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 5.7M IOPS. Intel® VROC performance is consistently better than RAID HBA, delivering up to 66% more IOPS, up to 40% lower latency and up to 62% better power efficiency.1
Intel® VROC compared to RAID HBA
Performance
66%
Higher
Latency
40%
Lower
Power Efficiency
62%
Better
Performance
66%
Higher
Latency
40%
Lower
Power Efficiency
62%
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, and 4)
- 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.
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
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
Support
Installation and Configuration
Documentation and Troubleshooting
Access the latest product information and documentation for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU.