Configuring an NVMe VROC module

This chapter describes configuring the NVMe VROC module on a rack server, blade server, or compute module.

About the NVMe VROC module

Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is an upper-layer RAID solution specifically designed for NVMe drives that are directly connected to the CPU. VROC NVMe RAID is available only when an NVMe VROC module is installed.

The NVMe VROC module has a corresponding connector on the system board or main board. For more information about the NVMe VROC module connector, see the user guide for the server.

NVMe VROC module can manage NVMe U.2 SSDs and NVMe M.2 SSDs. If NVMe M.2 SSDs are installed on a RAID-MARVELL-SANTACRUZ-LP-2i storage controller, the NVMe M.2 SSDs are managed exclusively by the controller.

Features

NVMe VROC module specifications

Table 1 shows the specifications of NVMe VROC modules supported by the server. For more information, contact Technical Support.

Table 1 NVMe VROC module specifications

Model	Description	RAID levels
N/A	No NVMe VROC module installed	·     Intel NVMe drives P3608, P4608, and P4618: RAID 0. ·     Other NVMe drives: RAID not supported. Each drive acts as a passthrough drive. NOTE: Intel NVMe drives P3608, P4608, and P4618 are not supported by H3C servers.
NVMe-VROC-Key-i	Intel® VROC Intel® Edition	·     Intel NVMe drives: 0, 1, 5, 10 ·     Other NVMe drives: RAID not supported. Each drive acts as a passthrough drive.
NVMe-VROC-Key-S	Intel® VROC Standard Edition	0, 1, 10
NVMe-VROC-Key-P	Intel® VROC Premium Edition	0, 1, 5, 10

 

RAID levels

The supported RAID levels vary by NVMe VROC module model. For more information, see H3C Servers Storage Controllers Technical Specifications.

Table 2 shows the minimum number of drives required by each RAID level and the maximum number of failed drives supported by each RAID level. For more information about RAID levels, see "Appendix B  RAID arrays and fault tolerance."

Table 2 RAID levels and the numbers of drives for each RAID level

RAID level	Min. drives required	Max. failed drives
RAID 0	2	0
RAID 1	2	1
RAID 5	3	1
RAID 10	4	2

 

Restrictions and guidelines for RAID configuration

·     As a best practice, install drives that do not contain RAID information.

·     For efficient use of storage, use drives that have the same capacity to build a RAID. If the drives have different capacities, the lowest capacity is used across all drives in the RAID.

·     If one drive is used by several logical drives, RAID performance might be affected and maintenance complexities will increase.

Configuring RAID arrays in UEFI mode

This section describes how to configure RAID arrays through an embedded RSTe RAID controller in UEFI mode. For more information about how to enter the BIOS and set the boot mode to UEFI, see the BIOS user guide for the server.

RAID array configuration tasks at a glance

To configure RAID arrays in UEFI mode, perform the following tasks:

·     Configuring VMD settings

·     Accessing NVMe RAID configuration screen

·     Configuring RAID arrays

·     (Optional.) Configuring hot spare drives

·     (Optional.) Deleting RAID arrays

Configuring VMD settings

1.     During server POST, press Delete, Esc, or F2 as prompted to open the BIOS setup screen as shown in Figure 1.

For how to navigate screens and modify settings, see the operation instructions at the lower right corner.

Figure 1 BIOS setup screen

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 2, select Socket Configuration > IIO Configuration, and press Enter.

For G5 servers, the Socket Configuration options are in the Advanced menu.

Figure 2 Socket Configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 3, select Intel® VMD technology, and then press Enter.

Figure 3 IIO Configuration screen

 

4.     On the screen as shown in Figure 4, select Intel® VMD for Volume Management Device on Processor 1, and then press Enter.

This section takes processor 1 as an example.

Figure 4 Intel® VMD technology screen

 

5.     (For G3 servers only.) On the screen as shown in Figure 5, set each Intel® VMD for Volume Management Device for PStack item to Auto, and then press Enter.

To use NVMe drives attached to a processor for RAID configuration, set VMD status for that processor to Auto.

