To meet the diverse needs of users in different workload modes, this document describes the configuration guide for setting BIOS parameters based on the services running on the server. It also describes the application scenarios and configuration instructions for the related workload modes."

About the BIOS

The Basic Input and Output System (BIOS) is a non-volatile firmware stored in the system ROM of a server. It is used to perform hardware initialization during server booting and provide runtime services for the operating systems. As shown in Figure 1, the BIOS interacts between the server hardware and the operating system (OS).

Figure 1 Layered architecture of a server system

Applicable products

This document is applicable to the following products:

· H3C UniServer B5700 G5

· H3C UniServer R4300 G5

· H3C UniServer R4700 G5

· H3C UniServer R4900 G5

· H3C UniServer R4900LC G5

· H3C UniServer R5300 G5

· H3C UniServer R5500 G5 Intel

· H3C UniServer R6900 G5

Applicable versions

The BIOS version applicable to this document is BIOS-5.XX.

Using this document

The information in this document is subject to change over time. You can access the H3C website to obtain the most recent version of the BIOS.

The information in this document might differ from your product if it contains custom configuration options or features.

Recommended BIOS settings

About recommended BIOS settings

A workload profile is a set of configuration options to deploy BIOS settings for server applications. The BIOS provides several profiles to match the selected workload. You can find the Workload Profile Configuration item from the Advanced > Miscellaneous Configuration screen. The pre-configured parameter values in a profile are recommended values applicable to the corresponding scenario.

BIOS parameters for different workload modes

The BIOS parameter configurations recommended for different workload modes are shown in Table 1 and Table 2, which are the workload profile dependencies matrixes. An "X" means that the option setting has no requirement for the profile and can be modified. By default, "X" uses the default value of the corresponding device model and the default value varies by device model. When you apply a new profile to the device, the value of "X" will be restored to the default.

Not all the options listed are shown on the BIOS. However, the options of profiles default to the values shown here.

For information about application scenarios and configuration of different workload modes, see "Introduction to workload modes."

Table 1 Workload profile dependencies matrix

Dependency	Virtualization-Power Efficient	Virtualization-Performance	Low Latency	Fixed Turbo Frequency	High Performance Compute	General Peak Frequency Compute
Hyper-Threading [ALL]	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
Hardware Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
Adjacent Cache Prefetch	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
DCU Streamer Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
DCU IP Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
LLC Prefetch	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Disabled
XPT Prefetcher	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Disabled
EIST (P-States)	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled
Energy Efficient Turbo	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
Turbo Mode	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
Hardware P-States	Native Mode	Disabled	Disabled	Out of Band Mode	Disabled	Disabled
EPP profile	X	X	X	Performance	X	X
Enable Monitor MWAIT	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
CPU C6 Report/report	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
Enhanced Halt State (C1E)	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
Package C State	C6(non Retention) state	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state	X	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state
Power Performance Tuning	BIOS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	X	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB
ENERGY_PERF_BIAS_CFG mode	Power	X	X	X	X	X
VMX	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	X	Disabled	X
Intel VT for Directed I/O	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	X	Disabled	X
SR-IOV Support	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	X	Disabled	X
Numa	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	X	Enabled	Enabled
SNC (Sub NUMA)	Disabled	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	X	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	Disabled
ADDDC Sparing	X	X	X	X	X	X
Patrol Scrub	X	X	X	X	X	X
Note: The Virtualization-Performance profile requires Enable Monitor MWAIT option to be set to Enabled when using it in a VMware EVC mode scenario.

Table 2 Workload profile dependencies matrix (2)

