Intel RST performance issues 8x m.2 nvme

[Avior]

I am having subpar performance on Intel RST RAID0 with 4x NVME m.2 drives. I am using the following hardware:

Workstation details Dell 7920

Dual Xeon4214R

Window 11 PRO

NVIDIA RTXA2000

64GB RAM

2xDell Ultra Speed Quad card with 4x 4TB Crucial P3 pcie 4 m.2 drives  RAID0 using Intel RST.

Each drive is rated:

Sequential Read - 4800 MB/s

Sequential Write - 4100 MB/s 

When running Cristal benchmark I get 6000MB/s read and write.

I have two identical RAID0 array so when I do large file transfer from one array to another max speed I get is about 900MB/s. Under heavy load when I run 40 simultaneous processes that require large R/W operations the response time goes to 3000m/s and R/W drops to about 100MB/s.

Issues:

1. My expectation was that I should get closer to 13000MB/s Read and Write I get about half of that.

2. Under heavy load the drive response time increase from 3ms to 3000ms and R/W drops to about 100MB/s. At the same time when I try to start RST GUI on the task bar, the GUI is displayed with and strange icon when i click on it it says RST service is not available. After the load is decreased I can log back in to the GUI.

I am not sure how to track down the problem, but at the moment I am quite disappointed with the performance. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior. 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I will gladly assist you here. 

Please, answer these questions to have a better perspective of this issue: 

1. Have you updated the Intel® RST driver with Dell? 
2. Did you set the RAID through BIOS or any other tool? 
3. Run this utility and attach the report: 

Intel® System Support Utility for Windows. 

Note: Make sure to mark the box that says "everything" before pressing the Scan button. After that, click on "Next>" and select "Save" and then, attach the .txt file. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Avior]

Hi Jocelyn,

thank you for your reply. Below please find answers to your questions:

1. Have you updated the Intel® RST driver with Dell?

I was given the following driver from Dell: "Intel-Virtual-RAID-on-CPU-Application_7564M_WIN64_6.2.4.1005_A01.EXE" Which is 2020 version. After some research I found this driver "Intel-Virtual-RAID-on-CPU-Driver_KKM2X_WIN_7.5.0.1991_A13.EXE" which is 2022, I believe this is the driver I am using currently.

2. Did you set the RAID through BIOS or any other tool? 

I have not purchased a license just yet, I am still performing evaluation and testing. I am using Intel RST software utility, not the BIOS option.

3. Run this utility and attach the report: 

Attached please find reports from two identical computers with the same RST setups. I am getting the same performance on both. Just a side note, when I read from one RAID0 drive and write to the other RAID0 (each machine has two) I get better formance, generally about 500MB/s Read and Write. When I read/write from the same drive performance degrades to about 50-100MB/s.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior.   

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior. 

Thank you for the information provided. 

I will proceed to investigate further about this issue, as soon as I have updates, I will post them here. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior. 

As per the Intel Virtual RAID on CPU Application you are using, looks like your system works with  Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC), instead of Intel® Rapid Storage Technology. 

We noticed that there is no RST driver listed for Dell Precision 7920 Tower, please verify this with your System Manufacturer. 

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior.   

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Avior.   

We have not heard back from you so we will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician.