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Threadripper-Feature

When AMD launched Threadripper dorsum in early August, it promised that support for some features, like NVMe RAID, would get in at a later fourth dimension. As of now, drivers to enable NVMe RAID are now available for RAID 0, one, and x (aka 1+0) configurations. This a pregnant selling point for AMD's X399 chipset if you're in the marketplace for this kind of ultra high-end storage configuration, given that Intel locks off the capability.

This NVMe RAID support is carve up from conventional SATA RAID arrays built via the X399 chipset. NVMe RAID hangs directly off the CPU'due south PCI Limited lanes. Upwardly to three M.2 drives tin can be used to create an array, and upwardly to six NVMe drives total if y'all use a single GPU and dedicate the other PCI Express lanes to the job, as shown in the X399 chipset diagram below:

Threadripper-Platform2

This differs from what Intel plans to offer in several respects. While Intel has talked about a new storage option called VROC (Virtual RAID on CPU), the company hasn't divulged much data nearly how it works. Tech Report states VROC volition only be compatible with Intel-brand SSDs, and that you'll have to pay for the feature, with an additional fee on top of the first if you want RAID v back up. Granted, nigh people probably don't want RAID five back up, but charging twice for VROC to enable NVMe RAID support isn't going to sit well with customers who are already paying a premium for X299 motherboards and Skylake-SP CPUs. No such restrictions are in identify on AMD'south side of the equation, though there are a few things to be aware of.

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From AMD'due south back up site:

Users with an existing RAID assortment cannot perform an in-place driver or BIOS upgrade to add NVMe RAID support to their system;

Users with an existing SATA RAID configuration must back upward data on the SATA RAID array, and suspension down that array, earlier proceeding with any BIOS update or driver installation containing NVMe RAID support;

If the existing SATA RAID array is a bootable configuration with an operating organization, then a fresh install of Windows x volition be required;

A motherboard BIOS update is required to support NVMe RAID. After updating to a supporting BIOS, the disk configuration must exist changed to RAID (from SATA or AHCI). This BIOS carte entry is often labeled "SATA Mode" or "SATA Configuration."

Performance looks to scale well, provided y'all demand 21.2GB/south of read performance and eleven.5GB/south writes. And then again, every bit esoteric as storage workloads that crave this much firepower are, there are occasionally individuals that do good from them. If you lot're shooting 4K video or higher, this kind of storage performance probably still comes in handy.