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Key Features of Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Non-VMD NVMe* RAID for Windows*

Product Information & DocumentationArticle ID:0001011985/19/25

Environment

Intel® VROC for Windows*

The Intel® VROC family of products is comprised of several components that provide a complete platform solution. The following is a list of the key features that are supported on the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) sub-product. To learn about the key features supported by other Intel® VROC sub-products, refer to the following resources:

The Intel® VROC family of products includes RAID support for Intel NVMe* drives on platforms outlined in the Intel® VROC (SATA RAID) Platform Support Matrix section available in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Platforms and Chipsets Support List. This support is provided by the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package. The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package provides a data RAID solution on Intel NVMe* Solid-State Drives (SSDs) plugged into a PCIe slot managed by an Intel CPU that does not contain Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) technology.

Note

Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) is no longer included in the Intel® VROC software package for Windows*. If support for this sub-product is required, use the Intel® VROC 7.x release family.

NVMe* Device Usage Model

The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package provides support for Intel NVMe* SSDs in the following usages:

  • As a bootable single pass-thru device with Intel NVMe* drives.
  • In a data RAID volume only (no boot).
  • As a spare disk for a RAID volume (has to be on the same bus type as the RAID member devices).

Boot Support

The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package does not support booting from a RAID volume, so Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) does not contain a Pre-OS UEFI driver. It is not required, nor it is needed.

Installation

The Intel® VROC installation utility will only install Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) on those platforms outlined in the Intel® VROC (SATA RAID) Platform Support Matrix section available in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Platforms and Chipsets Support List.

Pass-Thru IOCTL Support

The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package provides a private API that allows user-space applications to send and execute NVMe* commands to remapped PCIe NVMe* devices. This new API is based on the new IOCTL definition to implement NVMe* pass-thru channel.

  • Supported:
    • Pass-Thru Disks
  • Unsupported:
    • RAID Volumes
    • SRT Cache Devices

Intel NVMe* SSDs Support List

This is the list of supported Intel NVMe* SSDs included with the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) release. This list only applies to Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID). It does not apply to Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID). Consult the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) NVMe* Drives Support List for a list of supported NVMe* SSDs in Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID).

  • Intel® Optane™ SSD 900P Series - Device ID 2700
  • Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X Series - Device ID 2701

RAID Volume Support with Multiple Controllers

The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package provides support for the creation of RAID volumes across multiple Intel NVMe* SSD controllers when attached to PCIe slots managed by the CPU. When installing the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package, ensure that there are no Intel NVMe* SSDs attached to PCIe slots managed by the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) (refer to the platform's vendor documentation for details). When there are Intel NVMe* SSDs attached to the PCH, the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) installation process will install the Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) driver against those devices. Those devices will show up in the Intel® VROC Graphical User Interface (GUI) application. The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package should not impact the operation of these devices in this configuration.

Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) does not support spanning NVMe* RAID volumes across CPU and PCH PCIe slots.

Feature Limitations

The Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) package has the following feature limitations:

  • No support for:
    • Hot-Plug.
    • Boot RAID Volume.
    • Spanning across PCIe slots managed by the CPU and those managed by the PCH.
    • Third party NVMe* SSDs.
    • Intel NVMe* SSDs plugged into PCIe slots managed by the PCH controller.
  • Validated with a maximum of 8 Intel NVMe* SSDs.
  • If used in a RAID volume, all member devices must be on a PCIe slot managed by the CPU.
  • To fully install Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID), at least one Intel NVMe* SSD must be present.