Another question on VROC on X299 Platform and non-Intel SSD

[GRaff]

I apologize to submit again this problem but I did not foud anything ​concerning my problem (which should be simple). I have successfully installed four Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512 GB each in RAID 0 (non bootable) on the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 card (mobo: ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme - CPU: i9-7960X) both on WIN 7 Ultimate and WIN 10 PRO (triple boot with Ubuntu 18 also in other SSD units on the M.2 ASUS card). The RAID 0 disk (named "Hyper M.2 Raid 0") is very well recognized since one month and performs very well as you can see in the screenshot. The Intel VROC mode is now in "pass-thru" and I have about 60 days of trial period as showed in RSTe GUI. As far as I know Intel VROC  DOES NOT SUPPORT non-Intel SSD on X299 platform. Now the questions are 3:

1) What will be at the end of the trial period?

2) Will the RAID 0 disk still fully accessible or not?

3) Have I to buy the VROC KEY (and what type? the VROCISSMOD is OK?)

Thank you very much

Guido Raffone

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello Graff, Thank you for contacting Intel® Memory & Storage Support. As we understand, you need assistance with your Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC). If we infer correctly we will appreciate if you can review the following information: 1. Based on the article Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) support on X299 (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000026106/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html) Intel VROC on X299 platforms supports Intel® SSDs only. For a full list of supported Intel SSDs, please see the Intel® VROC Configuration List (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000030310/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html). 2. Your Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512 GB is not listed as supported, tested or validated hardware to work with VROC and you may experience unknown issues. 3. The usage of an ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 card is not listed as supported, tested or validated hardware to work with VROC and you may experience unknown issues. We recommend you to contact your OEM for further assistance. 4. To answer your questions: 1) What will be at the end of the trial period? 2) Will the RAID 0 disk still fully accessible or not? At the end of the trial period, any RAID volume generated will be displayed in the Intel RSTe 5.5 VC GUI, but they will not be accessible. Once the Intel VROC Upgrade Key is installed in the platform (either during the trial period or after the trial period expires) the environment will become operational and all RAID volumes are accessible as normal. 3) Have I to buy the VROC KEY (and what type? the VROCISSMOD is OK?) Based on the article Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) support on X299 (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000026106/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html) The Intel VROC SKU supported on X299 is the Intel VROC-Intel SSD only SKU (VROCISSDMOD): RAID 0/1/5/10 support on Intel SSDs only. If you are attempting to perform a custom configuration using VROC we advise you to contact your OEM to get further information about compatibility, the recommended BIOS, validated hardware and set up. If you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us back. Josh B. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[GRaff]

​Hello Josh

thank you for your quick reply; I will try to forward this answer to the ASUS, even if there is some misunderstanding in the ROG community.

I would like to keep that RAID 0 disk available also after the end of the trial period and I would like to understand exactly what do you mean with "Intel VROC Upgrade Key" you suggest in 4) because, as far as I understood, the VROCISSMOD should be useless in this cinfiguration

I highly appreciate your suggestions.

Best Regards

G.R.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello Graff, Thank you for your reply. The term Intel® VROC Upgrade Key is used to represent the different Intel® VROC SKU supported by a platform (hardware key that will upgrade your configuration from trial to the complete version) in your case it will be the Intel VROC-Intel SSD only SKU (VROCISSDMOD), take into consideration that in order to use this Key you need to replace your current SSDs for supported Intel® SSDs, please review the Intel® VROC Configuration List to check the compatible drives (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000030310/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html). We hope you find this information helpful. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[GRaff]

Hello Josh

just now I have read the subject "Issue VROC + x299 + Samsung 970 PRO with and without standard key" which is very similar

(see: https://forums.intel.com/s/feed/0D50P000049QK7ASAW​)

dll_lld says that (item 2) "with key its not possible even make a raid0 setup" and I think he means a bootable raid 0 setup (that is not possible because non-Intel SSD are not recognized in BIOS as RAID units). So the last question: if I install right now the VROCISSDMOD key then the four Samsung SSD in RAID 0 should be accessible even if Intel does not recommend and highly underline seriuos issue on it?

G.R.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello Graff, Thank you for your reply. To answer your question. If I install right now the VROCISSDMOD key then the four Samsung SSDs in RAID 0 should be accessible even if Intel does not recommend and highly underline serious issue on it? The VROCISSDMOD (Intel® VROC – Intel SSD Only) should not be able to activate a VROC configuration using third-party SSD as mentioned in https://ark.intel.com/products/128252/Intel-Virtual-RAID-on-CPU-Intel-VROC-Intel-SSD-Only?q=VROCISSDMOD “This SKU is only compatible with Intel brand enterprise and professional SSDs”. That means that at the end of the trial period, any RAID volume generated using third-party SSDs will be displayed in the Intel RSTe 5.5 VC GUI, but they will not be accessible. We hope you find this information helpful. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[GRaff]

​Thank you Josh

but I still do not understand  why Intel RSTe allows, in the trial period, the non bootable RAID 0 unit (made of non-Intel SSDs) to work correctly and after that period the unit becomes unaccessible with or without the key.

Thank you again for your kindness and professionality.

Best Regards

G.R.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello Graff, Thank you for your reply. As mentioned in the Frequently Asked Questions about Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000024550/memory-and-storage.html) “I found RAID0 works without Intel VROC hardware key. But the product brief says I need VROC hardware key for RAID0. What should I do?” Performance varies depending on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software, or service activation. Intel VROC is available only to OEMs and ODMs. Ask your service provider for sample availability. Intel technologies’ features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer. Take into consideration that the OEM create and modify their own solution to fit their needs and they have their own list of compatible hardware that sometimes is different from our list. For example, there are cases that some of the OEMs allow creating a non-bootable RAID 0 five times using VROC, instead of the 90 days trial period but this is something that they have specifically implemented on their motherboard. This being said we advise you to contact your OEM to check if they have any solution that will fit your needs. Intel recommends not using Intel VROC Trial Period RAID volume for any mission-critical data. It is only intended for evaluation purposes and the data cannot be guaranteed (either in the Intel VROC UEFI HII environment or after the period expires). We hope you find this information helpful. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[GRaff]

Hello Josh

Up to now the RAID 0 disk I submitted has good performance and I am going to wait the end of the trial period to see what happen and to make some decision (i.e. to buy both the VROC key and further compatible SSDs) and eventually to make it the bootable unit of the system (even if I prefer to install any OS on a non-raid SSD which is easy replaceable in despite of the lower speed).

In the meanwhile I periodically make a backup of the image of the RAID 0 disk where I installed many virtual machines using the OracleVM and a lot of CD "iso" images (that disk has a rather heavy read/write loads). Then I will contact the Intel and Asus communities later in order to submit a more clear situation.  

Thank you again Josh.

Best Regards

G.R.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello Graff, Thank you for your reply. We are glad to hear that you found the information that we shared helpful, this case is now closed; if you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us again. Best regards, Josh B. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation