Introduction
1.1 Supported RAID Volumes
Intel VROC supports the following RAID levels in Linux:
RAID 0 (Striping) – Maximum performance, no redundancy.
RAID 1 (Mirroring) – Data redundancy with two drives.
RAID 5 (Striping with Parity) – Balanced performance, capacity, and redundancy.
RAID 10 (Mirroring + Striping) – Best combination of performance and fault tolerance.
Intel® Matrix RAID – Two RAID volumes within one container, supporting mixed RAID levels.
RAID 0 (Striping)
Distributes data across two or more drives for maximum throughput.
Advantage: Best performance
Drives supported: Minimum 2
Fault tolerance: None — one failed drive causes complete data loss
Application: Temporary or high I/O workloads (scratch space, testing)
Common Mistake: Using RAID 0 for critical data storage. Limit to workloads where data can be recreated easily.
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
Duplicates data across two drives in real time.
Advantage: High availability
Drives supported: Maximum 2
Fault tolerance: Excellent — system remains operational if one drive fails
Application: Small systems needing simple redundancy
RAID 5 (Striping with Parity)
Stripes both data and parity across three or more drives.
Advantage: Balance of performance, capacity, and redundancy
Drives supported: Minimum 3
Fault tolerance: Recovers from one drive failure
Application: Large data storage where redundancy and capacity matter
RAID 10 (Mirrored Striping)
Combines striping and mirroring across four or more drives.
Advantage: High performance and reliability
Drives supported: Minimum 4
Fault tolerance: Survives up to two drive failures (one per mirrored pair)
Application: High-performance workloads such as video editing or analytics
Intel® Matrix RAID
Allows creation of two RAID volumes in one container, mixing RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10.
Advantage: Maximizes disk usage by combining performance and redundancy profiles
Drives supported: Multiple, depending on chosen RAID levels
Fault tolerance: Based on selected RAID configuration
Application: Mixed environments needing both performance and protection
Pro Tip: Matrix RAID is ideal when you need different redundancy levels on the same set of drives.
Supported Linux* OS distributions
Intel VROC Linux drivers and tools are open source. Most major distributions (RHEL, SUSE, Ubuntu) include inbox kernel support. In some cases, Intel provides out-of-box (OOB) update packages for newer Xeon platforms or older distributions.
Inbox support: Kernel drivers already bundled with the OS.
Out-of-box package: Provided by Intel, usually as RPMs or ISOs, when inbox drivers are insufficient.
Common Mistake: Mixing inbox and out-of-box drivers can cause conflicts. Always confirm which type your OS requires before installation.
1.2 Core Terminology
This guide consistently uses the following terms:
Term
Definition
API
Application Programming Interface.
BIOS
Basic Input/Output System.
Array
An mdadm container required for Intel® metadata-based volumes using the IMSM option during volume creation.
Container
A type of array used with Intel® metadata or other non-native metadata.
GB
Gigabyte.
GiB
Gibibyte (1024 × 1024 × 1024 bytes).
GA
General Access – OS release package validated by Red Hat Linux*.
HII
Human Interface Infrastructure.
Hot-Plug
Removing or inserting a drive while the system is powered on.
I/O
Input/Output.
Initramfs
Initial RAM File System.
IMSM
Intel® Matrix Storage Manager metadata format.
KB
Kilobyte.
KiB
Kibibyte (1024 bytes).
Left-Symmetric
Default RAID 5 layout scheme. Not supported with IMSM metadata.
Left-Asymmetric
Parity bit layout scheme used in RAID 5 configurations.
Matrix RAID
Two different RAID volumes within a single RAID array container.
MB
Megabyte.
MiB
Mebibyte (1024 × 1024 bytes).
MD
Linux* kernel Multiple Device driver.
Member
NVMe drive used within a RAID array.
mdadm
Linux* utility for managing software RAID. Licensed under GPL v2 or later, supports NVMe SSDs.
NVMe
Non-volatile Memory Express.
OS
Operating System.
OSV
Operating System Vendor (e.g., Red Hat, SUSE).
Pre-OS
A BIOS component to configure Intel® VROC RAID.
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Distributes data across multiple drives to provide redundancy or improve performance.
RAID 0 (striping)
Stripes data across the array’s members. Improves read/write performance but provides no redundancy.
RAID 1 (mirroring)
Mirrors data across array members. Provides redundancy and fault tolerance by duplicating data on two drives.
Common Mistake: Confusing “array” and “volume.” An array refers to the underlying container, while a volume is the logical storage unit presented to the OS.
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