Figure 5 Setting VMD status

 

Table 3 Configuration parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
Intel® VMD for Volume Management Device for PStackX	This item is available only in UEFI boot mode. Select whether to enable Intel® VMD for the volume management device in PStackX. Options: ·     Disabled—Disables Intel® VMD for the volume management device for PStackX. ·     Enabled—Enables Intel® VMD the volume management device for PStackX. The screen displays items for further configuration if you set the item to Enabled. ·     Auto—Enables Intel® VMD automatically when a device is detected for the stack during POST. For some G3 servers, the Auto option is the same as the Enabled option.	Auto

 

6.     (For G5 servers only.) On the screen as shown in Figure 6, set the VMD port XX-Slot XX item in each VMD Config for IOU X field to Auto, and then press Enter.

To use NVMe drives attached to a processor for RAID configuration, set VMD status for that processor to Enabled.

Figure 6 Setting VMD status

 

Table 4 Configuration parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
VMD Config for PCH (IOU n)	Specifies the VMD configuration field for the PCH or IOU n.	N/A
Enable/Disable VMD	Select Enabled or Disabled to enable or disable VMD for the PCH or IOU. This feature is available only in UEFI mode. The following configuration items are displayed only when VMD is enabled.	Disabled
VMD port nA/B/C/D – Slot x	Select Enabled or Disabled to enable or disable VMD for the port. This field is available for a port only when a device is connected to the port. The slot number varies by riser card and NVMe drive backplane.	Disabled
Hot Plug Capable	Select Enabled or Disabled to enable or disable hot swapping for a port.	Disabled
CfgBar Size	Set the BAR size in bits. The value range is 20 to 27.	25
MemBar1 size	Set the size of memory bar 1.	25
MemBar2 size	Set the size of memory bar 2.	20

 

7.     For VMD settings to take effect, save the settings and then restart the BIOS.

Accessing NVMe RAID configuration screen

1.     Access the BIOS setup screen.

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 7, select Advanced > Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU, and then press Enter.

 

	NOTE: For the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU option to appear on the screen shown in Figure 7, make sure the VMD controllers have been enabled. For how to enable VMD controllers, see "Configuring VMD settings."

 

Figure 7 Advanced screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 8, select All Intel VMD Controllers, and then press Enter.

Figure 8 RAID summary screen

 

The RAID configuration screen as shown in Figure 9 opens.

Figure 9 All Intel VMD Controllers screen

 

Configuring RAID arrays

1.     On the RAID configuration screen as shown in Figure 10, select Create RAID Volume, and press Enter.

The Create RAID Volume option is available only when the NVMe VROC module identifies that a minimum of two non-RAID NVMe drives are present.

Figure 10 Selecting Create RAID Volume

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 11, set the Name, RAID Level, Select Disks, and Capacity parameters, select Create Volume, press Enter, select Yes, and then press Enter to create the RAID volume.

Table 5 describes the configuration parameters for creating a RAID volume.

Figure 11 Setting RAID parameters

 

Table 5 Configuration parameters

Parameter	Description
Name	RAID array name.
RAID Level	RAID level, which determines the performance, fault tolerance capability, and capacity for the logical drive.
Enable RAID spanned over VMD Controllers	Press the space bar to configure this item. To build a RAID volume over physical drives controlled by different VMD controllers, select this item. [X] indicates that this item has been selected.
Strip Size	Stripe size, which determines the size of the data block that can be written into a stripe on each drive.
Select Disks	Select member drives for the RAID array. Available drives are displayed under Select Disks. Press Enter to select drives. [X] indicates that the corresponding drive has been selected.
Capacity (GB)	Logical drive capacity.

 

3.     The screen as shown in Figure 12 opens.

After the RAID volume is created, the RAID volume is displayed in the RAID Volumes directory. To view details about a RAID volume, select the RAID volume, and press Enter. Details about a RAID volume include the RAID array name, RAID level, strip size, RAID status, RAID capacity, whether the RAID volume is bootable, and member drives.

Figure 12 Viewing the created RAID volume

 

Configuring hot spare drives

1.     On the RAID configuration screen as shown in Figure 13, select the drive to be configured as a spare drive, and press Enter.

