How can I create a single RAID volume with a single HDD?

I have an i7 3770k, Asus P8Z77-Pro and two drives. An SSD 120Gb and a regular HDD 500Gb.

I'm interesting in using the SSD with the Intel's Smart Response technology.

As stated in the requirements:

Intel® Z68/Z77/H77/Q77 Express Chipset-based desktop board
Intel® Core™ Processor in the LGA 1155 package System BIOS with SATA mode set to RAID
Intel Rapid Storage Technology software 10.5 version release or later
Single hard disk drive or multiple drives in a single RAID volume
Solid State Drive (SSD) with a minimum capacity of 18.6GB
Operating system: Microsoft Windows Vista* (32-bit and 64-bit editions), Microsoft Windows 7* (32-bit and 64-bit editions)

The raid utility (Intel Rapid Storage Technology rom utility) only allow me to create raid 0 with ~250Gb and Raid 1 with ~110Gb (which seem normal). No option to create a Single Raid Volume with a Single HDD. Also, If I remove the SSD the raid utility is not accessible.

Odys

Posted 2012-09-15T09:48:18.570

Reputation: 1 455

Answers

The core notion of RAID is to use multiple hard drives (to achieve different purposes depending on the type of RAID you want). RAID with a single drive just doesn't make any sense.

The Intel doc is a bit ambiguous, but it really says
(Single hard disk drive) or (multiple drives in a single RAID volume),
and not
(Single hard disk drive or multiple drives) in a single RAID volume.

m4573r

Posted 2012-09-15T09:48:18.570

Reputation: 5 051

True, no such thing as a RAID without at least 2 disks. The intel tech writer was probably tired and QC just for signature-checks. – Overmind – 2018-02-16T09:01:40.000

That is something Intel says in the requirements. There must be a meaning behind it. Also, there are lots of Smart Response examples in the internet that use one HDD and an SSD. – Odys – 2012-09-15T10:01:16.403

@Odys RAID is about redundancy across disks. It makes no sense to create a single-disk JBOD 'array' or a degraded RAID1 array. – gertvdijk – 2012-09-15T10:02:51.573

2@Odys - what Intel are getting at is that the SSD can only be used against a single volume. That single volume can be a single, normal disk, or multiple disks presented as a single volume through RAID. It clearly says "or". There is no way of doing RAID on a single disk because the A in RAID indicates more than one (Array). – Mark Henderson – 2012-09-15T10:03:40.690

1Using both your SSD and your normal drive in a RAID is possible (but in your case not useful at all, unless you want a mirrored set, but you'll lose a lot of space and probably speed). But your question is how to create a RAID using a single drive, which is simply not possible. The Intel doc is a bit ambiguous, but it really says "(Single hard disk drive) or (multiple drives in a single RAID volume)". – m4573r – 2012-09-15T10:05:22.000

I think you might be mis-reading what Intel have written:

Single hard disk drive or multiple drives in a single RAID volume

This is ambiguous, because it could mean:

Single Hard Disk Drive
Multiple Drives in a Single RAID Volume

Single Hard Disk Drive OR Multiple Drives
In a RAID Volume.

They mean the first one. It is impossible to do RAID on a single disk, because the A in RAID requires more than one.

What Intel is implying is that the SSD can be used against a single volume. That volume can be a RAID set, or a single normal disk.

Mark Henderson

Posted 2012-09-15T09:48:18.570

Reputation: 5 956

The "Multiple drives in a single RAID volume" could mean it does NOT have the capability of creating multiple RAID volumes.

A RAID volume and HDD are presented to the OS as the same thing, a block device.

So in the end, for simplicity, think of it as "Single Hard Disk Drive" OR "Single RAID Volume"

Damon

Posted 2012-09-15T09:48:18.570

Reputation: 1 789