SATA Raid configuration (for XP box)

Hi,

I've recently picked up a GA-8GPNXP Duo Pro board and I'm struggling a
bit with the configuration of a SATA RAID 0 array.

I've got three 300GB SATA disks (Seagate Barracuda's) and a single
80GB SATA disk.

My plan was to have the 80GB disk as a Non-RAID boot disk (where the
OS etc. would live) and the other 3 disks as a RAID 0 array.

However, whenever I try to create a RAID volume using the IAA Bios it
only ever allows me to select 2 disks - doesn't matter which two,
either. I've also tried this with just the three disks in (i.e. having
the RAID volume as bootable) and get the same probem.

Is this a limitation with the SATA RAID on this board?

For info, I'm setting the 'SATA RAID/AHCI Mode' set to RAID, then the
'On-Chip SATA Mode' is automatically set (greyed-out). The vals a

x On-Chip SATA Mode Auto
x PATA IDE Set to Ch.1 Master/Slave
SATA Port 0/2 Set to Ch.2 Master/Slave
SATA Port 1/3 Set to Ch.3 Master/Slave

Does anyone know whether what I'm trying to do is possible and, if so,
where I might be going wrong?

I can easily get all four disks running seperately, but I really want
to be able to combine the 3 300GB disks as a single volume

Any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers
Ian

"Ian Turner" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I've recently picked up a GA-8GPNXP Duo Pro board and I'm struggling a
bit with the configuration of a SATA RAID 0 array.

I've got three 300GB SATA disks (Seagate Barracuda's) and a single
80GB SATA disk.

My plan was to have the 80GB disk as a Non-RAID boot disk (where the
OS etc. would live) and the other 3 disks as a RAID 0 array.

However, whenever I try to create a RAID volume using the IAA Bios it
only ever allows me to select 2 disks - doesn't matter which two,
either. I've also tried this with just the three disks in (i.e. having
the RAID volume as bootable) and get the same probem.

Is this a limitation with the SATA RAID on this board?

For info, I'm setting the 'SATA RAID/AHCI Mode' set to RAID, then the
'On-Chip SATA Mode' is automatically set (greyed-out). The vals a

x On-Chip SATA Mode Auto
x PATA IDE Set to Ch.1 Master/Slave
SATA Port 0/2 Set to Ch.2 Master/Slave
SATA Port 1/3 Set to Ch.3 Master/Slave

Does anyone know whether what I'm trying to do is possible and, if so,
where I might be going wrong?

I can easily get all four disks running seperately, but I really want
to be able to combine the 3 300GB disks as a single volume

Any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers
Ian
Unfortunately, most of the current SATA RAID controllers, only support
RAID 0, and RAID 1. As such, disks have to be in 'pairs', using either the
second drive to mirror the data, or the second drive as part of a stripe
set. The on board controllers do not contain the parity generator to
support RAID 3, or 5, which would allow you to work with three drives,
giving 2/3rd the space of the seperate drives.
In some cases, the controllers will allow you to use the disks as three
seperate disks in a JBOD setup, and in these cases, you can use the
software RAID functions, in XP Pro, or W2K Pro, to create an array this
way (though at the obvious performance overhead).

Best Wishes