Figure 13 Selecting the drive to be configured as a spare drive

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 14, select Mark as Spare, and press Enter.

Figure 14 Spare drive configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 15, select Yes, and press Enter.

Figure 15 Confirming the spare drive configuration

 

Deleting RAID arrays

1.     On the RAID configuration screen as shown in Figure 16, select the RAID volume to delete under RAID Volumes, and press Enter.

Figure 16 Selecting the RAID volume to be deleted

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 17, select Delete and press Enter.

Figure 17 RAID volume information screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 15, select Yes, and press Enter.

Figure 18 Confirming the spare drive deletion

 

Locating an NVMe drive

1.     On the RAID configuration screen as shown in Figure 16, select the RAID volume to be located under RAID Volumes, and press Enter.

Figure 19 Selecting the NVMe drive to be located

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 20, select Turn Locate LED On and press Enter.

Figure 20 Locating the NVMe drive

 

Configuring RAID arrays in legacy mode

NVMe VROC in legacy mode does not support RAID configuration.

Configuring RAID arrays in Linux

RAID array configuration tasks at a glance

To configure RAID arrays in Linux, perform the following tasks:

·     Configuring VMD settings

·     Accessing NVMe RAID configuration screen

·     Configuring RAID arrays

·     (Optional.) Configuring hot spare drives

·     (Optional.) Deleting RAID arrays

Configuring VMD settings

For information about how to configure VMD settings, see "Configuring VMD settings."

Verifying VMD status

1.     Access the CLI of the server.

2.     Execute the mdadm –-detail-platform command to examine VMD status, as shown in Figure 21:

¡     If the screen displays the Platform and Version fields, it indicates that VMD has been enabled, and the server supports configuring RAID arrays.

¡     If the screen does not display the Platform and Version fields, it indicates VMD has not been enabled. You can set the VMD statues to Auto or Enabled. For information about how to enable VMD for RAID configuration, see "Configuring VMD settings."

 

	NOTE: The information in the Version field might vary by server model.

 

Figure 21 Verifying VMD status

 

Configuring RAID arrays

Prerequisites

Make sure the number of NVMe drives meets the requirements for RAID configuration. Execute the lsblk command to view the number of NVMe drives, as shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22 Viewing the number of NVMe drives

 

Procedure

1.     Execute the mdadm -C /dev/md/imsm0 /dev/nvme[1-4]n1 -n 4 -e imsm command to create a container, as shown in Figure 23.

Table 6 describes the parameters.

Figure 23 Creating a container

 

Table 6 Configuration parameters

Parameter	Description
/dev/md/imsm0	Container name.
/dev/nvme[1-4]n1	NVMe drives to be used for creating the container.
n	Number of NVMe drives.
-e imsm	Specify the keyword to enable support of the Intel®Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM) metadata format.

 

2.     Execute the mdadm -C /dev/md0 /dev/md/imsm0 -n 4 -l 5 -z 10G command to create a container, as shown in Figure 24.

Table 6 describes the parameters.

Figure 24 Creating a RAID array

 

Table 7 Configuration parameters

Parameter	Description
/dev/md0	RAID array name.
/dev/md/imsm0	Container name.
n	Number of NVMe drives in the RAID array.
l	RAID level.
z	RAID capacity.

 

3.     Execute the mdadm –D /dev/md0 command to view RAID information, including container name, RAID level, strip size, number of NVMe drives, and RAID status, as shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25 Viewing RAID information

 

Configuring hot spare drives

Use one of the following methods to configure hot spare drives:

·     Configuring hot spare drives while creating a RAID array.

·     Configuring hot spare drives after RAID array creation.

Configuring hot spare drives while creating a RAID array

1.     Verify that VMD is enabled. For more information, see "Verifying VMD status."

2.     Execute the mdadm –C /dev/md0 /dev/nvme[1-3]n1 –n 3 –e imsm command to create a container, as shown in Figure 26. The number of NVMe drives for creating the container is n + 1. This section takes 3 as an example.

