307013-003 Datasheet, PDF (193/848 Pages) Intel Corporation – Intel I/O Controller Hub 7

Functional Description
5.17.2
Note:
5.17.3
If software clears bit 7 of the control register before performing a read, the last item
written will be returned from the FIFO. If software sets bit 7 of the control register
before performing a read, the first item written will be returned from the FIFO.
SATA Swap Bay Support
Dynamic Hot-Plug (e.g., surprise removal) is not supported by the SATA host controller
without special support from AHCI and the proper board hardware. However, the ICH7
does provide for basic SATA swap bay support using the PSC register configuration bits
and power management flows. A device can be powered down by software and the port
can then be disabled, allowing removal and insertion of a new device.
This SATA swap bay operation requires board hardware (implementation specific),
BIOS, and operating system support.
Intel^® Matrix Storage Technology Configuration (Intel^®
ICH7R, ICH7DH, and ICH7-M DH Only)
The Intel^® Matrix Storage Technology offers several diverse options for RAID
(redundant array of independent disks) to meet the needs of the end user. AHCI
support provides higher performance and alleviates disk bottlenecks by taking
advantage of the independent DMA engines that each SATA port offers in ICH7.
• RAID Level 0 performance scaling up to 4 drives, enabling higher throughput for
data intensive applications such as video editing.
• Data security is offered thru RAID Level 1, which performs mirroring.
• RAID Level 10 (ICH7R/ICH7DH only) provides high levels of storage performance
with data protection, combining the fault-tolerance of RAID Level 1 with the
performance of RAID Level 0. By striping RAID Level 1 segments, high I/O rates
can be achieved on systems that require both performance and fault-tolerance.
RAID Level 10 requires 4 hard drives, and provides the capacity of two drives.
• RAID Level 5 (ICH7R/ICH7DH only) provides highly efficient storage while
maintaining fault-tolerance on 3 or more drives. By striping parity, and rotating it
across all disks, fault tolerance of any single drive is achieved while only consuming
1 drive worth of capacity. That is, a 3 drive RAID 5 has the capacity of 2 drives, or
a 4 drive RAID 5 has the capacity of 3 drives. RAID 5 has high read transaction
rates, with a medium write rate. RAID 5 is well suited for applications that require
high amounts of storage while maintaining fault tolerance.
By using the ICH7’s built-in Intel Matrix Storage Technology, there is no loss of PCI
resources (request/grant pair) or add-in card slot.
Intel Matrix Storage Technology is not available in all ICH7 components. ICH7-M DH
supports RAID Level 0, 1. See Section 1.2.
Intel Matrix Storage Technology functionality requires the following items:
1. ICH7 component enabled for Intel Matrix Storage Technology (see Section 1.2)
2. Intel^® Matrix Storage Manager RAID Option ROM must be on the platform
3. Intel^® Matrix Storage Manager drivers, most recent revision.
4. At least two SATA hard disk drives (minimum depends on RAID configuration).
Intel Matrix Storage Technology is not available in the following configurations:
1. The SATA controller in compatible mode.
Intel ^® ICH7 Family Datasheet
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