Using the Intel® VROC GUI

In this chapter, you will learn:

• How to install the Intel® VROC Graphical User Interface (GUI).

• How to navigate all the main pages and functions of the GUI.

• How to create different types of RAID volumes, including Matrix RAID.

• The correct procedure for safely deleting a RAID volume.

This chapter provides a comprehensive guide to the Intel® VROC Graphical User Interface (GUI). It covers installation, an overview of all interface components, and step-by-step instructions for creating and deleting RAID volumes within the Windows operating system.

Installing the Intel® VROC GUI

This section outlines the installation process for the Intel® VROC product family, enabling fully integrated management of storage devices within a Windows environment.

Prerequisites for VROC GUI

Beginning with Intel® VROC version 8.0, the GUI requires the following packages. If the installer detects an active network connection, it will attempt to download and install them automatically.

1. Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime

2. Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable

Installation Steps

1. Right-click SetupVROC.exe and select Run as administrator.

   
2. On the Welcome screen, click Install.

   
3. Review the Warning screen and click Next.

4. Read and Accept the End User License Agreement (EULA).

5. Confirm the Destination Folder or change it, then click Next.

6. On the Confirmation screen, click Install to begin the installation.

   
7. After the installation is complete, you must restart your computer. Select Restart Now to finalize the process.

Navigating the GUI

To launch the application, open the Windows Start menu, find Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU, and select Run as administrator.

The installed Intel® VROC Upgrade Key determines available RAID features. For example, a Premium Upgrade Key unlocks all RAID levels, while Standard or Intel® SSD-only keys enable a subset of features.

Home Page

The home page provides an at-a-glance view of your storage system's health and configuration.

• Navigation: Use the back and forward arrows in the top-left corner of the window to navigate between previously viewed pages. A breadcrumb path also appears when opening Controller, Array, or Volume pages, enabling direct navigation.

• Status Bar: Displays the overall health of the system (e.g., "Your system is functioning normally," or warnings/errors).

• Summary Pane: Lists all detected RAID controllers (e.g., Intel VROC Premium). Clicking a controller navigates to its detailed properties page.

• Side Menu: Provides navigation to all other pages within the application, such as Drives, Create Volume, Notifications, etc.

Other GUI Pages

• Drives Page: Lists all physical drives detected on the platform, with options to filter, search, and perform actions like activating LEDs or ejecting a drive.

• Create Volume Page: The starting point for creating new RAID volumes.

• Notifications Page: Logs all system events, including errors, warnings, and informational messages.

• Preferences Page: Allows you to configure notification settings.

• Scheduler Page: Allows you to schedule automatic verify and repair operations for data consistency.

• System Report Page: Displays detailed information about the system hardware, software, and storage configuration.

• About Page: Provides application and license information.

• Help Page: Contains integrated help documentation.

• Drive Management: From the Drives page, you can activate LEDs to identify physical drives, eject selected drives (VMD only), or export drive data to a CSV file.

• Customization: Right-click within the drive table to select which data fields are displayed. These preferences are saved and persist across application sessions.

Creating RAID Volumes

The following section provides step-by-step guidance on using the Intel® VROC GUI to create RAID volumes within a Windows environment. In this example, the system is assumed to have all required Intel® VROC drivers installed, allowing the operating system to properly recognize the NVMe drives intended for data volume configuration.

Because the creation workflow is nearly identical across different RAID levels, only one representative example is demonstrated in this chapter. Minor variations may apply depending on the selected RAID level and the number of participating drives.

Creating a 2-Drive RAID 0 Data Volume

“Create Volume” Page

The following example illustrates how to create a two-drive RAID 0 data volume using the Intel® VROC GUI.

• In the left-hand navigation pane, click the “+ (Create Volume)” icon to start the volume creation process.

Selecting the Controller

1. Select the NVMe Devices controller if it is not already selected.

2. From the available RAID configuration options, choose Optimized Disk Performance (RAID 0) to create a striped array.

3. Once the selection is complete, click Next to proceed.

Configure Volume

Follow the steps below to configure the new RAID volume.

1

Select the two drives to be included in the new volume.

• When prompted to add this volume to an existing array, select No.