Figure 26 Creating a container

 

3.     Execute the mdadm –C /dev/md1 /dev/md0 –n 2 –l 1 –z 10G command to create a RAID array, as shown in Figure 27. The number of NVMe drives for creating the RAID array is n. This section takes 2 as an example.

Figure 27 Creating a RAID array

 

Configuring hot spare drives after RAID array creation

After RAID array creation, execute the mdadm –a /dev/md0 /dev/nvme1n1 command to add hot spare drives to the container.

Figure 28 Configuring hot spare drives

 

Deleting RAID arrays

1.     Execute the mdadm –S /dev/md1 command to stop the RAID array, as shown in Figure 29.

2.     Execute the mdadm –S /dev/md0 command to stop the container, as shown in Figure 29.

3.     Execute the mdadm ––zero-superblock /dev/nvme[1-4]n1 command to remove RAID information on NVMe drives, as shown in Figure 29.

Figure 29 Deleting a RAID array

 

Configuring RAID arrays in Windows

RAID array configuration tasks at a glance

To configure RAID arrays in Windows, perform the following tasks:

·     Configuring VMD settings

·     Accessing NVMe RAID configuration screen

·     Configuring RAID arrays

·     (Optional.) Configuring hot spare drives

·     (Optional.) Deleting RAID arrays

Configuring VMD settings

For information about how to configure VMD settings, see "Configuring VMD settings."

Verifying VMD status

1.     Access the CLI of the server.

2.     Access Device Manager to examine VMD status:

¡     If the screen displays the information in the Storage controllers section as shown in Figure 30, it indicates that VMD has been enabled, and the server supports configuring RAID arrays.

¡     If the screen displays Standard NVM Express Controller or none for NVMe drive information in the Storage controllers section. For information about how to enable VMD for RAID configuration, see "Configuring VMD settings."

Figure 30 Verifying VMD status

 

Obtaining third-party tools

Sign in to Intel at https://platformsw.intel.com/KitSearch.aspx to obtain Intel VROC management tools. This document uses Intel VROC 6.0 PV GUI to configure NVMe RAID arrays as an example.

Configuring RAID arrays

1.     Open Intel VROC 6.0 PV GUI, and then click Create Volume…, as shown in Figure 31.

Figure 31 Intel VROC 6.0 PV GUI

 

2.     On the page that opens, select a controller and a RAID level, and then click Next, as shown in Figure 23.

Figure 32 Selecting a controller and a RAID level

 

3.     Edit the RAID array name, select NVMe drives, and select whether to enable VMD controller spanning or drive initiation (optional) as needed, as shown in Figure 33. Then, click Next.

Figure 33 Editing RAID settings

 

4.     Click the Create Volume button, as shown in Figure 34.

Figure 34 Confirming RAID creation

 

5.     Click OK to complete the RAID creation.

Figure 35 Completing RAID creation

 

The screen as shown in Figure 36 opens.

After the RAID volume is created, the RAID volume is displayed in the Volumes section. To view details about a RAID volume, click the RAID volume. The right pane displays the details about a RAID volume, including RAID level, strip size, RAID status, and number of NVMe drives.

Figure 36 Viewing the created RAID volume

 

Configuring hot spare drives

1.     Open Intel VROC 6.0 PV GUI.

2.     Select the NVMe drive to be configured as the hot spare drive from the Devices list, and then click Mark as spare in the Disk Properties section, as shown in Figure 37.

Figure 37 Configuring hot spare drives

 

3.     In the dialog box that opens, click Yes.

Figure 38 Confirming the configuration

 

4.     Select the NVMe drive and verify that the drive has been configured as a hot spare drive successfully in the Disk Properties section, as shown in Figure 39.

Figure 39 Verifying the configuration

 

Deleting RAID arrays

1.     Open Intel VROC 6.0 PV GUI.

2.     Select the RAID array to be deleted, and then click Delete volume, as shown in Figure 40.

Figure 40 Deleting a RAID array

 

3.     In the dialog box that opens, click Yes, as shown in Figure 41.

Figure 41 Confirming the deletion

 

4.     Verifying that the RAID array has been deleted by viewing the Volumes list, as shown in Figure 42.

Figure 42 Verifying the deletion