Business PCs, Workstations and Point of Sale Systems

Spent some time puzzling out the current status of VROC/NvMe drives on a Z4 G4. The only Intel RST drivers that will install/load/work are directly from Intel, not HP.

Intel Virtual RAID on CPU recognizes both of the NvMe drives connected to the motherboard slots. Oddly enough, when I installed these Intel drivers, and ran Intel Virtual RAID on CPU, it allows me to create a RAID volume with NO VROC hardware key installed. BUT, this is a TRIAL version of Intel Virtual RAID on CPU, with an 90-day expiration period, after which the software ceases to work and although your data is intact on the NvMe drives, you won't be able to access it until you buy a VROC key.

Hmm. In the software running under Windows 11, under Controller Properties, it shows "Manufacturer" as "8086" - which is Intel.

The different VROC license keys (hardware modules) are specified by HP as parts 3FJ80AA (Std) and 3FJ81AA (Premium). The Standard module is about $250 from the usual suspects.

 But, if you look around a bit, you will find this: Intel CC VROCSTANMOD Virtual RAID standard BD 5Module (VROCSTANMOD) which runs about $115.

Am I just crazy to assume that these HP and Intel branded VROC keys are actually the same thing? I am suspicious because in the Intel Virtual RAID software, it doesn't identify anything controller-wise as "HP."

Inquiring minds want to know!