This feature is able to create multiple "virtual RAID arrays" (RAID 0 and 1) to maximize space, data protection, and performance. Intel Matrix Storage Technology combines the advantages of conventional RAID 0 and RAID 1, composing Matrix RAID with only two hard drives. You can protect your important data with RAID 1 and increase your productivity with the higher performance of RAID 0. This is a great new option for home and business users who are increasingly demanding better storage options and is part of the growing momentum shift of IDE drives to SATA interface.

Another enhanced SATA technology that is part of the ICH6R is called Hardware Accelerated Native Command Queuing (adopted from the SATA 2.0 specifications). This feature makes more efficient use of SATA command protocol and streamlines the data transfer portion of queued commands by allowing the drive itself to reorder commands based on disk organization and angular position (that is to read information in the most efficient way based on where the data is stored on the disk).