Can I add an SDD drive as a cache to an IRST RAID 5 volume?

[UAlon]

I have created a (software) RAID 5 array on my Z170 machine, containing 5 4TB HDDs. I have an SSD drive I would like to add as a cache to the array in order to improve performance I didn't add the SSD to the RAID volume. At the Smart Response tab, in the Enable Acceleration dialog, the RAID volume does not appear in the "disk or volume to accelerate" drop down list.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ury

[n_scott_pearson]

Sorry, as far as I know, Intel SRT is limited to the support of a single drive. That is, it can accelerate a HDD with all or part of a SSD or it can take over the acceleration of the HDD part of a SSHD using its internal SSD.

...S

[UAlon]

Got it, thanks.

[Wanner_G_Intel]

Hello UAlon, We would like to test if it is possible to use a SSD as a cache device to accelerate a volume. We will get back to you soon. Wanner G. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[UAlon]

Great! thank you.

[UAlon]

I'm happy to update that after a few days of "initialization", the raid array became available for acceleration with the SSD:

I'm not sure why Cache mode is "off" though.

Cheers,

Ury

[Wanner_G_Intel]

Hello UAlon, Thank you for your response and providing us with your findings. We also would like to confirm that it is possible to configure computer systems with a Solid State Drive (SSD) and use it as cache for a single hard disk drive or multiple drives in one RAID volume. Regarding your question about "Cache mode: off", Windows* is basically managing the caching on the individual drives in the RAID array, while the Intel® RST app manages the caching on the RAID array itself. Either one means the cache is enabled and working. I hope you find this information helpful. Wanner G. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[UAlon]

Thanks Wanner

Unfortunately, after a couple of days and a routine reboot, not one but two disks got "kicked" out of the array for no apparent reason and marked as "disk: unknown, port unknown". I looked at a lot of threads regarding this outrageous behavior and concluded that there's no solution within IRST, so that's the end of this sad experience. So many hours and days lost, and the only conclusion I have is do not use IRST RAID modes.

Regrads,

Ury