RAID Driver

SDornak wrote: I have an ASROCK z97 Extreme 6 motherboard. I do not have an installation disk. I used the easy driver download to USB in the bios. I am lost from there. I cannot find any step by step instructions after downloading. I looked at the website and found a list of drivers to download for my motherboard. Unfortunately none of them appreared to be RAID drivers. I want to install Windows 10 64-bit on a RAID 10. Please help. Thank you!

We have no idea how much experience with Intel's RAID implementation. It seems to be very little, if you don't even know the name of the Intel RAID software. Frankly, attempting to create and use a RAID 10 array as the OS/System drive, as your first experience with RAID won't be easy.

Be sure you read ALL of this post, which will be a start for you. Writing you a step by step manual would take a long time, and the documentation already exists. I'll show you where to get it. I'll go over some basics in this post.

Your board's manual page has two documents about creating Intel RAID arrays. They are the RAID Installation Guide and the Intel Rapid Storage Guide. They can be found on the page below. Sorry, the forum link tool fails on some URLs. Just highlight the text below, right click on it, and then select an open option.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Extreme6/?cat=Manual

Since you must create the RAID 10 array before you install Windows, the RAID Installation Guide is the document you will need to use first. It's a good guide, just don't get lost in the PCIe SSD installation section, since I doubt you will be using PCIe SSDs in a RAID 10 array. You really must study this guide, since you must understand what you are doing. A cookbook set of instructions will not serve you well in understanding and using an Intel RAID 10 array.

The Intel RAID driver is on your board's download page. It is called the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and utility ver:14.6.0.1029. The abbreviation for this software is IRST. The software is a combination of the IRST RAID driver, and the Intel Windows RAID utility. This is the download page:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Extreme6/?cat=Download&os=Win1064

Actually, Windows has a built in Intel IRST RAID driver. You don't need to install the basic IRST RAID driver during a Windows 10 installation. You could do that during the Windows installation, but it is not required at all. That driver is not included on your board's download page. That driver might be included in the download to USB you did. The software package above includes a newer IRST driver version (not that it makes any difference) and the IRST Windows utility program for creating and maintaining RAID arrays.

You'll find in the guide there are two ways to create a RAID 10 array before installing Windows. One is with a feature within the UEFI/BIOS itself. The other is by starting the IRST utility by pressing the Ctrl key and I key when the PC is started or restarted. Both provide the same functionality for creating RAID arrays.

The most basic thing you need to do is set the Intel SATA Mode option to RAID in the UEFI/BIOS. That is done in the Advanced, Storage Configuration screen. You will need to maintain that setting at all times since it is not the default setting (AHCI is the default.) That means if you clear the UEFI/BIOS, or update it to a different version, you must reset it to RAID. If you boot the PC when using a RAID array as the OS drive, with the SATA mode set back to AHCI, the PC will not boot.

For a RAID 10 array, you need four drives. They must all be the same model of drive. The Intel RAID software limits the size of a RAID 10 array that is used as the OS/System drive. It cannot be greater than or equal to 2TB (Two Terabytes.) The four drives used in the RAID 10 array can add up to more than 2TB, but you won't be able to use the extra capacity as part of the RAID 10 array.

Your board has two SATA controllers, the main Intel with six SATA III ports, and the add on ASMedia SATA ports. You cannot use the ASMedia SATA ports with the Intel SATA ports to create a RAID array. Your four drives MUST be connected to the Intel SATA ports.

Please study the first guide, and then ask questions. You can go into either of the RAID creation tools and get a feel for how they work. You must have drives connected to the PC in order to practice going through the creation process. You can always try creating the RAID arrays, and deleting them for practice, or if something is not right.

What drives are you planning on using?

I have an ASROCK z97 Extreme 6 motherboard. I do not have an installation disk. I used the easy driver download to USB in the bios. I am lost from there.

I cannot find any step by step instructions after downloading. I looked at the website and found a list of drivers to download for my motherboard. Unfortunately none of them appreared to be RAID drivers.

I want to install Windows 10 64-bit on a RAID 10.

Please help. Thank you!