Performance and security considerations intel matrixraid

Multi-disk raid disk array is currently the most effective way to improve hard disk read/write speed and data security performance. It is generally used for enterprise users with special requirements. With the popularization of large-capacity hard disks, most home users also hope to have a RAID system that is both cheap and can take into account disk performance and data security. Intel matrix raid is such a disk array system that can meet the needs of home users.

1. What is Intel matrix raid?

A raid disk array uses two or more physical hard disks for coordination. It is logically used as a disk drive. Different collaboration methods are used to improve the performance of the disk subsystem, such as storage capacity, read/write speed, and data security. Currently, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0 + 1, and RAID 5 are commonly used. RAID 0 can increase the read/write speed of the hard disk exponentially, but if one of the hard disks is damaged, all data is lost.

Matrix raid is an Intel chipset-specific disk array technology. In the matrix raid mode (Figure 1), data is stored in the following format: the first half of the two hard disks are used to create RAID 0, it is mainly used to store operating system files, application files, and virtual memory files that are sensitive to read/write speed, while the remaining parts of the two hard disks are used to create RAID 1, it is mainly used to store personal files and important data that are sensitive to security. If one of the hard disks fails, data in RAID 0 may be lost, but data in Raid 1 will be saved. Using intel matrix RAID technology, we can enjoy raid with only two hard disks at a low cost.
The high performance and data security of 0 + 1 are very suitable for ordinary household users.

　　

2. Build intel matrix raid

In terms of hardware, not all Intel chipsets support the matrix raid function. The motherboard MUST use intel ich6r or a more advanced Southbridge chip, raid is supported only when the nangqiao series chip with R is used. Matrix raid requires at least two hard disks, which have the same capacity; otherwise, space will be wasted. The following uses two Samsung hd250hj hard disks as an example to describe how to set up matrix raid.

Demonstration platform:

CPU: Core 2 Duo e6320

Motherboard: DFI 975x/g (ic1_r)

Memory: Kingston DDR2 800 1 GB x 2

Hard drive: Samsung hd250hj × 2

1. BIOS settings

Connect the two hard disks to the computer correctly. After the disk is started, enter the "Integrated peripherals" option in the BIOS menu, set the "SATA mode" option to "raid" (the options may be described differently for different brands of boards ). Save and restart the computer. After the BIOS self-check screen is displayed, you will be prompted to press Ctrl + I to enter the raid settings menu. Select "create raid volume" to create a disk array. In the name column, enter the name of the raid volume to be created.

Next, go to the raid level menu and select the raid mode you want to build. No specific matrix raid option exists in the raid level menu. First, create a RAID 0 and add both hd250hj hard disks to the raid members. In the raid volume column, enter the size of the hard disk space to be used to form RAID 0 (figure 2 ). You can set it as needed.

　　

Taking the author's situation as an example, each hard disk is 250 GB, each of which is divided into GB to form RAID 0, and the remaining space is set to raid 1, therefore, enter 320 GB in raid volume. Select "create volume" to create a disk array. Then choose to create a RAID 1, add the two hard disks to the raid members, and use all the remaining hard disk space for RAID 1. If you need to protect a lot of data, you can reduce the disk space used for RAID 0 in the previous steps.

2. Installation of drivers and software

Matrix raid is special. You must use the F6 button to load the driver from the soft drive when installing XP. You cannot add the driver after installing the system. However, many of our friends have not used the software drive. In this case, we can choose to integrate the raid driver into the XP installation disc, saving the trouble of loading from the software drive. Required software and:

① XP installation disc

② Microsoft. NET Framework 2.0

Http://drivers.mydrivers.com/drivers/135-54350

③ Nlite Software

Http://download.it.com.cn/softweb/software/system/syscomain/200412/4093.html

④ Intel raid driver

For 32-bit Windows XP/2000 systems:

Http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/Driver/motherboard_driver_sataraid_intel_bootdisk_32.exe

For 64-bit Windows XP:

Http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/Driver/motherboard_driver_sataraid_intel_bootdisk_64.exe

⑤ Intel matrix Storage Manager 7.6 driver

Http://drivers.mydrivers.com/drivers/181-72432

The installation procedure is as follows:

(1) install Microsoft. NET Framework 2.0 and nlite software, and put the XP installation CD into the optical drive.

(2) Enable nlite. In the "Location of the Windows Installation File" dialog box, specify the optical drive. Then nlite will ask you to select "Modify the location where the Windows Installation file is saved" and select any blank folder.

(3) go to the "task selection" menu, and select "integration driver" and "create bootable ISO" (Figure 3 ). In the next dialog box, click "insert" and select the iastor. inf file in the Intel raid driver package. Then, the software will list all the included drivers, select and add them all.

　　

(4) select to generate an ISO file or directly burn it to a new XP installation disc.

Note: The above steps apply to non-soft drive installation of RAID drivers for NVIDIA, AMD, siliconimage, jmicron, Marvell, and other chipsets. You only need to add the corresponding raid driver package in step 3.

(5) use the CD to install XP, and you will find that you no longer need to load the raid driver from the soft drive. After the system is successfully installed, the intel matrix Storage Manager driver must be installed.

3. Raid Performance Testing

Click the Intel matrix storage console shortcut in the "Start" menu and select Advanced Mode (Figure 4). You can see that both hd250hj hard disks work in the disk array array_0000 (figure 5 ), the RAID 0 and RAID 1 volumes exist simultaneously (fig. 6 ).

　　

　　

　　

Then we use disk testing software such as HD tune and HD tach to test the performance improvement after matrix raid is created (see figure 7 and Figure 8 ). From the test diagram, we can see that the read/write performance of RAID 0 is doubled, which can greatly improve the system running speed. Although RAID 1 does not improve its performance, it can store the same data on both hard disks because it is an image array. Even if one hard disk is damaged, you can also find the stored data in another hard disk to ensure data security.

　　

　　

Conclusion

With intel's unique matrix raid feature, we can implement both RAID 0 and RAID 1 Disk Arrays with only two hard disks. You can install the operating system and applications in RAID 0 sub-volumes, while saving important data in Raid 1 sub-volumes, A low-cost raid disk array system with both read-write speed and data security is built. Let's get started with the intel chipset and try out the unique charm of matrix raid.