ROM: Intel RAID ROMs v11.5/11.6 may open TRIM for RAID0

[Fernando]

Since last week there is a new RAID ROM version of the Intel RST(e) v11.5 series available (credit goes to btester). It is v11.5.0.1414 and can be downloaded from >here< or directly from here:

Intel_RSTe_RAID_ROM_v11.5.0.1414.7z

(58.91 Kio) Téléchargé 1075 fois

It seems to me, that this new RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 in combination with the newest Intel RST(e) drivers of the v11.5 branch (actual: v11.5.0.1184) may be able to support the TRIM command under Win8 even for SSD's, which are members of an Intel RAID0 array.

This is what Intel had written in August 2011 within the "Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 11.5.0.1109 Alpha Version Release Notes":

This release will not enable the TRIM on RAID0 feature, but it will be added in the next RST 11.5 release.

That statement was hard to believe, because the TRIM command is an ATA one, but the Intel RST(e) drivers are working with an additional SCSI filter driver named iaStorF.sys, which usually shows all connected HDD's/SSD's as SCSI Disk Devices.

After having flashed the Intel RST(e) ROM v11.5.0.1414 into the BIOS chip of my ASUS P8Z68-V and after having installed the Intel RST(e) drivers v11.5.0.1184 onto both Operating Systems Win7 x64 and Win x64, which are running within the RAID0 array, I was very surprised after having done a deeper look into the Win8 Device Managers.
Here are the screenshots:

Win8 Device Manager - driver details of the RAID0 drive running RSTe v11.5.0.1184.png (383.12 Kio) Vu 9794 fois

Win8 Device Manager - driver details of the Intel SATA RAID Controller running RSTe v11.5.0.1184.png (375.35 Kio) Vu 9794 fois

Conclusions:

1. The combination Intel RST(e) RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 + Intel RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 drivers obviously prevents, that the OS Win8 addresses the drives inclusive the Intel RAID0 as SCSI Disk Device.
2. Windows 8 is able to run the Intel RST(e) drivers of the v11.5 series without directly using the SCSI filter driver iaStorF.sys (It is not even within the Windows\System32\Drivers folder!).

Regards
Fernando

[Fernando]

Just for a better comparison here are the pictures of my Win7 Device Manager after having flashed the Intel RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 und installed the Intel RSTe drivers v11.5.0.1184:

Win7 Device Manager - driver details of the RAID0 drive running RSTe v11.5.0.1184.png (212.76 Kio) Vu 9792 fois

Win7 Device Manager - driver details of the Intel SATA RAID Controller running RSTe v11.5.0.1184.png (223.28 Kio) Vu 9792 fois

[Pacman]

Thank you very much Fernando

Here is v11.5.0.1347 compared to v11.5.0.1414 on my system.
512k really went up, and some other improvements aswell

EDIT: Btw, Fernando may i ask what stripe size do you use for your array?

[Fernando]

Fernando may i ask what stripe size do you use for your array?

The stripe size of my RAID0 array is 128 KB.

By the way - until now my benchmark results are still better while running the 3 months old and very stressed OS Win7 x64 than within the environment of the fresh installed Win8 64.
Here are my Win8 x64 CDM benchmark results with the v11.5.0.1414 OROM and the v11.5.0.1184 drivers dated 07/14/2012:

CDM-Test-14.07.2012_Win8x64_RSTv11.5.0.1184+ROMv11.5.0.1414.png (36.07 Kio) Vu 9760 fois

EDIT:
Things have changed within 24 hours. The performance of my Win8 x64 has increased and is better than ever (maybe due to the TRIM support?).
Here are my actual CDM benchmark results in the Win8 x64 environment dated 07/15/2012:

CDM-Test_15.07.2012_Win8x64_RSTv11.5.0.1184+ROMv11.5.0.1414.png (37.44 Kio) Vu 9703 fois

[Pacman]

Fernando may i ask what stripe size do you use for your array?

The stripe size of my RAID0 array is 128 KB.

Ok, have never tried that stripe size, gonna try that, i have 32K now.
I have to try with Win 7, i have never installed it on this RAID setup.

[Stress]

@ Fernando:

I read your posts several times and I think I understand now what you are saying:

Using the combination of Intel RST(e) RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 + Intel RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 drivers under windows 8 it appears that the windows trim command may be passed to the SSD's in a Raid0 array on an intel controller because the trim command is an ATA feature and the raid0 array is presented as an ATA device.

But under Window 7 (using whatever combination of ROM and drivers) drives, including raid0 arrays, on an intel controller are SCSI devices and the windows trim command may not necessarily be passed to SSD's in a raid array because the drives are presented as SCSI devices and the trim command is an ATA feature.

I found that the help file/Getting Started page for RST 11.2.0.1006 WQHL stated that the trim command was pased to SSD's in raid0 arrays under windows 7. The help file/Getting Started page for RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 has similar language but doesn't stipulate windows 7 as the specific applicable operating system, maybe because RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 is a windows 8 Beta driver? I wonder if Intel got sloppy with the RST 11.2.0.1006 WQHL help file/Getting Started page and made a mistake about the trim statement. What do you think?

