Key Features of Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID for Windows*
Content Type: Product Information & Documentation | Article ID: 000101178 | Last Reviewed: 06/02/2025
The Intel® VROC family of products is comprised of several components that provide a complete platform solution. The following is a list of the key features that are supported on the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) sub-product. To learn about the key features supported by other Intel® VROC sub-products, refer to the following resources:
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Learn about the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) key features in the following resources:
With the introduction of the Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors family, one of the key features included is the Intel® VMD technology. Intel® VMD is an integrated PCIe endpoint within the CPU root complex. The class code for the Intel® VMD device is a RAID controller. Learn more about Intel® VMD in Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) RAID Management Controller for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC).
With the introduction of Intel® VMD, and with that, Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID), one of the key features is the ability to install an operating system to and boot from a RAID volume. A key component in this feature is the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) UEFI drivers. Learn more about these drivers in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID Pre-OS RAID Management Environment.
The Intel® VROC Graphical User Interface (GUI) application presents all Intel® VMD domains in the system under a single header marked as Intel® VROC. The individual NVMe* SSDs will be displayed and associated with the Intel® VMD domain controller it is attached to. For example: NVMe SSD on Controller 0 would be an NVMe* Solid-State Drive (SSD) plugged into the Intel® VMD controller 0. Learn about the common features and functionality Intel® VROC offers for RAID monitoring and management in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Technical Product Specification for Windows* (refer to the section Common Features).
To learn about how to install and use the Intel® VROC GUI application, refer to the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Graphical User Interface (GUI) Getting Started Guide.
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package supports several operational SKUs (or modes) of the platform. Learn about the main features of each operational SKU in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID Modes of Operation for RAID Support.
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package supports RAID volume management from NVMe* drives connected to a single Intel® VMD domain or to multiple Intel® VMD domains (known as Intel® VMD spanning). Learn how the Intel® VMD domains work in Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) Domain Capabilities for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC).
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package supports several combinations of NVMe* drives, switches, arrays and RAID volumes per Intel® VMD domain. Learn about the maximum hardware configurations allowed in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID Maximum Hardware Configurations Supported.
There are some considerations to keep in mind when using the hot-plug feature supported by the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) sub-product. To learn more about these considerations, refer to the sections for Hot-Insert and Surprise Hot-Plug available in the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Limitations in Windows* Environments.
Intel® VROC OOB management was introduced in Intel® VROC 8.0. This feature is supported only by the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package. An overview of this feature is explained in New Features Introduced with the Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) 8.0 Release for Windows*.
The Intel® VROC configuration tools (Pre-OS HII, Intel® VROC GUI and Intel® VROC CLI) will automatically select the strip size to help maximize the NVMe* SSDs wear leveling when creating RAID 5 volumes. Learn about the default and recommended strip size values for RAID 5 volumes in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID Optimized Wear Leveling for RAID 5 Volumes.
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package comes with a 90-day trial period that will enable Intel® VROC Premium mode (in Windows* only) for data volumes without requiring an Intel® VROC upgrade key. This allows the user to test and experience the Intel® VROC Premium mode for 90 days. Learn more about the Intel® VROC trial period in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Trial Period in Windows* Environments.
If the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) driver is downgraded to a previous version, the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) volumes will be maintained (not broken). When the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) driver is upgraded to the latest release, any of the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) volumes will remain fully operational. Any exceptions to this will be clearly outlined in the Intel® VROC release notes.
Consult the Intel® VROC release notes in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) Release Notes for Windows*.
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package supports the ability to preload the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) operating system drivers when Intel® VMD is disabled. This allows for the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) driver to be loaded into the platform, by the Intel® VROC installation application, when Intel® VMD is disabled. Later, when Intel® VMD is enabled, the Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) driver can be installed/updated without having to re-run the Intel® VROC installation application.
The Intel® VROC (VMD NVMe* RAID) package supports the ability for the user to adjust how much CPU utilization can be used by the Intel® VROC RAID engine. Learn more about this feature in Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) VMD NVMe* RAID Manual Tuning of CPU Utilization.