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I am in the market for a new laptop. I'm looking at the Dell M6800 and HP ZBook 17. Both of these laptops can be configured with a RAID 0/1/5 option. Is this hardware RAID or software RAID?

I have a desktop computer with a RAID controller in it. On bootup, I can choose to boot into the RAID controller to configure the array. In addition, after logging into Windows, I can open a web browser and log in to the RAID controller's web interface to see status and configuration. For RAID-1, it lets me rebuild a mirror, verify the mirror's integrity, and scan for media errors.

I am wondering if those laptops offer the same functionality that my desktop RAID controller offers. Can I boot into the laptop's RAID controller (if it is hardware RAID)? Can I use a web browser or other software to see status/configuration, and access features like rebuilding, verifying, and scanning?

The M6800 manual and ZBook manual contain very little about RAID and do not answer my questions.

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  • Most of the time it is software RAID. At least the Dell laptops I have worked with (lattitude E series) came with fake RAID enable in the BIOS for a 1 array (which make no sense compared to JBOD).
    – Hennes
    Sep 20, 2014 at 19:42
  • So what is the reason for the close votes? Sep 20, 2014 at 19:42
  • I am guessing here (no close votes from me), but I suspect that the answer will be in the manual and that most people who VTC'ed suspect a lack of own research.
    – Hennes
    Sep 20, 2014 at 19:43
  • @Hennes Edited the question - the answer is not in the manuals. Sep 20, 2014 at 19:52

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The spec sheet for the M6800 does not show any onboard hardware RAID. However it mention that the use chipset is a mobile Intel QM87 Express which has the following block diagram:

QM87 chipset diagram

Notice the block labels "Intel rapid storage technology with RAID". That one indicates Fake-RAID. (Fake RAID is software RAID but with some assistance int he BIOS. As a result it seems as if you have hardware RAID.).

The same is true for the HP Zbook 17. Spec sheet here.


I am wondering if those laptops offer the same functionality that my desktop RAID controller offers.

No, it will not. Because most of the functionality is software based you will need to boot into an OS with the right drivers before you can manipulate the RAID. (Which is a problem if it is really broken and if you want to repair it).

On the bright side, software RAID can be fast, software RAID with the right drivers and tool installed can be quite useful and it does not need to power an additional RAID controller, which is good for battery life.

(As a reference, the not too fancy RAID card in my desktop draws almost 20 Watt. Trivial for a desktop, not quite insignificant for a laptop.)

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  • Thanks. Do you have any idea how Dell/HP would set up a RAID array if I configured a laptop with it? I'm just wondering if I bought a laptop without RAID configured, and later decide that I want it, how would I go about setting it up the way Dell/HP would set it up? I know that Windows 7 has a software RAID feature, but I believe that it doesn't use the chipset at all, so I don't think that's what Dell/HP would use. Sep 21, 2014 at 18:07
  • Both IRST and regular windows software use software for the RAID. No actual calculations are done in the chipset hardware. It is all software/drivers. So both can yield equal performance.
    – Hennes
    Sep 21, 2014 at 19:49
  • As to how Dell/HP set it up. The factory default for single disk laptops of the lattitude-E series was 'RAID' (out of legacy/AHCI/RAID) with a single disk. That did not make any sense except that you could later expand drives in the CDROM bay and via eSATA and then use those in IRST-fake-RAID without reinstalling the OS (which has the disk on the same chipset). Without that you had to change the disk controller mode and reinstall the OS if you wanted fake-RAID. (Or somehow add drivers and enable them for the next boot. Which is a catch-22).
    – Hennes
    Sep 21, 2014 at 19:51
  • I do wonder if the drives in such a fake-RAID setup could ever get out of sync. I know that whenever my desktop PC has crashed, the RAID controller always rebuilds the RAID array because it assumes that the drives might be in an inconsistent state due to the lack of a normal shutdown. And since this Intel fake-RAID has no verify feature like my desktop's RAID controller has, you would never know if they were out of sync. Sep 23, 2014 at 7:29
  • There is not reason why an out of sync check could not be implemented in software as well as it is in hardware. Having said that, all my personal experience is with hardware RAID and FreeBSDs software RAID. None is with IRST.
    – Hennes
    Sep 23, 2014 at 17:20

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