Re:Upgrading Raid 1 storage from 1TB to 4TB

_neil_ · ‎01-26-2026

I’d like to upgrade storge from two M2 1TB SSDs configured as Raid 1 to two M2 4TB SSDs also configured as Raid 1. The RST indicates the existing drives are configured as Raid 1 using SATA protocol, although the drives are marked as PCIe3x4, which I think means they could be driven using the PCIe controller. However, the Device Manager indicates the ‘Storage controllers” has the ‘Intel® Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium Controller’, which probably indicate the SSDs could be driven using the PCIe protocol. So why the Raid 1 was configured to use SATA by Lenovo I don’t know.

For the upgrade to the two new 4TB drives I understand that I should: 1) replace one of the existing 1TB drives with a new 4TB drive, 2) Use the RST software to fill the new drive, 3) Remove the other 1TB drive, 4) boot from the new 4TB drive but not in Raid, 5) Move the drive recovery partition to the far right and expand the main partition to the unfilled disk partition, 6) insert the other 4TB SSD and boot as Raid 1 and use the RST software to build up the other new SSD.

However, in doing I’ll have to make the raid configuration as SATA and the original SSD were driven using SATA. What might be the best way to get the new 4TB Raid 1 SSDs operating with the PCIe protocol, so I could take advantage of the greater speed this protocol offers?

(The laptop is Lenovo windows 10 machine year 2018 vintage, using RST version 16.7.1.1012 and the RST system report is attached.)

Many thanks for any help or advice,
Neil

BrenzL_Intel · ‎01-26-2026

Hello _neil_,

Thank you for reaching out to the Intel Community Forum

I will do further research on this matter and post the response on this thread once it is available.

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

_neil_ · ‎02-02-2026

Did you get any further with this?

Just to update: I did follow the Intel RST directive for increasing raid1 memory size to 4TB, but after putting on of the M2 new drives in and starting up the machine, there was no option to 'rebuild the volume' as the new 4TB SSD was not recognised, it just said 0TB drive.

However, the drive was not initialised. After first starting up after replacing one of the drive with the new 4TB SSD should i use Disk Management to initialise the SSD, before i go to the Intel RST program to rebuild the volume?

A further question: i have RST version 16.7.1.1012 from date: 19 Oct 2018, so is this sufficiently recent to handle 4TB SSDs?

Many thanks, Neil

BrenzL_Intel · ‎02-03-2026

Hello _neil_,

Thank you for the update.

We are still investigating your encountered concern, please allow us to do further research on this matter and post the response on this thread once it is available.

If you have questions or updates, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

BrenzL_Intel · ‎02-03-2026

Hello _neil_,

Thank you for your update. I would like to clarify a few details to help us better understand your current configuration.

First, regarding your SATA SSD RAID 1 setup, could you confirm whether this configuration is being used as a bootable (OS) RAID or strictly as a data RAID? This will help us determine the correct troubleshooting and migration steps.

Additionally, you mentioned an M.2 SATA drive showing PCIe‑related behavior. Since SATA and PCIe are fundamentally different interfaces, an M.2 SATA SSD does not normally provide PCIe capability even though it shares the same M.2 form factor. To ensure accuracy, may I ask whether any system modifications, adapters, or third‑party components have been installed that might affect how the drive is detected?

If your goal is to upgrade from a 1TB SATA RAID 1 array to 4TB PCIe drives, please note that SATA‑based RAID and PCIe/NVMe‑based RAID are not directly interchangeable. In this case, the recommended approach would be:

Copy or clone the data from the existing 1TB SATA drive to the new 4TB PCIe drive.
Recreate the RAID 1 array using two PCIe/NVMe drives if RAID functionality is still required.

Regarding your additional question about RST 16.7.1.1012:

Yes — Intel RST 16.7.1.1012 is generally new enough to support 4TB SSDs. RST 16.x versions were widely used between 2017–2019 and support large‑capacity SATA and Intel‑RST‑compatible PCIe/NVMe drives. If a 4TB SSD appears as 0TB, this is usually caused by the drive not being initialized, or by partition or detection issues, rather than an RST limitation.

Why the drive shows 0TB:

A new SSD may appear as 0TB until it is initialized in Windows Disk Management (GPT). This behavior matches other user reports.

Recommendation before rebuilding RAID:

Initialize the new 4TB SSD in Disk Management (GPT) so RST can detect it correctly.
If the drive still shows 0TB afterward, possible causes include drive compatibility, firmware issues, slot/controller mode limitations, or BIOS configuration.

If you have questions, please let us know and I’ll be happy to assist further. Thank you.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

_neil_ · ‎02-04-2026

This system is a Raid1 bootable Windows 10 operating system. Attached is a shot of the bios indicating Intel RST being used, and also a windows shot of RST in use running with the existing raid1 1TB SSDs.

