Integrated Enterprise RAID Optimized for NVMe SSDs
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) combines the data-protection features of RAID with the high-performance of NVMe SSDs, all without the need for a traditional RAID host bus adapter (HBA).
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) is an enterprise RAID solution that unleashes the performance of NVMe SSDs. Intel® VROC is enabled by a feature in Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors called Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD), an integrated controller inside the CPU PCIe root complex. NVMe SSDs are directly connected to the CPU, allowing the full performance potential of fast storage devices, such as Intel® Optane™ SSDs, to be realized. Intel® VROC enables these benefits without the complexity, cost, and power consumption of traditional hardware RAID host bus adapter (HBA) cards placed between the drives and the CPU.
Intel® VROC is a complete RAID solution, including:
- High performance due to direct connect of SSDs
- Platform integrated storage controller functions provided by Intel® VMD
- Boot and Data RAID
- Scalable to many devices and RAID arrays
- Support for SATA, Intel® VMD NVMe RAID, and non-Intel® VMD NVMe RAID
Intel® VROC leverages Intel® VMD enabled PCIe lanes to directly manage NVMe SSDs. The number of VMD Domains on a given CPU is a function of the number of PCIe lanes. For every 16 PCIe lanes, one Intel® VMD Domain is available.
- 48 PCIe lanes = 3 Intel® VMD Domains
- 64 PCIe Lanes = 4 Intel® VMD Domains
Powered by Intel® Xeon® Processors
As processing power continues to scale, high-bandwidth access to low-latency storage is critical to realizing the true potential of the CPU. Intel® VMD and Intel® VROC are features of Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors that enable a seamless transition to fast NVMe storage to maximize CPU access to data, without a disruption in storage functionality.
Supported Configurations
Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU supports several SSD and system configurations. This information covers what the Intel® VROC software can support. Platform level constraints may supersede the information below.
OS Support
- CentOS*
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
- Ubuntu
- Windows 10
- Windows Server
- VMware (Intel® VMD and RAID 1 for boot only)
* CentOS is a community supported OS. CentOS is not a validated distribution for Intel® VROC, but is functionally aligned to RHEL
Supported Processors
- Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors (Generation 1, 2 and 3, All SKUs)
- Intel® Xeon® W processors
- Intel® Xeon® D processors
- Intel® Xeon® E (No Intel® VMD. Limited functionality supported)
Maximum SSDs Supported
- Up to 48 NVMe SSDs per platform (may require switches)
- Up to 14 SATA SSDs per Chipset (SATA/sSATA)
- 24 SSDs per RAID 0/5 array
- 4 SSDs per RAID 10 array
- 2 SSDs per RAID 1 array
Features
Isolate Error Handling
Intel® VMD isolates SSD error and event handling from the operating system to help reduce system crashes and reboots.
Enterprise Reliability
Increased protection from data loss and corruption in various failure scenarios such as unexpected power loss, even when a volume is degraded.
Extended Management Tools
Pre-OS and OS management includes HII, CLI, email alerts, and a Windows GUI, all supporting NVMe and SATA controls.
Integrated Caching
Intel® VROC Integrated Caching allows easy addition of a Intel® Optane™ SSD caching layer to accelerate RAID storage arrays.
Boot RAID
Redundancy for OS images directly off the CPU with pre-OS configuration options for platform set-up.
High Performance Storage
Connect NVMe SSDs directly to the CPU for full bandwidth storage connections.
Over
5.6M
IOPS on 4 Drive RAID 0
Up to
161%
more IOPS on RAID 0
Up to
248%
more IOPS on RAID 10
Over
5.6M
IOPS on 4 Drive RAID 0
Up to
161%
more IOPS on RAID 0
Up to
248%
more IOPS on RAID 10
Intel® VROC performance highlights
Intel® VROC is the only RAID solution that scales with the Intel® Optane™ SSD solution to deliver extraordinary performance, over 5.6M IOPS. Intel® VROC performance for all RAID levels is equal or better than RAID HBA, delivering up to 161% more IOPS on RAID 0 and up to 248% more IOPS on RAID 10.
Intel® VROC Integrated Caching (Intel® VROC IC)
Intel® VROC offers a caching engine validated and deployed with supported Linux OSs to deliver high performance, while maintaining data integrity.
Accelerate RAID Arrays with High Performance Intel® Optane™ SSDs
- Optimized for Intel® Optane™ SSDs
- Reliable cache volumes with Intel® VROC and Intel VMD capabilities
- Improve performance, increase capacity, or add redundancy with RAID in the caching layer
- Accelerate SATA or NVMe RAID arrays
- Pre-validated solutions available from Intel
How to Enable
- Delivered as a Linux OS upgrade for Intel® VROC Premium and Intel® SSD-only SKUs
- Validated and supported as a part of Intel® VROC
- Provided as software upgrade by participating system providers
- Contact server vendor for details
How to Buy
License Required
Intel® VROC is a licensed product available on certain Intel® Xeon® processors. Product functionality must be enabled by server system vendors. Please contact your vendor for purchasing details. Licensing implementations and options may vary.
- Standard: RAID 0/1/10
- Premium: RAID 0/1/10/5
- Intel® SSD Only: RAID 0/1/10/5 (Only functional with Intel® SSDs)
- Base features of Intel® VMD and SATA RAID are provided without the need for a license
Support
Installation and Configuration
Documentation and Troubleshooting
Access the latest product information and documentation for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU.