|
Workload type |
|
Windows Server 2012 (or higher) |
VMware host (VSI) |
VMware host (db-cluster) |
VDI |
Basic settings |
Reboot on BIOS Settings change |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Serial port A |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Quiet Boot |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Post Error Pause |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Front Panel Lockout |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Consistent Device Naming (CDN) |
Enabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Resume AC On Power Loss |
last state |
last state |
last state |
last state |
QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) link frequency |
auto |
auto |
auto |
auto |
QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) Snoop Mode |
with LCC: Early snoop; with MCC/HCC: Home snoop |
Home snoop |
Cluster-on-die |
Home snoop |
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) (and TPM module is present) |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Intel trusted Execution Technology (TXT) |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Processor Basic |
Execute Disabled Bit |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Direct Cache Acess |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Local X2APIC |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Frequency Floor Override |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Disabled |
Enabled |
P-State Coordination |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
DRAM Clock Throttling |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Channel Interleaving |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Rank Interleaving |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Altitude |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
CPU Hardware Power Management (Broadwell CPUs only) |
Native Mode |
Native Mode |
Native Mode |
Native Mode |
Processor Prefetchers |
Hardware Prefetcher |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Data Cache Unit (DCU) Streamer Prefetcher |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Data Cache Unit (DCU) IP Prefetcher |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Processor Prefetchers |
Turbo Boost |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
Enhanced Intel Speed Step |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
Hyper Threading |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Core Multi-Processing |
All |
All |
All |
All |
Virtualization Technology (VT) |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Processor Power |
Power Management |
Performance |
Performance |
Performance |
Custom |
Energy Performance |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Processor C State |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Processor C1E |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
CPU Performance |
Enterprise |
Enterprise |
Enterprise |
Enterprise |
Package C State Limit |
C1-state |
C1-state |
C1-state |
C1-state |
Processor Power |
Processor C3 Report |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Processor C6 Report |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Processor C7 Report |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
-ignored- |
Max. Variable MTRR |
Auto-Max |
Auto-Max |
Auto-Max |
Auto-Max |
Demand Scrub |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Patrol Scrub |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
I/O |
Virtualization Technology (VT) for Directed I/O |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Interrup Re-map |
|
|
|
|
Coherency Support |
|
|
|
|
Address Translation Services (ATS) Support |
|
|
|
|
Pass Through DMA Support |
|
|
|
|
RAS Memory |
NUMA |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Enabled |
LV DDR mode |
Performance mode |
Performance mode |
Performance mode |
Performance mode |
DRAM Refresh Rate |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Auto |
Memory RAS Configuration Mode |
Maximum performance |
Maximum performance |
Maximum performance |
Maximum performance |
DDR3 Voltage Selection |
1350 MV |
1350 MV |
1350 MV |
1350 MV |
December 9, 2016
[…] Cisco UCS – BIOS policy recommendation […]
February 22, 2018
He Dennis,
Very nice overview! Do you know if the VDI settings are also valid for an ESXi host that is used for RDS workloads?
Thanks!
February 22, 2018
VDI or RDS are the same type of workload (serving desktops), so you could use those settings.
February 27, 2018
Thanks Dennis!
One more question:
In the table above you recommend to set Power Management on “Performance” for the VDI use-case while in part 3 you write that it is best to put Power Management on “custom” in order to disable EIST:
Enhanced Intel Speedstep (EIST)
EIST is a technology whereby the frequency of processor cores can be lowered (through P-states) by software to reduce power consumption. It works in conjunction with P-states.
When the ability of using EIST is disabled, Turbo Boost is also disabled!
My recommendation is to let the Power Management setting control this setting.
For VDI environments whereby the changes between P-state give a small delay in the desktop experience: my recommendation is to Disable EIST for VDI/TS.
The Power Management option must be set to CUSTOM otherwise this setting is ignored!
Can you please explain?
March 5, 2018
HI AlphenIT, you’re correct! Power Management should be set to Custom otherwise those 2 settings (EIST/Turbo Boost) will be ignored.