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Overview of Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)

Content Type: Product Information & Documentation   |   Article ID: 000089796   |   Last Reviewed: 02/06/2025

Environment

Intel® VROC

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 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 that includes:

  • 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.
Intel® VROC Product Brief Read the product brief to learn more about Intel® VROC.

Intel® VROC Family

The Intel® VROC family of products provides enterprise RAID solutions for both NVMe* and SATA devices for the enterprise servers, workstations, and some high-end desktops. The product family includes the following three products:

  • Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID): Provides an enterprise RAID solution on platforms that support Intel® VMD technology on Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors. Intel® VMD must be enabled.
  • Intel® VROC (SATA RAID): Provides an enterprise RAID solution for SATA devices connected to all SATA controllers on the Intel Platform Control Hub (PCH) configured for RAID mode.
  • Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID): Provides an enterprise RAID solution for Intel NVMe* SSDs attached to PCIe slots managed by the platform CPU. Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) is not intended for, nor supports:
    • Non-Intel NVMe* SSDs.
    • Platforms that have Intel CPUs that contain Intel® VMD technology (whether enabled or disabled).

Intel® VROC is a high-level blanket product reference for Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID), Intel® VROC (SATA RAID) and Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID). Although these three products are provided in a single product package, they can be installed and used independently. For example (unless otherwise restricted by the platform itself), Intel® VMD is not required to enable and use Intel® VROC (SATA RAID). Likewise, Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) can be enabled and used without Intel® VROC (SATA RAID).

The Intel® VROC software installer will automatically detect the hardware (CPU/chipset) present on a system and enable the applicable sub-products.

Intel® VROC Family Notes
  • Intel® VROC (Non-VMD NVMe* RAID) is no longer included in the Intel® VROC software package for Windows*. If support for this sub-product is required, use the Intel® VROC 7.x release family.
  • The Birch Stream platform uses a PCH removal/chipset-less architecture. Enabling Intel® VROC (SATA RAID) will now require the addition of a Montage* I/O Hub (IOH) card.

Functionality

Intel® VROC provides RAID management through the BIOS that will allow for creation of RAID volumes using SATA or NVMe* drives as the vendor equipment allows. Configuration for each will be specified more directly within the documentation provided by the system vendor. The Intel® VROC Command-Line Interface (CLI) tools, as well as the Intel® VROC Graphical User Interface (GUI) for Windows*, enable the management of RAID volumes on NVMe* SSDs attached to PCI Express slots managed by the Intel® VMD controller via Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) on Intel® VMD supported platforms, as well as RAID management provided for SATA drives connected to the Intel® PCH in RAID mode via Intel® VROC (SATA RAID).

Support on Intel® X299 HEDT Platforms Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) support on Intel® X299 High-End Desktop (HEDT) platforms is restricted to Intel NVMe* SSDs only. This is a platform limitation. As a result, when Intel® VROC is installed onto an Intel® X299 HEDT platform, the user will only see Intel NVMe* SSDs plugged into the platform. Using Intel® VROC on Intel® X299 HEDT platforms is not recommended. See details in Announcement: Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Support on X299 Platforms.

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.

Intel® Xeon® Processors Learn more about the product details of Intel® Xeon® processors.

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.

Supported Configurations

Intel® VROC supports several SSDs and system configurations. See more details in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Supported Configurations.

This information covers what the Intel® VROC software can support. Platform level constraints may supersede the information referenced there.

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 (SED) and boot from a RAID volume or a single drive.
What you should know about the Intel® VROC package System vendors may customize the Intel® VROC package for their specific platforms. Reference your OEM for a full list of available feature sets. If any of the information in these resources conflict with the support information provided by the platform OEM, the platform documentation and configurations take precedence. Customers should always contact the place of purchase or the system/software manufacturer with support questions about their specific hardware or software configuration. See more information in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Technical Support for End Customers.

License Required

Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) is a licensed product available on certain Intel® Xeon® processors. Product functionality must be enabled by server system vendors. Contact your vendor for purchasing details. Licensing implementations and options may vary.

No licensing is needed for Intel® VROC (SATA RAID). Functionality is included with the Intel® Xeon® and chipset purchase.

See more details in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) SKUs and Licensing.

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