How To Create an Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) NVMe* RAID Volume on the Intel® Server Board S2600WF and Intel® Server Board S2600ST Product Family

Environment

Intel® Server Board S2600WF | Intel® Server Board S2600ST

Description

Unable to create a RAID volume with NVMe* drives via Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC).

Resolution

Note

• These steps are only valid for Intel® Server Board S2600WFR and Intel® Server Board S2600ST Product Family boards.
• This requires that BIOS Boot Mode option be set to UEFI. Refer to How to Change the Boot Mode (UEFI/Legacy) on Intel® Server Boards should there be any doubt.
• Depending on your desired RAID array, you may need to use an Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) upgrade key. See more information in What Is the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Hardware Key?.

To create an Intel® VROC RAID volume, follow the steps below:

1. Connect the NVMe* drives from the backplane to the server board using the onboard Optical Copper Link (OCuLink)* connectors (or PCIe* switches/Retimer) with the OCuLink cables (for example, OCuLink Cable Kit AXXCBL665CVCV). In this article, we will use onboard connectors. In the event of only one processor is installed, use either PCIe* SSD0 or PCIe SSD1 connectors as shown below:

   

   PCIe SSD0 and PCIe SSD1 connectors

2. For installed NVMe* devices to utilize the Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) features of the server board, it must be enabled in BIOS for the appropriate CPU PCIe root ports.

   1. Navigate to Advanced / PCI Configuration / Volume Management Device and enable the Intel® VMD OCuLink(s) as shown below:

      

      Volume Management Device menu 1

      

      Volume Management Device menu 2

   2. After enabling the Intel® VMD OCuLink(s), save and reboot back to the BIOS.

3. Navigate to Advanced / PCI Configuration / UEFI Option ROM. Scroll down and select the option Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU.

   

   UEFI Option ROM Control menu

4. Select the option All Intel VMD Controllers and select the option Create RAID Volume as shown below:

   

   Raid Volume Info

   

   Select All Intel VMD Controllers