Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)
Intel® VROC is an enterprise RAID solution that unleashes the performance of NVMe SSDs, 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. 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 and NVMe RAID arrays
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® processors that enable a seamless transition to fast NVMe storage to maximize CPU access to data, without a disruption in storage functionality.
Performance Highlights
Intel® VROC is an integrated RAID solution that scales with NVMe SSDs to deliver extraordinary performance, over 6.4M IOPS. Intel® VROC performance is consistently better than RAID HBA, delivering up to 165% more IOPS, up to 62% lower latency and up to 155% better power efficiency.1
Intel® VROC compared to RAID HBA
Performance
165%
increase
Latency
62%
reduction
Power Efficiency
155%
better
Performance
165%
increase
Latency
62%
reduction
Power Efficiency
155%
better
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, 3, 4 and 5)
- 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](/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/images/2022-07/icon-rack-server-level1.png.rendition.intel.web.128.96.png)
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.
![Boot RAID](/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/images/2022-07/product-specs-level1.png.rendition.intel.web.128.96.png)
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.
Out Of Band Management
Retrieve drive inventory, monitor drive/RAID volume state and trigger RAID create/delete and LED management
![High performance storage](/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/images/2022-07/product-specs-level1.png.rendition.intel.web.128.96.png)
SED Key Management
Secure sensitive data volumes with Self Encrypting Drives and boot from a RAID volume or a single drive
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
- RAID1 Only: RAID 1
Support
Installation and Configuration
Documentation and Troubleshooting
Access the latest product information and documentation for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU.