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Chapter 2: Installation
2-19
2-11 Enabling SATA RAID
Now that the hardware is set up, you must install the operating system and the
SATA RAID drivers, if you wish to use RAID with your SATA drives. The installation
procedure differs depending on whether you wish to have the operating system
installed on a RAID array or on a separate non-RAID drive. See the instructions
below for details.
Serial ATA (SATA)
Serial ATA (SATA) is a physical storage interface that employs a single cable with a
minimum of four wires to create a point-to-point connection between devices. This
connection is a serial link that supports a SATA transfer rate from 150 MBps. The
serial cables used in SATA are thinner than the traditional cables used in Parallel
ATA (PATA) and can extend up to one meter in length, compared to only 40 cm for
PATA cables. Overall, SATA provides better functionality than PATA.
Installing the OS/SATA Driver
Before installing the OS (operating system) and SATA RAID driver, you must decide
if you wish to have the operating system installed as part of a bootable RAID array
or installed to a separate non-RAID hard drive. If on a separate drive, you may
install the driver either during or after the OS installation. If you wish to have the
OS on a SATA RAID array, you must follow the procedure below and install the
driver during the OS installation.
Building a Driver Diskette
You must fi rst build a driver diskette from the Supermicro CD-ROM that was included
with the system. (You will have to create this disk on a computer that is already
running and with the OS installed.) Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive and start
the system. A display as shown in Figure 2-6 will appear. Click on the icon labeled
"Build Driver Diskettes and Manuals" and follow the instructions to create a fl oppy
disk with the driver on it. Once it's been created, remove the fl oppy and insert the
installation CD for the Windows Operating System you wish to install into the CD-
ROM drive of the new system you are about to confi gure.