If the disks in a software raid array were wiped, the raid array would disappear – unless the OS and related RAID software were on a different disk. Both Intel motherboard controllers, if this were wiped the raid array would still persist, with its settings stored in bios = hardware raid.
That's true, but I've often heard of chipset RAID referred to as firmware RAID or fake-RAID. That was the distinction I was wondering about vs hardware RAID.
The difference lies in where the "striping" is calculated. In a Raid array data is not stored contiguously, it's spread out over both disks to minimize access and write times. In software raid the CPU and OS does everything, it remembers the two disks are raided, and handles all calculations (based on code in the OS kernel). A firmware/fake-RAID array is commonly seen in laptops; this is where the motherboard has a small microprocessor that will remember the fact that the two disks are RAIDed and will assist the CPU and OS in figuring out the calculations for how to stripe the data. Finally hardware raid has a full computational unit that will perform all addressing, striping, and other calculations needed for a RAID array and the OS and CPU are free to treat it like a single contiguous drive.
I wish it had WiFi like the Z87I Gaming AC. Then it would go well with an i3-4130 and a GTX 770 for a compact gaming pc. Not so sure about the performance of USB wireless dongles.
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etamin - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - link
I've never seen chipset RAID being referred to as "hardware RAID." Isn't it quite different?It looks like a solid mITX board, I've heard many good things about MSI's mobos this gen.
dakishimesan - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - link
If the disks in a software raid array were wiped, the raid array would disappear – unless the OS and related RAID software were on a different disk. Both Intel motherboard controllers, if this were wiped the raid array would still persist, with its settings stored in bios = hardware raid.dakishimesan - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - link
* but with Intel motherboard controllers, if the disks were wiped…etamin - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - link
That's true, but I've often heard of chipset RAID referred to as firmware RAID or fake-RAID. That was the distinction I was wondering about vs hardware RAID.cpoole - Thursday, April 10, 2014 - link
The difference lies in where the "striping" is calculated. In a Raid array data is not stored contiguously, it's spread out over both disks to minimize access and write times. In software raid the CPU and OS does everything, it remembers the two disks are raided, and handles all calculations (based on code in the OS kernel). A firmware/fake-RAID array is commonly seen in laptops; this is where the motherboard has a small microprocessor that will remember the fact that the two disks are RAIDed and will assist the CPU and OS in figuring out the calculations for how to stripe the data. Finally hardware raid has a full computational unit that will perform all addressing, striping, and other calculations needed for a RAID array and the OS and CPU are free to treat it like a single contiguous drive.Marlowe - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - link
I wish it had WiFi like the Z87I Gaming AC. Then it would go well with an i3-4130 and a GTX 770 for a compact gaming pc. Not so sure about the performance of USB wireless dongles.