Updated list of third-party SSDs supported by VROC

[George2005]

Hello,

I'd like to ask where I can get an updated list of third-party SSDs supported by VROC on Basin Falls platform (C422 chipset) with Standard VROC key (VROCSTANMOD). There is the outdated list only avaliable in "Intel(R)_VROC_ReleaseNotes.pdf" from June 2017 containing quite older SSD models like Lenovo (Atsani), Huawei (ES3600P), Samsung (SM951, SM961, PM961, PM953), Toshiba (XG3) and Micron (9100 Series).

I have got SSD Samsung 960 Pro 512GB so I'd like to know if this SSD is compatible with VROC. As there is an newer model at the market called SSD Samsung 970 Pro which has different controller from 960 Pro (so it's slightly faster with more TBW), I'd also like to know if:

1. SSD Samsung 970 Pro 512GB is also compatible with VROC

2. it's possible to create RAID1 array using VROC from one SSD Samsung 960 Pro 512GB (which I've got actually) and one SSD Samsung 970 Pro 512GB (which I'll buy newly) or I have to buy the second Samsung 960 Pro 512GB to make RAID1 from two exactly the same 960 Pro drives.

Thank you.

[George2005]

Hello,

thank you very much for your response.

I'm very sorry but I'm still confused totally. You've written that VROC key will not enable those drives but in the next paragraph you've mentioned that I can attempt to use non validated third party SSDs. Well, if the VROC key didn't enable non validated third party SSDs at all, any attempt to use such drives in RAID would be futile, wouldn't it?

So, please could you reply me clearly to this simple question (just Yes or No): is it possible to create RAID1 using two non validated third party SSDs with VROC Standard key on the C422/Basin Fall platform & Xeon-W CPU? I'm willing to accept all risks including any issues and the fact that such configuration will not be supported by Intel.

Thank you very much for your clear answer in advance.

Best Regards,

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your time and in regards to your question the usage of Non-validated Third-party Drives on VROC over the C422/Basin Falls - Xeon-W CPU Platform it's not supported and will not work; we only support configurations with the mentioned Drives on our VROC Product Brief available here:http://https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/virtual-raid-on-cpu-vroc-product-brief.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/virtual-raid-on-cpu-vroc-product-brief.htmlWe hope you find this information useful for your situation and please remember that if you require more assistance or want to add additional details, we'll be glad to assist you.Best regards,Chris

[George2005]

Hello,

thank you very much for your statement that Non-validated Third-party Drives on VROC aren't not supported and will not work. But then I can't understand why Mr. Luc "lboisvert" has been able to create RAID5 from such "unsuported" Samsung drives (see the previous posts in that discussion). Does some explanation exist why he is able to do it?

Thank you for the clarifying the situation mentioned above.

Regards,

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your reply and in regards to your question, actually we only support the Third-party drives on the list we've provided, however; creating a RAID with non-supported drives could be possible but it's not guaranteed and it's not supported by us; so it's possible that it'll not work properly or that you'll experience stability issues when using a non-supported configuration. Please remember that if you require more assistance or want to add additional details, we'll be glad to assist youBest regards,Chris

[George2005]

Hi Chris,

thank you very much for your clarification. It's very important information for me that creating a RAID with non-supported drives could be possible as I've read here so far that VROC will not enable such drives to become a RAID member and something like that.

As I've written before if I have to pay an extra money for license allowing to use the 3rd party drives (in form of Standard/Premium VROC key) I would expect that the VROC technology should support wider range of the 3rd party drives rather than few almost obsolete drives which are currently on your list. But I understand that you support mainly the Intel SSD drives.

Well, I'll try to create RAID1 from two Samsung 960 Pro drives. As these SSDs are the retail version of SM961 ones which are on your "compatibility" list, actually, I assume that it should work.

Thank you very much again!

Regards

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your reply and in regards to the situation that you're mentioning we strongly recommend to use specifically the drives mentioned on the Supported List to avoid any compatibility issues; that it's since the Samsung* 960PRO Drives have a different approach than the Samsung* SM961 and there could be differences in the Manufacturing/Firmware that could make the RAID to not work properly or the drives to be not recognized by VROC. Additionally, please remember that if you require more assistance or want to add additional details, we'll be glad to assist youBest regards,Chris

[George2005]

Hi Chris,

Well, I agree that the best solution would be using the approved drives from your list. But the problem is that all the listed drives are either obsolete or too small in capacity. I'm not able to buy any of them with sufficient capacity in the retail channel in my country (all resellers have marked it as obsolete and out of stock). That's why I would expect that your compatibility list should be updated with the current SSD models (of course, it's not possible to test all drives on the market, but maybe TOP models like Samsung Pro series).

In the time of buying C422 Platform System (i.e. September 2017) I was even thinking about the Intel drives, actually, but no one could satisfy my needs (i.e. excellent speed, MLC technology for maximum durability etc.). So I had to buy the Samsung Pro 960 model.

You've written that: "Samsung* 960PRO Drives have a different approach than the Samsung* SM961" - does that mean that you've really tested the Samsung 960 Pro model but it has failed so you couldn't add it on the approved drive's list? Or have you got any special and/or "internal" information about such drives? And what are the exact requirements to enable the particular drive as a RAID member of VROC?

Thank you.

Best Regards

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your time and in regards to your situation actually only the drives on the list along with all our series of Professional and Data Center SSDs has been tested and are compatible with VROC; however, I've forwarded your feedback on the Compatible Drives; currently we don't have an ETA of when the list will got updated or which models will be included but be sure that we'll get your feedback in consideration. Also, please remember that if you require more assistance or want to add additional details, we'll be glad to assist youBest regards,Chris

[George2005]

Hi Chris,

thank you, I'd appreciate very much your best effort to help, actually. So it could be great, if you would decide to test the other 3rd Party SSDs to update the VROC compatibility list.

Thanks again for all!

Best Regards

Jiri "George" Stencl

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your reply and in regards to your situation your feedback has been forwarded to the appropriate team; however, I'll not be able to provide an ETA or to test the disks since this must be done by our Engineering Team so they can certificate more drives to be used.Please let us know if you have more questions or want to add additional details to your case, we'll be glad to assist you!Best regards,Chris

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your time and we're sending you this message as a follow-up to your question and to see if the information that we've provided you was useful for your situation.Please remember that if you require more assistance or want to add additional details, we'll be glad to assist youBest regards,Chris

[idata]

Hello George2005,

Thanks for your time and we're sending you this message as a follow-up to your question and to see if the information that we've provided you was useful for your situation. At this point we'll mark this question as solved; however, if you want to ask more questions please fell free to contact us, we'll be glad to assist youBest regards,Chris

[GChen34]

Hello Intel Corporation Support Team,

I am happy to find this thread regarding Intel VROC support for 3rd party NVMe SSDs.

I work for a SSD vendor in China and I am eager to know how to add our products to your VROC compatibility list.

Would you please let me know the necessary bussiness steps and technological process follow-on, and where I should start from? thank you very much.

Best regards,

Gene Chen

[idata]

Hello derassd,

The engineering team just answered about your request. We want to thank you for your suggestion. Right now our Business Unit is only accepting recommendations of SSD vendors from our original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), not from the SSD vendors themselves.Thanks for your understanding.Best Regards,Juan N.