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I have a problem with creating a raid 0 with intel dc p3608 pci ssd

MMax
Beginner
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The system sees it as two separate drives. According to the reviews on the Internet, for maximum sequential read speed, you need to create a raid 0 with Intel Rapid Storage Technolagy enterprise (RSTe 4.3). But after installing RSTe 4.3 I do not have section "NVMe devices". In the review http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7360/intel-dc-p3608-1-6tb-enterprise-pcie-nvme-ssd-review/index3.html http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7360/intel-dc-p3608-1-6tb-enterprise-pcie-nvme-ssd-review/index3.html on the picture http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/content/7/3/7360_13_intel-dc-p3608-1-6tb-enterprise-pcie-nvme-ssd-review.png http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/content/7/3/7360_13_intel-dc-p3608-1-6tb-enterprise-pcie-nvme-ssd-review.png there is clearly visible section "NVMe devices" to create a raid 0. I have no such section. In the Windows Device Manager p3608 normally identifies the devices http://postimg.org/image/92efizpq7/ http://postimg.org/image/92efizpq7/. I also installed the Intel® SSD Data Center Family for NVMe Drivers Version: 1.7.0.1002 (Latest) and other utilities in the section "Downloads for Intel® SSD DC P3608 Series", but the problem is still not fixed. Any thoughts on this?

sysconfig:

Intel® Server Board S2600CP

BIOS version SE5C600.86B.02.04.0003.102320141138, 10/23/2014

2 x Intel Xeon E5-2620 v2

224GB DDR3 RAM

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Build 9600 64-bit

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

We are going to check this for you as this motherboard is fairly old and we will have to confirm if it supports RAID mode with NVMe* drivers. We will advise soon.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

Thank you for your time. Could you please be so kind and try this version 4.5.0.2123 of the Intel® RSTe. Here is the link: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25771/-Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Enterprise-NVMe-Intel-RSTe-NVMe-RAID-Driver Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise NVMe (Intel® RSTe NVMe) RAID Driver and in order to help you further, here is the link to the guide:http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/ssdc/ssd-software/Intel_RSTe_NVMe_for_Windows_Guide.pdf Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise (RSTe) NVMe™ for Windows*

 

 

Let us know if this helped you.

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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MMax
Beginner
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I tried this version, but could not get to the stage 7 of section "2.1 Installing Intel RSTe NVMe Release Package" in the http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/ssdc/ssd-software/Intel_RSTe_NVMe_for_Windows_Guide.pdf User's Guide that was mentioned above. Instead I get modal dialog at stage 6 that request repeat installation after reboot. I have attached a screenshot of that situation at the bottom *. After reboot there is no folder and files on the default path for RSTe and also I can't find anywhere a GUI application for it. Repeating installation after system reboot as was requested in the modal dialog at stage 6 of the RSTe installation application leads to the same situation - no files and GUI app for RSTe. I suppose that this can happen due the requirements of RSte version 4.5: "Supported platforms include: Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v3, v4 Families with the Intel® C610 series chipset" but my sysconf is c600 chipset and Intel Xeon E5-2620 v2. It seems there is no problems with RSTe 4.3 installation, but in this case I got the main topic problem.

Also I have noticed that in the description for RSTe 4.3 download there is no mention about NVMe devices. And the same for the RSTe 4.3 http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/motherboards/server/sb/g40440_005_rste_swug_r1_5.pdf Users Guide in RSTe_and_AHCI_Drivers_GUI_CLI_CIM_4.3.0.1223.zip file which i got in the RSTe 4.3 downloads section. May be RSTe 4.3 does't support NVMe devices and that caused the topic problem?

* Screenshot for stage 7 of the section "2.1 Installing Intel RSTe NVMe Release Package" in the http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/ssdc/ssd-software/Intel_RSTe_NVMe_for_Windows_Guide.pdf User's Guide

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

We are going to analyze this based on your most recent reply and will get back to you as soon as possible. In the mean time, please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions.

 

 

best regards,

 

Aleki
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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

Unfortunately, the RSTe version 4.5 is the one required to set up RAID 0 with the Intel SSD DC P3608. These are the supported platforms:

 

 

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v3, v4 Families with the Intel® C610 series chipset

 

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v5 Families with the Intel® C230 series chipset

 

 

Please let us know if you have any more questions.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki

 

 

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MMax
Beginner
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Thank you for your reply. Your answer explains a lot and there is only one question left for me. In some reviews on the internet other then server platforms have been used to test P3608 ssd device. For example it was in this http://hothardware.com/reviews/intel-ssd-dc-p3608-pcie-nvme-solid-state-drive-review?page=2 review. So the question is what are the hardware and software requerements to use P3608 ssd on platforms other then server?

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

This drive was not intended to end-users platforms. Since it is rated for data center environment there isn't a list of specific requirements. It does need a chipset that can run NVMe* drivers and X8 PCIe* Gen 3 lanes. These are the very basic requirement as well as an UEFI* Bios.

 

 

Even if the end-user platform meets these requirements we cannot guarantee it will work since it was designed for servers.

 

 

Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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MMax
Beginner
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I saw another http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/intel-ssd-dc-p3608-review-1-6tb-over-5gbs-and-850k-iops/2/ review that uses RSTe version 4.3, despite the fact that you indicate the minimum required version is 4.5. There are also many references to slides like http://www.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2015-09-21/p3608-nvme-controllers.jpg this. Is there any explanation for this?

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

The version 4.5 or is the one validated by Intel for the procedure you want to do. As for version 4.3, there might be other steps involved adopted by those users at their own risk regarding the third-party websites you have mentioned.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Aleki
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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

We haven't heard from you in a while so we would like to know if the situation was resolved with the version we have informed. Please, let us know if you have any more questions or doubts.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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MMax
Beginner
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The situation with RSTe 4.5 is still as it was at my /message/417564# 417564 reply.

To summarize the discussion, we are in the following state:

1. The /message/418601# 418601 official answer from you is that to resolve my topic problem I should use RSTe 4.5 and above. Hardware requirements for RSTe 4.5 is "Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v3, v4 Families with the Intel® C610 series chipset". So my sysconf (Intel® Server Board S2600CP with Intel Xeon E5-2620 v2) is not suit that requirements and because of that the problem resolution with my hardware platform is not possible. That is also explains the reason of why I have troubles with installing RSTe 4.5 on my platform.

2. The other opportunity was to use RSTe 4.3 which is compatible with my platform and was used in reviews like http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/intel-ssd-dc-p3608-review-1-6tb-over-5gbs-and-850k-iops/2/ this and some other over the internet. But in this case after successful installation of RSTe 4.3 I have no NVMe devices in the RSTe GUI app to configure RAID 0. In /message/419497# 419497 this reply you wrote that you can't provide me support in this case because this is not "validated by Intel" way to setup P3608.

So, I don't see any other opportunity to solve my problem. If that is the same for you, I think I should close this topic.

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

Unfortunately, it is hard to say which configuration the users on the page you provided used in order to make it work with version 4.3 as each process may differ according to the system itself.

 

We are going to check and will advise soon. Let us know if you have any more questions or doubts.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

Thank you for your time. Unfortunately, the Intel® Server Board S2600CP contains a chipset (Intel® 602 Chipset) that is not compatible with the Intel® RSTe version 4.5 which is the one required for you to proceed with RAID 0. The only chipsets compatible with the Intel® RSTe version 4.5 are the: Intel® C610 Series Chipset and the Intel® C230 Series Chipset.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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MMax
Beginner
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We have already summarize this in my /message/420973# 420973 post above. Your answers are repeating that you already have said before. So, if I understand situation correctly, there will be no progress on the topic and it should be closed. If there is no objections I will mark /message/420973# 420973 this post as "correct" because it leads to the discussion summary.

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idata
Employee
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mprosov,

 

 

Yes, we were confirming to you what you have posted previously. Thank you for your time. Should you have any further questions in the future, please don't hesitate to contact us.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Aleki
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