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Acer Aspire 9800 Intel Matrix RAID User's Guide - Page 1

Acer Aspire 9800 Manual

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English Using RAID What is RAID? RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a system in which multiple hard disk drives share or replicate data among the drives. Depending on the version of RAID you choose to use, benefits include enhanced data integrity (backup), better throughput (speed) or increased storage (capacity), compared to single drives. Your Acer computer with two Serial ATA hard disk drives supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and Intel Matrix RAID. RAID 0 RAID 0 (also known as a striped set) splits data evenly across two or more disks with no parity information for redundancy. RAID 0 is normally used to increase performance, although it can also be used as a way to create a small number of large virtual disks out of a large number of small physical ones. A RAID 0 can be created with disks of differing sizes, but the storage space added to the array by each disk is limited to the size of the smallest disk - for example, if a 120 GB disk is striped together with a 100 GB disk, the size of the array will be 200 GB.

Section	Page
Using RAID	1
What is RAID?	1
RAID 0	1
RAID 1	2
Intel Matrix RAID	2
Which version of RAID do you need?	3
When to use RAID 0	3
When to use RAID 1	3
When to use Matrix RAID	3
Before enabling RAID on your system	4
1 If you plan to enable RAID 0 or Matrix RAID on your system, you cannot return your system to a non-RAID state without reformatting your system.	4
2 If you plan to use a hot-swappable hard disk drive to enable RAID (via the Acer MediaBay), contact an Acer Customer Service Ce...	4
3 If you use a hot-swappable hard disk drive with RAID 0, or a Matrix RAID configuration that includes RAID 0, do not remove your hot- swappable hard disk drive at any time or your data will be lost.	4
4 Enabling RAID on your system is a time-intensive process and it is important that your computer stay on during the whole proce...	4
5 If your system supports Acer GraviSense, disable it before enabling RAID.	4
6 Before enabling RAID on your system, back up important data and applications using Acer eRecovery Management or another appropriate backup tool.	5
7 Enabling RAID may change how your hard disk drives are ordered, and Acer eRecovery Management may not function properly if your system does not have the needed drive ordering.	5
8 You cannot use Acer eRecovery Management to revert your system to a non-RAID configuration after enabling RAID.	5
9 The HDD password feature will not function once RAID has been enabled.	5
10 Using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager option ROM (accessed by pressing Ctrl-I when starting your computer) is not recommended. Use the Intel Matrix Storage Console in Windows for most RAID functions.	5
11 Please contact an Acer Customer Service Center if you have further questions about enabling RAID on your Acer computer.	5
Enabling RAID on your system	6
1 Install the RAID application and RAID BIOS software from the included CDs following the instructions provided.	6
2 Run the Intel Matrix Storage Console from Start > Programs > Intel Matrix Storage Manager.	6
3 Select Advanced from the View menu. This will display a list of the hard disk drives installed on your system.	6
4 Select the hard disk drive you want to enable RAID on.	6
5 Select Create RAID Volume from Existing Hard Drive from the Actions menu.	6
6 The Create RAID Volume from Existing Hard Drive wizard will start.	6
7 Follow the onscreen instructions to create a RAID 0, RAID 1 or Matrix RAID array.	6
8 After the process is complete, you will need to reboot your system.	6
9 Congratulations! You have successfully enabled RAID on your system.	6
After enabling RAID on your system	7