Intel V MD
The Intel VMD (Volume Management Device) is a storage controller with hardware logic inside the CPU that helps manage and group (cluster) NVMe SSDs. It is located in the PCIe root complex. For the OS, this is an integrated endpoint to NVMe SSDs connected directly to the CPU or indirectly through the motherboard's PCH south bridge. Instead of allowing the OS to discover individual drives on the PCIe bus and load its own instance of the driver for each, VMD masks them by providing access to a single, unified driver. For NVMe SSDs, the VMD controller acts as an HBA host bus adapter for SATA/SAS.
Intel VROC
Intel's VROC (Virtual RAID on CPU) is implemented on top of VMD - a simple option for organizing RAID arrays of levels 0, 1, 5 and 10 with NVMe SSDs without third-party hardware or software. Intel VMD and Intel VROC drivers are shipped together as part of an enterprise data storage stack. In Windows and Linux environments, these packages also provide the ability to control disk tray LEDs and hot-swap drives. To configure and manage RAID, the standard Linux mdadm utility is used, which loads part of the CPU cores. The RAID calculation algorithm is the same for all media types.
Starting in 2019, Intel extended the VROC name to a family of three subproducts:
- VMD NVMe - RAID for platforms on processors with VMD
- SATA RAID - formerly known as Intel RST, RAID on SATA drives connected to PCH
- Non-VMD NVMe RAID – for platforms with CPUs without VMD
When configuring Intel VROC, it automatically detects the hardware (CPU/chipset) present in the system and enables the corresponding support product.
Processors with VMD
VMD is available in the following server processors: Intel Xeon Scalable (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generation), Intel Xeon W, Intel Xeon D. To activate VROC NVMe RAID, you need to buy a VROC hardware key. There are three types:
- Standard (VROCSTANMOD) with boot RAID support, and RAID 0/1/10 for any SSD
- Premium (VROCPREMMOD) with support for boot RAID and RAID 0/1/5/10 for any SSD
- Intel SSD Only (VROCISSDMOD) with support for boot RAID and RAID 0/1/5/10 for Intel SSDs
VROC Premium can be activated in trial mode programmatically for 90 days - a period sufficient to order a hardware key in the Intel channel. For VROC SATA RAID and VROC non-VMD RAID, the license is already included in the chipset.
From Intel's point of view, the server owner has to pay for the comfort of VROC NVMe RAID: choose an (expensive) Intel platform and buy an activation license key. There is nothing special to take from PC owners with their poor exercises under Windows 10/11 - at least it will be in vain.
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