GT80 SSD drive died, options ?

Question

my 5 month old GT80 had a SSD drive failure and it will no longer boot, the BIOS only sees 1 of the 2 SSD drives.
was wondering if it would be possible to rebuild a new SSD array using RAID 1, so that if one drive fails again .. the other drive will still function.

Answer 1

Quote from: xamax_in_dc on 22-May-15, 02:34:17
... that is great news. what would be the choices in the bios I would need to choose to setup the new drives that way? I have been advised that I would also need to disable secure boot to reinstall the OS. ...
Hi Michael,
I can share the main steps but not the details because we're using Windows 7 and therefore the old-style "legacy" version of the BIOS. This also means we're using the "legacy" version of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) Option ROM. If I'm not mistaken, the Intel IRST is probably integrated into the UEFI version of the system BIOS that you're using with Windows 8.1.
Both the legacy and UEFI versions affect the same settings in the Titan's CMOS. But the legacy versions, unfortunately, have less features. You'll definitely want to stay with Win 8.1 and the UEFI BIOS if you want to overclock or use some of the newer features that were never ported to the legacy interface.
So here are the steps, in principle:
1 - From the Titan system BIOS, set the "SATA Mode Selection" to "RAID". The system BIOS is invoked by pressing and holding the Delete key (below the Insert key) during bootup.
2 - From the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) Option ROM, use the "Create a RAID Volume" menu command to create a Recovery Volume. If you're given a choice to set the frequency that the Recovery Volume will be updated, set it to "Continuous" so it will behave like a RAID-1 mirror.
Note: A RAID Volume may still be configured in your IRST settings since you originally had a striped RAID-0 array. You may need to delete this volume first before you can create the new one for the Recovery Volume.
With the "legacy" version of the IRST and BIOS, the Titan boot sequence goes like this: First the IRST screen appears to notify you if all drivers are enabled and working properly. While this screen is displayed, we have to quickly press Ctrl + I to launch the IRST Option ROM so we can create the RAID volume and configure the Recovery Volume. I believe the UEFI system is different and you may access the IRST from inside it (the same place where the system BIOS settings are controlled).
For help, my advice is that you contact the MSI distributor where you purchased your Titan. If they're good, they may know how to do this and may even do it for you. Depending on your location in the world, you may be contacting them anyway to get your bad SSD replaced. Since you've had your Titan for only 5 months, it should still be under warranty.
Here's a Tip: When you partition your SSDs, only partition 90% of their capacity. Leave 10% unpartitioned. Why? Because SSDs use "wear leveling" to prevent premature failure due to over-use of some sectors. Leaving part of the SSD unused, allows the wear leveling system to use it as needed to replace sectors that begin to go bad. It also helps keep your SSD running with top performance. Without it, your SSDs will gradually slow over their life.
We've built lots of computers and configured many RAID arrays. But we're late to the SSD scene and wanted to get off on the right foot. So we purchased our GT80 Titan-001 in the U.S. from Xotic PC. They configured the RAID arrays for us. That way the system could be tested as intended before delivery. They did an excellent job and we highly recommend them.
Buying a Replacement M.2 SSD
This is new to most of us and if you're not careful, you can purchase the wrong thing. Our Titans are designed to use an M.2 SATA-3 SSD with a 2280 size (22 mm wide x 80 mm long). It's edge connector must be keyed with both a "B" key and an "M" key. These "keys" are simply slots in the edge connector which identify the type of device to the Titan. Both the 2280 size and the keys are very important because M.2 SATA-3 SSDs also come in other sizes and some have only one of the two keys required by the Titan.
If you have to purchase your own M.2 SSD, the first thing to do is to remove your defective one so you'll see what it looks like. All four M.2 slots are located under the Titan's top cover. You remove two screws on the bottom of the Titan case to release the top cover. Then slide the top cover to the right (as you face the front of the Titan) and lift it away. It will slide very easily if you've removed the correct two screws (they're identified with a small HD/RAM symbol---one is in the rear left corner as you face the upside-down Titan's bottom cover and the other is located next to the subwoofer grille).
There is much confusion about the M.2 standard (we only recently figured it out, ourselves). You'll see the MSI literature refer to them as mSATA slots which is incorrect. The mSATA standard came first and is still in use. The M.2 is a new standard that improves on mSATA---but it is not mSATA. Both mSATA and M.2 can accommodate a variety of interfaces from PCIe to SATA. All four of the M.2 slots in the Titan are SATA-3 which means they are also backward compatible with SATA-1 and SATA-2. But you probably won't see any M.2 SSDs that use these older, slower SATA standards because M.2 is so new.
What makes both mSATA and M.2 different from the SSDs made to replace conventional 2.5" HDs in standard SATA bays of notebooks is that the mSATA and M.2 have no case---their circuitry and memory chips are exposed. The goal is to make SSDs and other devices that use mSATA and M.2 smaller and easier to cool than the old 2.5" form factor. That way they fit in ever smaller and thinner devices. M.2, as the newest standard, offers the greatest variety in size (both smaller and larger) and better utilization of its size and layout. When MSI chose M.2, they chose the newest, most advanced of these standards.
But we've discovered one (to us) serious drawback for M.2 SSDs: The largest M.2 SSD that you can presently get for the 2280 size is 512 GB. We desperately wanted a 1 TB capacity (which is available for mSATA) but it simply isn't available for a 2280 M.2---yet. If you're using a striped RAID-0 array, this is not a problem---you can combine four 512 GB M.2 SSDs into an MSI Super RAID 3 configuration in the Titan and have a 2 TB drive! But striped RAID is way too risky for our application so we're sticking with mirrored RAID-1 because it provides the protection and quick recovery that we need. Our consolation is that, with four M.2 slots, we can have two mirrored RAID-1 arrays and we'll eventually replace the second one with two 512 GB SSDs to get our 1 TB total capacity (a 512 GB RAID-1 in "Recovery" mode for drive "C" and a 512 GB standard RAID-1 for drive "D").
But that's not all: Not many folks know this---but you can also get a RAID case for a 2.5" SATA bay. It has the same size as a 2.5" hard drive case and it holds two mSATA SSDs. Since you can get mSATA SSDs in 1 TB capacities, you could create a 1 TB mirrored RAID-1 array for the 2.5" bay that is also solid state. So, if your application requires the protection of mirrored RAID and you need all possible capacity, you could achieve a total mirrored storage of 2 TB using three arrays in the Titan.
Kind regards, David