• Choose the two remaining available drives for the new data volume.

If the selected drives reside under different Volume Management Domains (VMDs) or CPUs, enable VMD Controller Spanning to include drives across domains.

Note: VMD Controller Spanning is supported only for data volumes and is not available for boot volumes.

2

Click Next to continue.

3

Configure the volume parameters.

Specify a Name for the volume, or keep the default value (Volume_0000). For this example, all other parameters are left at their default settings. Click Next to proceed.

4

Click Create Volume to start the volume creation process.

5

Click OK when prompted to confirm.

The new RAID 0 data volume is now created successfully.

View Volume Properties

1. After the RAID volume (Volume_0000) is created, the Properties pane automatically refreshes to display the current status, configuration details, and available management options for the new RAID volume.

1. A corresponding event is logged in the Notifications page. Before the new volume can be used, it must still be formatted and mounted within the Windows* environment, just like any newly added drive.

Creating a 3-Drive RAID 5 Data Volume

“Create Volume” for RAID 5

The following example demonstrates how to create a three-drive RAID 5 data volume using the Intel® VROC GUI.

1. Click Create Volume to begin the configuration process.

2. Select the NVMe Devices controller if it is not already selected. From the list of available RAID configuration types, choose Efficient Data Hosting and Protection (RAID 5). Click Next to continue.

3. Select three available drives to include in the new volume. On this platform, each Intel® VMD controller provides two direct NVMe connections, which requires the volume to span across multiple controllers.

When spanning is enabled, the following warning message appears:

To proceed, check the box Enable Intel® VMD Controller Spanning. This option must be selected before drives from multiple controllers can be added to the array. Once the selection is complete, click Next to continue.

“Available Drives” for RAID 5

“Configure Volume Name and Size” for RAID 5

1. Specify a Name for the new RAID 5 volume. In this example, the default name (Volume_0001) is used.

2. For RAID 5 volumes, you can enable RAID Write Hole Closure, a feature designed to maintain data integrity during unexpected power loss. It is strongly recommended to enable this feature during volume creation—changing its state after data has been written may put existing data at risk. When enabled, you can assign an unused drive as an additional member and choose either Distributed or Journaling mode in the Advanced pane.

   
3. Click Create Volume to begin the process.

   
4. Click OK to confirm and complete the creation.

5. After confirmation, the landing page will display the newly created volume. All volume properties and configuration details can be reviewed here.

View RAID 5 Volume Properties

Creating a Matrix RAID

The following example demonstrates how to create two RAID volumes (RAID 0 and RAID 1) on a single array using the Intel® VROC GUI.

1. Follow the same procedure described in Section 7.1 to create a two-drive RAID 0 volume. It is recommended not to allocate all available disk space for the first volume, leaving sufficient capacity for creating the second volume on the same array.

2. Once the first volume is created, the Intel® VROC GUI will display it in the Configured Storage section. To create the second volume, click Create Volume and continue the configuration process.

Configuring Matrix Volume Name

1. Specify a Name for the new volume, or keep the default value (Volume_0001). Click Next to continue.

   
2. Click Create Volume to begin the volume creation process.

   
3. Click OK to confirm and complete the configuration.

Viewing the Created Matrix Volumes

• In the Controller Properties page, both the newly created Array and its associated RAID volumes (Volume_0000 and Volume_0001) will be displayed. Clicking either volume name opens its corresponding Properties page for detailed configuration and status information.

  

Viewing RAID Volumes in Windows Control Panel Applets*

This section shows how newly created RAID volumes appear in Windows Device Manager* and Disk Management.

RAID Volumes in Device Manager

After a RAID volume is created, open Device Manager. The new volume appears under Disk drives, confirming that Windows has recognized the Intel® VROC RAID array.

Disk Management Page

• Open Disk Management. The newly created RAID volume will be listed as available for formatting and partitioning. Any attached non-RAID drives will also be displayed here.

Deleting a RAID Volume

Follow the steps below to delete an existing RAID volume using the Intel® VROC GUI. From the Home page, select the RAID volume you want to remove.

1. Under Volume Management, open the Actions menu.

1. When prompted with the warning message, select Yes to confirm and complete the deletion process.