No third party systems have been added to the system.

I dont think the system is operating at SATA , as the RST System Report (attached) is indicating: "Port interface: NVMe", whereas the SATA_Array_0000 is just a name, this could be called eg Volume.

After replacing one of the SSDs with the new 4TB M2 then following the boot i went straight to the RST program and it indicated that below:

Indicating the 0TB for the new SSD. I then came out of the RST program and started Windows 'Disk Management' and it indicated that the drive was not initialised and then offered the option to initialise. I did this and got the Date Error (cyclic redundancy check)

I believe the existing M2 1TB SSDs are generation 3, whereas the new M2 4TB SSDs are generation 4. Howver, gen 4 are supposed to be backwards compatible to gen 3, so i didnt think this would be a problem.

There is a question as to whether the new 4TB SSD is corrupted, i've now got a M2 external caddy, so i'll try to see if the new drive can be initialised using that, otherwise i'm continually having to open the laptop and exchanges M2 drives to test out, which is not good practice as they're not really designed for many repeated interchanges.

There is also the question as to whether drivers on my machine can handle 4TB drives. The machine is a Lenovo P51, newly purchased in 2018 from Lenovo by me and has been maintained and updated ever since using the Lenovo Vantage and there are no errors or anything untoward on the machine - ie its been running perfectly ever since, so i've been really please with how it's worked out. However, is could now be doing with a bit more storage space.

Does any of the above help?

Many thanks, Neil

BrenzL_Intel · ‎02-04-2026

Hello _neil_,

Thank you for the update.

I will do further research on this additional information and post the response on this thread once it is available.

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

_neil_ · ‎02-06-2026

Following the above i used a USB M2 caddy to initialise successfully both new 4TB SSDs using the Windows Disk Management. That was only initialising and no formating, and there was no indication of any failing to the SSDs.

I then replace one of the internal 1TB SSDs with the new initialised 4TB SSD hoping to rebuild the new SSD. However all that happened was that on boot i got repeated alternate screens showing 'Preparing Automatic Repair' and 'To interrupt normal start up, press Enter', as shown below.

These screens appeared something like about 50 time alternately for about 15 minutes. After several of these i pressed Enter to see the bios, which showed the system was still in Raid mode, which is how it should be to rebuild to a new SSD in raid 1. After coming out of BIOS, the system returned to the same with the two alternate screen messages, which after about 10 mins i terminated by pressing the ShutDown button.

I then put the old 1TB SSD back internally, rebooted to Windows, then used RST to rebuild the original raid1 1TB SSD, which completed after a few minutes.

This kind of indicates the system is failing in going from BIOS to windows, so i'm wondering why this is.

Perhaps one reason for that is because the BIOS ROM RST Raid Driver has version: 15.2.0.2754, and the Windows RST has version has version: 16.7.1.1012? Perhaps these both need to be the same version, or just that the ROM 15.2.0.2754 Raid Driver just cant handle a 4TB drive, or a Gen 4 drive. (The new 4TB SSD is Gen4, whereas the older 1 TB SSD is Gen3 - however manufacturer indicates they should be 'backwards compatible').

Any help welome, many thanks, Neil

_neil_ · ‎02-19-2026

Hi Brenz,

for upgrading memory i found the Intel guidance https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005837/technologies/intel-rapid-storage-technology-intel-rst.html#primary-content is rather out of date.

I managed to get as far as instruction #7 and no further. Instructions from #8 onwards inclusive are for Legacy / pre UEFI Bios where use of CTRL+I works. UEFI bios no longer uses that, so any one with a machine which is less than 10 years old isnt going to be able to upgrade the Raid1 storage using that technique.

I did upgrade the storage, but only by replacing both SSDs then asking RST Windows program to increase the volume, then using MiniTool Partition Wizard to shift the Windows recovery partition to the right, and extend the Windows partition into the full unallocated portion.

Furthermore, in order to perform your instruction #3, i needed to go into the Bios to request 'rebuild' the Raid1, before proceeding to Windows Intel RST program, to see the SSD Raid1 rebuilding. If you dont go into Bios first to make this selection you just get repeated splash screening of 'Preparing automatic repair', never ending. So when you rewrite your new instruction you need to make this clear.

Cheers, Neil

BrenzL_Intel · ‎03-01-2026

Hello _neil_,

Thank you for sharing your findings with us. We truly appreciate the valuable input you provided. Please rest assured that we will be updating the article to incorporate the steps you discovered so future users can follow accurate guidance.

Since you have already resolved your concern, we will now proceed to close this case. Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician