RAID-1 on Intel motherboard.

[grimpr]

Anyone tried RAID-1 mirror on OS boot drives in Intel motherboards? Is it reliable? Can it boot from the mirror if one drive gets disconnected?

 

[frowertr]

Well sure it would boot. What would be the point of using RAID 1 if you couldn't do this???

It's "fake" RAID. But for home use it is fine. If your motherboard ever takes a dive you might have to purchase the exact same board again in order to recover the array. Although, a mirrored array would probably be easier to recover in this instance should you not be able to purchase the exact same motherboard again than a parity based array.

 

[nanaki333]

Well sure it would boot. What would be the point of using RAID 1 if you couldn't do this???

It's "fake" RAID. But for home use it is fine. If your motherboard ever takes a dive you might have to purchase the exact same board again in order to recover the array. Although, a mirrored array would probably be easier to recover in this instance should you not be able to purchase the exact same motherboard again than a parity based array.

you won't have to get the same mobo if it dies. even if you have an old sandy bridge system, you can get a new haswell system and the array will move just the same. the mbr header is the same with intel raid. you just can't move it to a hardware raid or AMD obviously. when i used 2x1TB spinpoint drives for my quick storage array, it started on my c2q based system, then moved to my i7 950 system, then on and on without issue. eventually i stopped using the mechanical storage array though.


to answer OPs question, frowertr is 100% correct! raid1 works great for home use and your machine will boot from just 1 drive if one failed and let you know it is degraded. then you plop in a new drive and it'll rebuild.

 

[grimpr]

Thanks for the answers guys, appreciated.

 

[COPOHawk]

Intel chipset raid is not fake raid, its hardware raid...although simple. It Mobo fails, you get recover array from another intel chipset raid. Recovery is easy if one drive fails with Raid 1 as each drive can be accessed independently of the array. In short, almost everything in the 2nd post here is wrong.

To OP: Raid 1 is certainly doable with ehat you want...i ran an SBS 2008 server for 4 years this way with no problems...even when one drive failed, i plugged in a replacement and it the array rebuilt without a problem.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Intel chipset raid is not fake raid, its hardware raid.
In short, almost everything in the 2nd post here is wrong.

Uhm, wouldn't be calling other people here wrong, when you open your post with a wrong statement.

Chipset RAID == "software" RAID == "fake" RAID. Have you ever used real hardware RAID? Chipset RAID isn't hardware RAID, sorry to say.

 

[frowertr]

Uhm, wouldn't be calling other people here wrong, when you open your post with a wrong statement.

Chipset RAID == "software" RAID == "fake" RAID. Have you ever used real hardware RAID? Chipset RAID isn't hardware RAID, sorry to say.

This.

Intel chipset raid is nothing more than bios logic built into the board to allow Raid. It's pure firmware. There is no dedicated hardware CPU performing RAID calculations on ANY motherboard RAID setup. The CPU you install takes the place of that missing dedicated RAID processor.

While there are plenty of stories of a motherboard failing and one is able to recover the array with a new motherboard, there are also plenty of stories where that didn't happen and the array was lost. With a dedicated name brand RAID controller this is never an issue. If any component in my HP server fails, I can recover my array. Even if the HP P420 RAID controller itself fails, I can swap in any other HP controller, recover the array, and be on my way.

This and the proprietary solution that allows chipset RAID to work is why it's called fake RAID. Just because it's called fake doesn't mean it's bad. I'd have no issue using it for a home machine. But it's so far away removed from real enterprise RAID it's comical.

 

[COPOHawk]

LOL...a chipset and firmware are only software raid? They are exactly like using Windows to create a software raid volume/stripe? No...but I agree it isn't the same a high end Areca/LSI (etc) card either. It is a hybrid.

To be fair, I typed my initial response from my phone...and I should have been more specific.

The Intel solution uses a chipset on the mainboard and firmware to create the RAID outside an OS environment...and then uses the CPU/RAM to help manage it, rather than a completely dedicated RAID controller.

To make it easy for OP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Matrix_RAID

While I agree with the gist of the article, I always have found it disingenuous to equate it with software raid (OS only) as it obviously uses separate chipset/firmware as part of implementation.

Yes, I work with Enterprise RAID arrays, including design, implementation and server, as part of my occupation....as well as occasional Intel Matrix RAID configurations in the past. And no, it isn't as sophisticated as a dedicated RAID card.

The problem with the average understanding of RAID, likely including the OP here...is that it isn't *THE ANSWER* to protect your system against failure. Any Intel Matrix RAID1 I have ever set up, also includes a comprehensive backup strategy...because RAID can, and does, fail. Whether it be Intel Matrix, or a dedicated RAID card. And yes, I have had high end RAID cards fail and corrupt an array (complete OEM server build, not some Frankenstein setup). This is where the criticality of a sound backup (bare metal) comes into play.

In short, the Intel Matrix raid is fine for basic RAID 1...I wouldn't trust it for anything else...and it has to include the proper backups, like any proper disk array should. Let's also remember to implement any actual RAID array with hard drives that are designed to be part of a RAID array...and not your entry-level consumer drives.

 

[VirtualLarry]

LOL...a chipset and firmware are only software raid? They are exactly like using Windows to create a software raid volume/stripe? No...but I agree it isn't the same a high end Areca/LSI (etc) card either. It is a hybrid.

No, they're both "software RAID". One is a chipset "feature", implemented in the BIOS firmware for bootstrap purposes, and in Windows drivers for implementation.

It's not OS-level "software RAID", it is a little bit lower-level, but it's still software and therefore "fake RAID", because there is no dedicated RAID processor hardware.

 

[frowertr]

Believe whatever you want. It's not real RAID. That doesn't mean it doesn't work. But it's still not hardware based raid.

 

[COPOHawk]

I think you both need to take a step back and look at the definition of RAID.

From Wikipedia..

RAID (originally redundant array of inexpensive disks, now commonly redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical disk drive components into a single logical unit for the purposes of data redundancy, performance improvement, or both.

It can be implemented via software, host-based (hybrid/Intel) or hardware. Since this is a tech forum, and not P&N, we can acknowledge that the fact that all 3 categories are how RAID is implemented.

Intel Matrix RAID exists outside the OS...you create the array from a BIOS-type area (but no in BIOS), much like how you create a RAID array from a dedicated RAID controller card. I already stated it isn't the same as a dedicated RAID controller. I am certainly not equating to enterprise level RAID, which I already stated. The entire Intel Matrix RAID is only available on consumer-level mainboards, so that part is self-explanatory.

All of the above is true whether I believe it or not

The bigger question for the thread is how the OP is going to implement and for what scope. Since the OP hasn't come back to comment...I would guess this is a one and done thread question.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Intel Matrix RAID exists outside the OS...you create the array from a BIOS-type area (but no in BIOS), much like how you create a RAID array from a dedicated RAID controller card.

Sure, the setup routine is firmware-based, similarly to how a true RAID controller card works as well. But the similarity stops there.

A real RAID card, you can dual-boot Windows and Linux on, for example.

Intel Matrix RAID? Not so much. Pretty-much Windows-only. Which sort of disproves your idea that the Intel Matrix RAID exists "outside the OS".

 

[COPOHawk]

According to Intel, Matrix RAID supports Windows, Linux (through device mapper), FreeBSD and MidnightBSD. Not sure about a dual boot system though. Have you tried Matrix RAID on a dual boot system and had it not work?

I don't use Linux, so I don't know...

 

[grimpr]

To make it easy for OP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Matrix_RAID

While I agree with the gist of the article, I always have found it disingenuous to equate it with software raid (OS only) as it obviously uses separate chipset/firmware as part of implementation.

Yes, I work with Enterprise RAID arrays, including design, implementation and server, as part of my occupation....as well as occasional Intel Matrix RAID configurations in the past. And no, it isn't as sophisticated as a dedicated RAID card.

The problem with the average understanding of RAID, likely including the OP here...is that it isn't *THE ANSWER* to protect your system against failure. Any Intel Matrix RAID1 I have ever set up, also includes a comprehensive backup strategy...because RAID can, and does, fail. Whether it be Intel Matrix, or a dedicated RAID card. And yes, I have had high end RAID cards fail and corrupt an array (complete OEM server build, not some Frankenstein setup). This is where the criticality of a sound backup (bare metal) comes into play.

In short, the Intel Matrix raid is fine for basic RAID 1...I wouldn't trust it for anything else...and it has to include the proper backups, like any proper disk array should. Let's also remember to implement any actual RAID array with hard drives that are designed to be part of a RAID array...and not your entry-level consumer drives.

Thanks for your answers, i'm in the process to implement a backup strategy for about 10 pc's, using Intel motherboard RAID1, Intel SSDs like the 540 and Macrium Reflect Free to automatically backup twice a day the OS installations to a NAS/File Server. I wanted to know if the Intel motherboard RAID1 can sustain and boot a degraded volume, for example a cable goes wrong, the ssd dies etc and if i could move to another Intel based motherboard and system in the future without any problems. Thanks for all the answers.