nvme Hardware Raid installation and configuration
by Dimension1 from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5KHP2)
OS: Ubuntu 20.04
Motherboard: TUF X570
Processor: AMD Ryzen 3900x
Raid controller: ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 Gen 4 Card
To start, I have installed the Raid controller with 4 2TB nvmes. I have enabled PCIe RAID Mode in the BIOS and booted into Linux. NOTE: These drives are not for a Linux OS drive install, but other uses.
lspci -vv |grep -i raid
does not return any results
fdisk -l
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 488378646 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme1n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 488378646 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme2n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme3n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Outside of the fact I need to fix the I/O size, I am missing something basic. I have setup a software raid using madm in the past. However, It is my understanding this is supposed to be a hardware raid device. Is that not correct? Is there something else that needs to be setup in bios or linux? What are the steps I need to take to setup a hardware based RAID 0 array for these drives? The reason I am confused is that lspci does not return a hardware RAID device, should it? Also, if I use madm to setup the drives, isn't that a software RAID configuration? If so, then how do I take advantage of this hardware RAID device other than having the 4 drives show up in linux? NOTE: They do show up as PCIe SSDs. The controller is installed in a PCIe slot with 4 nvme drives on it. I feel that if I use madm and setup a software raid configuration, I am not utilizing the speed and other benefits of a hardware raid device. Am I missing something here or does linux not recognize this device as a hardware raid device? Is there something I can do to make it recognize it has a hardware raid device or other ways to check for it? Please assist in properly setting up a hardware RAID 0 configuration, if possible with this hardware.
Motherboard: TUF X570
Processor: AMD Ryzen 3900x
Raid controller: ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 Gen 4 Card
To start, I have installed the Raid controller with 4 2TB nvmes. I have enabled PCIe RAID Mode in the BIOS and booted into Linux. NOTE: These drives are not for a Linux OS drive install, but other uses.
lspci -vv |grep -i raid
does not return any results
fdisk -l
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 488378646 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme1n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 488378646 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme2n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme3n1: 1.84 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: PCIe SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Outside of the fact I need to fix the I/O size, I am missing something basic. I have setup a software raid using madm in the past. However, It is my understanding this is supposed to be a hardware raid device. Is that not correct? Is there something else that needs to be setup in bios or linux? What are the steps I need to take to setup a hardware based RAID 0 array for these drives? The reason I am confused is that lspci does not return a hardware RAID device, should it? Also, if I use madm to setup the drives, isn't that a software RAID configuration? If so, then how do I take advantage of this hardware RAID device other than having the 4 drives show up in linux? NOTE: They do show up as PCIe SSDs. The controller is installed in a PCIe slot with 4 nvme drives on it. I feel that if I use madm and setup a software raid configuration, I am not utilizing the speed and other benefits of a hardware raid device. Am I missing something here or does linux not recognize this device as a hardware raid device? Is there something I can do to make it recognize it has a hardware raid device or other ways to check for it? Please assist in properly setting up a hardware RAID 0 configuration, if possible with this hardware.