I have a Supermicro P4SCT mobo. It supports RAID. I also have two
same size SATA drives that I want to convert to RAID0 stripped and
boot from them. I will be installing XP Pro.
The instructions for the mobo say I have several choices.
Auto
Combined
Parallel
Serial
Enhanced
Which setting should I use? I assume that one of these settings makes
the two drives as one.
Is this the only BIOS change I need? Can I then start XP and format
the combined drive?
When XP starts it says press one of the function keys to load special
RAID drivers. Do I need to use the disk that came with the
motherboard here?
Thanks for you time.
Hello Terry,
First off, you need to be aware that setting up a RAID 0 striped array
(volume) is destructive. All of you data on both drives will be lost. Be
sure to backup all of your important files and emails and verify that the
backup is good before proceeding.
I found the manual for your motherboard here:
http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/E7210/MNL-0719.pdf
You need to set up the RAID function in the BIOS first (see chapter 4, page
57).
In the Advanced ===> Advanced Chipset Control screen, select RAID for SATA
Function.
Page 80 shows the information you should read for the Adapted SATA RAID
controller that your motherboard has.
The manual shows that you need to press CTRL-A at the BIOS prompt. You
will need to do this next to set up the array.
The manual shows how to create a new array (volume) on page 83. It also
says you may need to initialize your hard disks (see page 89).
The information in the manual pertains to the Intel 6300ESB ICH Controller
and not the onboard Marvell 88SX5041 Controller (available on the + and +II
version of the motherboard). If you don't have the + or +II version, you
don't have to worry about which connectors on the motherboard to connect
the two hard drives.
You can find an explanation of the Combined Mode and Enhanced
Mode on page 78.
Page 87 shows how to make a bootable array.
Read all pages 77-88 in appendix C for the complete instructions.
See page 77 of the manual for installing Windows. You do need the RAID
drivers that came with the motherboard or download them from the Super
Micro website.
In general, to install Windows XP Pro on a RAID array (volume):
Insert your Windows CD into your CD/DVD drive and at the
Boot from CD-ROM prompt and press any key on the keyboard.
Windows will almost immediately show a prompt at the bottom of the screen
to press F6 to install an additional driver. Press F6 when prompted.
Don't worry if nothing happens right away, you can load the drivers
later. Install the drivers from the floppy when prompted.
Are you aware that using only RAID 0 means that you are essentially
doubling your risk of data loss? If one disk fails in a RAID 0 setup,
anything on both drives is lost. That may be OK for you, but most people
have photos, documents or other information that they don't regularly back
up and don't want to lose that should be placed on a separate hard drive or
RAID 1 mirrored volume but not on a RAID 0 striped volume. RAID 1 is
perfect for this as it duplicates (mirrors) the data.
If you want to go with RAID 0 for performance reasons and are aware of its
shortcomings, be sure to routinely back up your important files. Hard
drives can fail at any time without warning.
The manual for your motherboard does a very good job at explaining how to
set up, configure, change and maintain a RAID array. Check it out.
I will keep trying