Article ID: 000057865 Content Type: Troubleshooting Last Reviewed: 07/20/2021

How to Determine Which Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) Ports to Enable

Environment

PCIe* add-in card such as an Intel® RAID Controller or Intel® Ethernet Controller

BUILT IN - ARTICLE INTRO SECOND COMPONENT
Summary

Steps to determine which Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) ports should be enabled for Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC)

Description
  • Do not know which Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) ports should be enabled
  • A PCIe* add-in card such as an Intel® RAID Controller or Intel® Ethernet Controller is not detected in Windows* Device Manager on Intel® Server System with Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) (NVMe* RAID) enabled.
Resolution

Enable Intel® VMD only on the ports that are connected to NVMe* storage devices:

  • Onboard OCuLink ports that are connected to the Hot Swappable Back Plane (HSBP)
  • PCIe* slots on a Riser that has PCIe switches or retimers connected to the HSBP

Disable Intel VMD on all other ports. Otherwise, the corresponding PCIe slots or OCuLink connectors will not function properly for other usage.

Example: An Intel RAID Controller cannot be detected when installed in a PCIe slot with Intel VMD enabled.

Enable/disable the Intel VMD from the UEFI BIOS Menu:

  • Press F2 during system power on.
  • Select -> Advanced -> PCI Configuration - Volume Management Device.

Refer to the Technical Product Specification of your Intel Server Board or Intel Server System to identify the corresponding Riser/Slot or onboard OCuLink port number and further details on Intel VMD.

For example, if the PCIe switch is installed on the top PCIe slot of the riser slot in the middle of the Intel Server Board S2600WF Family, enable VMD ports only for Riser #2 Slot#1.

example image

Related Products

This article applies to 54 products

Intel® Server System LWF1304LNETCENT
Intel® Server Board S2600STK
Intel® Server Board S2600STS