Announcement: Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Support on X299 Platforms

Documentation

Compatibility

000026106

11/08/2023

Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is an enterprise RAID solution that unleashes the performance of NVMe* SSDs. Intel® VROC is enabled by a feature in Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors called Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD), an integrated controller inside the CPU PCIe root complex. NVMe SSDs are directly connected to the CPU, allowing the full performance potential of fast storage devices to be realized. Intel® VROC enables these benefits without the complexity, cost, and power consumption of traditional hardware RAID host bus adapter (HBA) cards placed between the drives and the CPU.

Intel® VROC can be enabled on any platform with processors that support the Intel® VMD feature, which the X299 chipset has. However, Intel® VROC support on High-End Desktop (HEDT) platforms has moved to sustaining mode. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) is the primary storage solution for the X299 platforms.

Intel® RST is a set of solutions optimized for single user PC clients, focusing on system responsiveness, application load time and system boot time while being conscious of overall power usage. While it is targeted for any client platform, it has a strong use case to drive functionality and performance of HEDT hardware.

What changed?

Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is targeted as an enterprise product, mainly for servers and workstations. At the beginning, Intel® VROC was also enabled on X299 client platforms. This initial decision was made at the time of launch in 2017. Since then, it has become apparent that Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) is a better product to support RAID on X299 platforms, partly because of the Intel® RST availability, broad SSD support and no need for an extra key license. Intel® RST is free and it supports Intel as well as non-Intel storage devices. Intel® VROC will continue to have its key licensing policies, which are more in line with enterprise product expectations.

Intel® VROC support on High-End Desktop (HEDT) platforms has moved to sustaining mode. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) is the primary storage solution for the X299 platforms. Check with your X299 HEDT motherboard vendor for additional information.

What is the difference between Intel® RST and Intel® VROC?

  • Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) is a client solution set optimized for single user, low I/O queue depth, and low latency that includes RAID functionality among other storage focused features.
  • Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is an enterprise RAID solution primarily targeting server and professional workstation applications optimized for multi-user, multi-thread, and transaction-heavy workloads with higher I/O queue depths.
Description Intel® RST Intel® VROC
Target Market Segment Client PCs (Gaming/Enthusiast, Desktop, AiO, Notebook, 2:1 Laptop, Convertibles, etc.). Enterprise and Data Center (Server and Workstations).
Target Microprocessors Intel® Core™, Pentium® and Celeron® processors. Intel® Xeon® processors. For full functional NVMe* SSD support: Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors with Intel® VMD.
Target Operating Systems Microsoft* Client OS, including Windows* 11, 10, 8.1, 7. Microsoft* Windows* Server OS, Linux* OS, VMware* ESXi*.
Key Features
  • RAID 0/1/5/10
  • CPU attached storage up to 4 NVMe* SSDs (Intel only)
  • Bootable RAID up to 6 drives
  • Surprise hot-plug of SATA SSDs
  • Auto rebuild
  • Advanced power management features
  • Application and file pinning
  • Bad block management
  • SSD host memory buffer support
  • Opal support
  • RAID 0/1/5/10
  • CPU attached storage up to 48 NVMe* SSDs (with 3rd party SSD support)
  • Surprise hot-plug
  • Status LED indicator
  • Hot-spare and auto rebuild
  • Degraded RAID 5 power loss protection
  • Bad block management
  • Remote webpage management
  • Email notification
  • PCIe* retime, switch and Just a Bunch of Flash (JBOF) support
SSD/HDD Support
  • Intel® Optane™ Memory M/H Series
  • Intel® Optane™ SSD Series (Client)
  • NVMe* and SATA Client SSDs
  • SATA HDD, SSHD
  • Intel® Optane™ Data Center SSD Series
  • NVMe* Data Center SSDs
  • SATA SSD and HDD
Workload Optimizations Single user with applications anchored on latency at low queue depth (QD1-QD4). Multiple users (workers) and/or multi-depth workloads with queue depth (QD4+).
Additional considerations
  • Even though Intel® VROC can still be used in X299 platforms, it only supports the Intel® VROC Pass-Thru license SKU. For additional details about the Intel® VROC SKUs and licensing, refer to Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) SKUs and Licensing.
  • Intel® RST and Intel® VROC should not be used on the same platform at the same time. They are separate products that provide similar functionality and are not compatible together.
  • Intel® RST and Intel® VROC need OEM platform enablement. Not all features, OS and storage devices are available on all platforms. Query your platform provider for supported features and limitations of Intel RAID solutions.

 

Related topics
Technology Brief: Intel® RAID Solutions Meet the Needs of Enterprise and Client Platforms
User Guides for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Supported Configurations
Resources for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)