAID volume, select the option Delete

on the RAID volume info page and press <Enter>.

*Please note that the UEFI screenshots shown in this

installation guide are for reference only. The actual screen
may differ by model on the RAID volume info page and press
<Enter>.

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2.4.2 Configuring a PCIE SSD RAID Array Using UEFI
Setup Utility

Caution:
Please use identical PCIE SSDs that are the same type and
volume.

STEP 1:
Enter the UEFI Setup Utility by pressing <F2> or <Del> right
after you power on the computer.

STEP 2:
Go to Advanced Storage Configuration and set SATA
Mode Selection to [RAID] and set Launch Storage OpROM
policy to [UEFI only], then adjust the M.2 slots that you’ve
installed PCIE SSDs to [Enabled]. Press <F10> to save the
configuration changes and exit setup.

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STEP 3:
Enter Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology in Advanced page.

STEP 4:
Select the option Create RAID Volume and press <Enter>.

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STEP 5:
Key-in a a volume name and press <Enter>, or simply press
<Enter> to accept the default name.

STEP 6:
Select your desired RAID Level and press <Enter>.

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STEP 7:
Select the hard drives to be included in the RAID array and
press <Enter>.

STEP 8:
Select a stripe size for the RAID array and press <Enter>.

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STEP 9:
Select Create Volume and press <Enter> to start creating the
RAID array.

If you want to delete a RAID volume, select the option Delete

on the RAID volume info page and press <Enter>.

*Please note that the UEFI screenshots shown in this

installation guide are for reference only. The actual screen
may differ by model on the RAID volume info page and press
<Enter>.

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2.4.3 Configuring a RAID array Using Intel RAID BIOS
Reboot your computer. Wait until you see the RAID software
prompting you to press <Ctrl+I>.

Press <Ctrl+I>. Then, the Intel RAID Utility - Create RAID

Volume window appears.

In the Create Volume Menu, under Name item, please key-in a

unique name with 1-16 letters for your RAID volume then press
<Enter>.

Volume0

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Use the up or down arrow keys to select your desired RAID
Level. You may select RAID 0 (Stripe), RAID 1 (Mirror), RAID
5 or RAID 10 for your RAID level. Press <Enter>, and then you
can select Strip Size.

Volume0

Volume0

If you selected RAID 0 (Stripe), use the up or down keys to

select the stripe size for your RAID 0 array then press <Enter>.
The available values range from 8 KB to 128 KB. The default
selection is 128 KB. The strip value should be chosen based
on the planned drive usage.
•8/16 KB - low disk usage
•64 KB - typical disk usage
•128 KB - performance disk usage
After you set disk block size, press <Enter> to set disk
Capacity.

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 Volume0

After setting up Capacity, please press <Enter>.

Volume0

Press <Enter> under the Create Volume item. The utility

prompts a confirmation message as below.

Volume0

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 Press <Y> to complete the setup of RAID.

After the completion, you will see the detailed information about
the RAID that you set up.

Please note that you are only allowed to create one RAID
partition at a time under BIOS RAID environment. If you want
to create an extra RAID partition, please use the RAID utility
under Windows environment to configure RAID functions after
you install OS.

If you want to delete a RAID volume, please select the option

Delete RAID Volume, press <Enter>, and then follow the
instructions on the screen.

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3. Installing Windows® on a HDD under 2TB in
RAID mode

After the UEFI and RAID BIOS setup you may start
installing Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 / 8.1 64-bit / 8 / 8
64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit OS as usual.

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4. Installing Windows ® on a HDD larger than
2TB in RAID mode

Windows® 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 does not support HDD’s larger than

2TB. Please make sure to use Windows® 7 64-bit, Windows®
8 64-bit, Windows® 8.1 64-bit or Windows® 10 64-bit.

After the UEFI and RAID BIOS setup, please follow the
steps below.
STEP 1: Copy Intel® RAID drivers into a USB flash
disk
You can download the drivers from ASRock's website
and unzip the files into a USB flash disk or copy the files
from ASRock's motherboard support CD. (Please copy
the files under the following directory:
32 bit: ..\i386\Win7_Intel..
64-bit: ..\AMD64\Win7-64_Intel..
STEP 2: Install Windows® 7 64-bit / 8 64-bit / 8.1 64-
bit / / 10 64-bit OS
Press <F11> to launch boot menu at system POST and
choose the item “UEFI:<Optical disk drive>“ to boot.

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Start Windows® Installation. When you see “Where do
you want to install Windows?” page, please click “Load
Driver”.

Plug the USB flash disk into your USB port; select
“Browse” to find the RAID driver. Then choose the
directory you have copied in the first step.

Please keep the USB flash disk installed until the

system's first reboot. Continue to install the OS by
following the instructions.

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If you install Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 8 64-bit / 7 64-bit on a large
hard disk (ex. Disk volume > 2TB), it may take more time to boot into
Windows® or install driver/utilities. If you encounter this problem, you will
need to follow the instructions below to fix this problem.

Windows® 7 64-bit / 8 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 10 64-bit:

A. Please request the hotfix KB2505454 through this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2505454/
B. After installing Windows® 7 64-bit / 8 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 10 64-bit, install
the hotfix kb2505454. (This may take a long time; >30 mins.)
C. Reboot your system. (It may take about 5 minutes to reboot.)
D. Windows® will install this hotfix then reboot by itself.
E. Please start to install motherboard drivers and utilities.

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