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VROC

RksW
Beginner
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I bought a motherboard and add-on card labeled "INTEL VROC Ready" from different manufacturers. But as a result, they do not work together, because on the part of the motherboard, a "response function" is required. If Intel created this technology, shouldn't the rest of the vendors follow the standard? Can Intel help me negotiate with vendors to help me resolve this issue?
For some reason, Intel processors work fine on any motherboard from other vendors, as well as any expansion cards (graphics, audio, etc.). But why is the situation different here? Soon vendor motherboards will only support expansion cards from the same manufacturer?

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JosafathB_Intel
Moderator
1,038 Views

Hello RksW,

 

Thank you for contacting Intel® Memory and Storage support.

 

As we understand, you needed assistance with your Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) in your third-party system and using different hardware configurations. If we inferred correctly and based on the information you provided. We advise you to review the following information and recommendations:

 

1- We advise you to contact your Motherboard OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to get a specific list of recommended and compatible hardware, to confirm if the add-on cards are compatible or not with your system based on their design.

 

2- Before purchasing any add-on 3rd party hardware to expand your current configuration is always recommended to get it directly from the same OEM.

 

3- Take into consideration that the OEM creates and modifies their solutions to fit their needs, and they have their list of compatible hardware and software that sometimes is different from our list. For example, there are cases that some of the systems need a specific BIOS or software configuration to be able to work with and specific OS, add-on hardware, or feature.

 

4- If you confirmed that the add-on card is not compatible with your motherboard, the best option is to contact the seller to try to get a compatible card or a refund.

 

5- In case you have an X299 chipset in your motherboard please read the following:

 

Intel® VROC is targeted as an enterprise product, mainly for Servers and Workstations. Also, per the details found in the article “Intel® VROC Support on X299 FAQ”, Intel® VROC was enabled on X299 client platforms (see below). This initial decision was made at the time of launch in 2017. Since then, it has become apparent that Intel® RST (and not Intel® VROC) is the better product to support SSD RAID on X299 platforms, partly because of Intel® RST availability, broad SSD support and no need for an extra HW key. Intel® RST is free and it supports Intel® as well as NON-Intel® storage devices.

 

 Intel® VROC will continue to have its HW Key licensing policies, which are more in line with enterprise product expectations. From the above explanation, we hope it’s clear that for X299 / client platforms, our customers do NOT require purchasing Intel® VROC key for RAID 0 (even with NON-Intel® drives). Please use Intel® RST instead of Intel® VROC for RAID 0 and other things.

 

 For more detail, please review the full FAQ; especially answer to question 2 in the below article: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/memory-and-storage/ssd-software/VROC_Support_on_X299_FAQ.pdf

 

6- We do not recommend or support the usage of any 3rd party hardware that is not listed in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Supported Configurations article:

 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000030310/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html

 

To summarize the previous points; Not all the hardware that says “VROC Ready” is validated or tested by Intel® since we sell the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) as a solution to the OEMs, and they can modify and customize their solutions to fit their needs, by adding or limiting the list of compatible hardware, and is up to them to validate or not a 3rd party solution.

 

We do apologize that we can not provide you with further assistance regarding your inquiry since the issue is related to the motherboard compatibility more than to the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) solution itself, and the OEM is the only one that can help you with your request.

 

We will proceed to close this inquiry now.

 

If you need further assistance regarding any other Intel® product, please post a new question.

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

Best regards,

 

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel®

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JosafathB_Intel
Moderator
1,039 Views

Hello RksW,

 

Thank you for contacting Intel® Memory and Storage support.

 

As we understand, you needed assistance with your Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) in your third-party system and using different hardware configurations. If we inferred correctly and based on the information you provided. We advise you to review the following information and recommendations:

 

1- We advise you to contact your Motherboard OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to get a specific list of recommended and compatible hardware, to confirm if the add-on cards are compatible or not with your system based on their design.

 

2- Before purchasing any add-on 3rd party hardware to expand your current configuration is always recommended to get it directly from the same OEM.

 

3- Take into consideration that the OEM creates and modifies their solutions to fit their needs, and they have their list of compatible hardware and software that sometimes is different from our list. For example, there are cases that some of the systems need a specific BIOS or software configuration to be able to work with and specific OS, add-on hardware, or feature.

 

4- If you confirmed that the add-on card is not compatible with your motherboard, the best option is to contact the seller to try to get a compatible card or a refund.

 

5- In case you have an X299 chipset in your motherboard please read the following:

 

Intel® VROC is targeted as an enterprise product, mainly for Servers and Workstations. Also, per the details found in the article “Intel® VROC Support on X299 FAQ”, Intel® VROC was enabled on X299 client platforms (see below). This initial decision was made at the time of launch in 2017. Since then, it has become apparent that Intel® RST (and not Intel® VROC) is the better product to support SSD RAID on X299 platforms, partly because of Intel® RST availability, broad SSD support and no need for an extra HW key. Intel® RST is free and it supports Intel® as well as NON-Intel® storage devices.

 

 Intel® VROC will continue to have its HW Key licensing policies, which are more in line with enterprise product expectations. From the above explanation, we hope it’s clear that for X299 / client platforms, our customers do NOT require purchasing Intel® VROC key for RAID 0 (even with NON-Intel® drives). Please use Intel® RST instead of Intel® VROC for RAID 0 and other things.

 

 For more detail, please review the full FAQ; especially answer to question 2 in the below article: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/memory-and-storage/ssd-software/VROC_Support_on_X299_FAQ.pdf

 

6- We do not recommend or support the usage of any 3rd party hardware that is not listed in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Supported Configurations article:

 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000030310/memory-and-storage/ssd-software.html

 

To summarize the previous points; Not all the hardware that says “VROC Ready” is validated or tested by Intel® since we sell the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) as a solution to the OEMs, and they can modify and customize their solutions to fit their needs, by adding or limiting the list of compatible hardware, and is up to them to validate or not a 3rd party solution.

 

We do apologize that we can not provide you with further assistance regarding your inquiry since the issue is related to the motherboard compatibility more than to the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) solution itself, and the OEM is the only one that can help you with your request.

 

We will proceed to close this inquiry now.

 

If you need further assistance regarding any other Intel® product, please post a new question.

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

Best regards,

 

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel®

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