3 Replies Latest reply on Mar 15, 2018 11:46 AM by Intel Corporation

    IRST over 2TB disk support

    RRadini
    RRadini Mar 13, 2018 9:33 AM

      Dear Intel,

      I have a Windows7 system based on Supermicro X8SAX motherboard (X58 chipset), I have bought two 4TB WesternDigital disks for my data files and I want to build a RAID1 with these two disks but it seems that IRST cannot build such a RAID on 4TB drives.

      my  IRST BIOS version is 12.0.0.1789 and IRST windows application version is 15.9.0.1015.

       

      In details:

      I have created 2 primary partition on the 1st disk (~3TB and ~800GB) and saved my data files in these partitions. I can use this disk without issues.

      Then I started IRST application, pressed "Create" and selected RAID1; after pressing next button GUI shows a warning telling that the system does not support volume over 2TB (see IRST_2TB.png attachment)

      in attachment System Support Utility report too (SSU_20180313.txt)

       

      Therefore I would like to know if is supported and how to build a RAID1 with 4TB disks preserving data from one disk.

       

      Thank you very much in advance.

      Ricky

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        • 1. Re: IRST over 2TB disk support
          Intel Corporation
          Mar 14, 2018 11:45 AM (in response to RRadini)
          This message was posted on behalf of Intel Corporation

          Hello RRadini,

          Thank you for contacting us regarding our Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST), it will be more than a pleasure to assist you with this matter.
          For this specific case scenario I regret to inform you that you are experiencing a limitation on both, hardware and software.
          The Supermicro X8SAX motherboard (X58 chipset) supports Legacy modes, meaning that disks with 2 TB or more cannot be used for RAID volumes, due to a system limitation.
          You can still use the disks, add and erase data from them, but this limitation  on the RAID will be caused by the OS as well. The reason why is because Windows 7, has issues recognizing hard drives with more than 2 TB due to the fact that the disks need to be initialized in GPT and UEFI, which is not supported by the chipset that you own.
          In this case RST can create the RAID volume on Legacy boot for less than 2 TB, however in order to go higher or beyond with the storage capacity, RST will need a UEFI mode motherboard and a newer operating system.
          My apologies for the inconvenience that this may cause.
          I hope this helps,
          Best Regards.
          Diego S.
           

          • 2. Re: IRST over 2TB disk support
            RRadini
            RRadini Mar 15, 2018 1:31 AM (in response to Intel Corporation)

            Hi Diego,

            first of all thank you for your help.

            AFAIK Windows 7 is able to recognize disk over 2TB(provided that it is initialized as GPT obviously), in fact I can use it as data disk (not OS), but I cannot use this disk as boot since X8SAX has no UEFI support.

            Anyway what I would like is to have a 4TB RAID1 volume for data only (again, not for OS) based on two physical 4TB HardDrive initialized GPT, therefore this limitation should not matter in my case, may you confirm?

            Ricky

            • 3. Re: IRST over 2TB disk support
              Intel Corporation
              Mar 15, 2018 11:46 AM (in response to RRadini)
              This message was posted on behalf of Intel Corporation

              Hello RRadini,

              Thank you for your response.
              In this case yes, I regret to inform you that due to the fact that the Supermicro X8SAX motherboard that you own has no UEFI support, our tool cannot communicate appropriately with the chipset, due to the limitation that it has, even if the RAID is not for OS but storage.

              Best regards,
              Diego S.