I haven't run any benches, but it seems that the SSD raid0 array on my ASUS P7P55D-E LX runs faster with the combination of Intel RST(e) RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 + Intel RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 drivers than with the combination of Intel RST(e) RAID ROM v11.5.0.1347 + Intel RST v11.2.0.1006 WQHL drivers.

Stress

[Fernando]

I read your posts several times and I think I understand now what you are saying:
Using the combination of Intel RST(e) RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414 + Intel RST(e) v11.5.0.1184 drivers under windows 8 it appears that the windows trim command may be passed to the SSD's in a Raid0 array on an intel controller because the trim command is an ATA feature and the raid0 array is presented as an ATA device.
But under Window 7 (using whatever combination of ROM and drivers) drives, including raid0 arrays, on an intel controller are SCSI devices and the windows trim command may not necessarily be passed to SSD's in a raid array because the drives are presented as SCSI devices and the trim command is an ATA feature.

That is exactly, what I meant. The appropriate command for SCSI disk devices would be UNMAP, but Windows 7 is not able to send it to the SSD.

I wonder if Intel got sloppy with the RST 11.2.0.1006 WQHL help file/Getting Started page and made a mistake about the trim statement. What do you think?

AFAIK all RST Console versions of the v11 series contain this statement regarding the Trim support of RAID0 arrays, but I do not believe that. Maybe Intel has already prepared the software for future versions and simply did forget to remove this sentence.

[Fernando]

Just to show the performance increase of my Win8 x64 after the clean OS installation and the use of the RSTe drivers v11.5.0.1184 in combination with the Intel RST(e) ROM v11.5.0.1414 here are 2 AS SSD benchmark results:

1. Benchmark dated 12. July 2012 (after the fresh Win8 x64 installation):

AS-SSD-Test_12.07.2012_Win8x64_RSTv11.5.0.1184+ROMv11.5.0.1414.png (43.47 Kio) Vu 9700 fois

2. Benchmark dated 15. July 2012 (after 3 days of heavy OS activies like benchmark tests):

AS-SSD-Test_15.07.2012_Win8x64_RSTv11.5.0.1184+ROMv11.5.0.1414.png (41.67 Kio) Vu 9700 fois

[Stress]

@Fernando

[quote="Fernando"]

1. Benchmark dated 12. July 2012 (after the fresh Win7 x64 installation):

Don't you mean after the fresh Win8 x64 istallation? I was a little confused.

Very interesting benches to compare, big improvement in 4K write and improvements in almost every other category. Wow.

Stress

[Fernando]

@ Stress:

You are right - that was a typo, which I have already corrected.
Thanks for your feedback!

Regards
Fernando

[Pacman]

Ok, have never tried that stripe size, gonna try that, i have 32K now.
I have to try with Win 7, i have never installed it on this RAID setup.

I just remembered i did used 128K the first time i tried RAID with these drives,
anyway i have 128K now, much better than 32K.
Here are screenshots of Win 7 x64 SP1 and win 8 x64 fresh installations using 11.5.0.1414 ROM
and 11.5.0.1184 drivers.

[Fernando]

@ pacman:

Thanks for your contribution and the interesting benchmark results after the fresh installation of Win7 SP1 x64 and Win8 x64 onto your system using the RST(e) drivers v11.5.0.1184 in combination with the Intel RAID ROM v11.5.0.1414.
Since our systems are quite similar, it will be very interesting to see the performance increase/decrease of both Operating Systems after having stressed them for a while with intensive write and delete activities.
Additional question:
Your CDM test results show, that your Operating Systems are both on a 238 GB partition. How did you manage it with a 2x120GB RAID0 array? Did you install both of them onto the same partition?

Regards
Fernando

[Pacman]

Additional question:
Your CDM test results show, that your Operating Systems are both on a 238 GB partition. How did you manage it with a 2x120GB RAID0 array? Did you install both of them onto the same partition?

Yes, i replaced Win7 with Win8, but i will set up dual boot, because some applications i use that work in 7 do not work in 8, for example ReBirth.
I'm going to set this up tonight, after that i will be happy to some stresstesting

[Pacman]

@Fernando
I ordered a Asus Sabertooth Z77, will get it tomorrow.
Anyway i wanted to mod the latest bios, so that when i get it i can flash it right away: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA ... S-1304.zip
But i noticed that when you load the bios, there is no option for Device id 8086_2822 but there is 8086_282a i assume that is the intel RAID OROM, can this ROM still be used?
Would really appreciate any help.

[Fernando]

i noticed that when you load the bios, there is no option for Device id 8086_2822 but there is 8086_282a i assume that is the intel RAID OROM, can this ROM still be used?

Yes, the Intel RAID ROM modules for Desktop PCs with an "Intel(R) Desktop/Workstation/Server Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller" (DEV2822) and for Laptops with an "Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller" (DEV282a) are identical. An ASUS worker obviously has done a typo, when he/she inserted the ROM module into the BIOS.
You can replace that PCI ROM module without changing the name of the file you are going to insert.