The IT8212, or more correctly the IT8212F, is a low-end Parallel ATA controller designed by ITE Tech. Depending on the implemented BIOS and configuration the IT8212F functions in either a RAID or an ATAPI mode, supporting up to four devices using dual channels. The raid mode only supports IDE Hard Disk Drives and includes RAID 0, RAID 1, Raid 0+1 and JBOD, along with a "normal" mode that essentially acts as a standard Hard Disk controller. Optical disk drives such as CD-ROM and DVD drives are supported by the ATAPI mode, which also supports Hard Disk Drives at the loss of all RAID functions. RAID functions are implemented by an embedded microprocessor, thus is not a so-called "Soft raid" controller.
Parallel ATA (PATA), originally AT Attachment, is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, and optical disc drives in computers. The standard is maintained by the X3/INCITS committee. It uses the underlying AT Attachment (ATA) and AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) standards.
BIOS is non-volatile firmware used to perform hardware initialization during the booting process, and to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs. The BIOS firmware comes pre-installed on a personal computer's system board, and it is the first software to run when powered on. The name originates from the Basic Input/Output System used in the CP/M operating system in 1975. The BIOS originally proprietary to the IBM PC has been reverse engineered by companies looking to create compatible systems. The interface of that original system serves as a de facto standard.
RAID is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical disk drive components into one or more logical units for the purposes of data redundancy, performance improvement, or both. This was in contrast to the previous concept of highly reliable mainframe disk drives referred to as "single large expensive disk" (SLED).
Devices based on ITE's IT8212F fall into two distinct forms: add-on cards, and components embedded into the motherboards of personal computers. ITE make neither of these end products, instead selling either the controller or manufacture rights, along with reference designs, to third parties for use in their end products. Different implementations have significant incompatibilities, requiring BIOS updates and/or converting from one feature set to another in driver code, causing inconvenience to users.
The controller's BIOS is normally stored in a dedicated on-board Flash Memory Device, except that when the controller is integrated into a motherboard its BIOS and the motherboard's BIOS are often combined into one. Upgrading the BIOS can be difficult at best. Some controllers have one-time programmable memory chips, which cannot be altered at all. Others use devices not supported by ITE's BIOS-flashing utility, though some users have reported success with the utility Uniflash. The BIOS cannot be configured for both RAID and ATAPI functioning at once, so users may be prevented by a manufacturer's decision from changing between these modes.
The IT8212F is, according to ITE's Preliminary Specification V0.3, compliant with the ATAPI-6 specification, supporting transfer modes PIO modes 0,1,2,3 and 4, DMA modes 0,1 and 2 along with UDMA modes 0,1,2,3,4,5 and 6. It also supports the PCI 2.2 specification.
As of 2005, the IT8212 is used in low-end RAID cards, such as this CompUSA PATA RAID Card.
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