Dependency	General Power Efficient Compute	Transactional Application Processing	General Throughput Compute	Advanced Reliability Mode	Graphic Processing	IO Throughput
Hyper-Threading [ALL]	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
Hardware Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
Adjacent Cache Prefetch	Disabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
DCU Streamer Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
DCU IP Prefetcher	Disabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
LLC Prefetch	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled
XPT Prefetcher	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled
EIST (P-States)	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled
Energy Efficient Turbo	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	X	Disabled	Enabled
Turbo Mode	Disabled	Enabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Disabled
Hardware P-States	Native Mode	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
EPP profile	X	X	X	X	X	X
Enable Monitor MWAIT	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled
CPU C6 Report/report	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled
Enhanced Halt State (C1E)	Enabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled
Package C State	C6(non Retention) state	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state	C0/C1 state
Power Performance Tuning	BIOS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB	OS Controls EPB
ENERGY_PERF_BIAS_CFG mode	Power	X	X	X	X	X
VMX	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled	X	Disabled	Enabled
Intel VT for Directed I/O	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled	X	Disabled	Enabled
SR-IOV Support	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled	X	Disabled	Enabled
Numa	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled
SNC (Sub NUMA)	Disabled	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	Disabled	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P	Enable SNC2 (2-clusters) - G5 2P Enabled - G5 4P
ADDDC Sparing	X	X	X	Enabled	X	X
Patrol Scrub	X	X	X	Enabled	X	X

Introduction to workload modes

The following information describes the application scenarios and configuration instructions of workload profile for different workload modes.

NOTE:

The BIOS configuration schemes for different application scenarios are for general use. You configure the settings as needed.

Fixed Turbo Frequency

Application scenarios

The Fixed Turbo Frequency profile enables all present processors to operate at the Turbo frequency through out-of-band management.

Configuration instructions

The operating system does not participate in frequency adjustment.

General Peak Frequency Compute

Application scenarios

The General Peak Frequency Compute profile is intended for scenarios that do not require high overall system performance.

Configuration instructions

By disabling Turbo boost, this profile allows the operating system to control frequency adjustment for the system to operate at the CPU base frequency.

Low Latency

Application scenarios

The Low Latency profile is intended to be used in latency-sensitive environments, such as a system featuring a large data volume, real-time service monitoring, and extensive message spreading.

Configuration instructions

This type of systems requires quick responses to maximize the real-time value of data. By disabling power saving and hyper-threading that might introduce computational latency, this profile allows the operating system to control frequency so that the system can operate at the Turbo frequency.

High Performance Compute

Application scenarios

The High Performance Compute profile is intended for intensive computing scenarios.

Configuration instructions

This profile is similar to the low latency profile but is mostly used to process concurrent tasks. As a best practice, enable hyper-threading. By disabling power saving, this profile enables the operating system to control frequency adjustment for the system to operate at the Turbo frequency.

General Power Efficient Compute

Application scenarios

The General Power Efficient Compute profile is intended for scenarios that have high power consumption.

Configuration instructions

This profile is similar to the virtualization-power efficient profile but virtualization-related options are disabled. In this profile, power saving is enabled and CPU cores can enter sleep mode, which increases latency and causes performance degrade in case of processor mode change.

Virtualization-Power Efficient

Application scenarios

The Virtualization-Power Efficient profile is intended to be used for virtualization environments and scenarios that have strict power consumption requirements.

Configuration instructions

The profile enables all virtualization-related options. By enabling power saving, the profile manages to maintain the system power consumption to a low level in idle state at the cost of high speed.

Virtualization-Performance

Application scenarios

The Virtualization-Performance profile is intended to be used in virtualization environments that require high performance.

Configuration instructions

The profile enables all virtualization-related options. By disabling power saving, the profile allows the system to operate at a high speed and a high frequency.

Advanced Reliability Mode

Application scenarios

The Advanced Reliability Mode profile is intended for scenarios that require high system stability and maintainability.

Configuration instructions

By enabling advanced RAS features and disabling power saving, this profile shortens the response time for system errors. As a best practice, use x4 memory chips.

Transactional Application Processing

Application scenarios

The Transactional Application Processing profile is intended to be used for upper-layer service application scenarios such as database systems.

Configuration instructions

The profile configuration is the same as the HPC profile settings, which is applicable to most scenarios. If the service data are random and the data set has a large volume, disable prefetch options and NUMA to facilitate application service execution as a best practice.

General Throughput Compute

Application scenarios

The General Throughput Compute profile is intended to be used for workloads where the total maximum sustained workload throughput is needed.

Configuration instructions

By disabling prefetch options and Turbo boost, this profile reduces the processor idle cycles caused by waiting, balances peak frequency management and throughput, and improves I/O throughput.

Graphic Processing

Application scenarios

The Graphic Processing profile is intended for workloads that are run on servers installed with GPUs.

Configuration instructions

The profile configuration is similar to the HPC profile settings, which is applicable to most scenarios. By disabling virtualization, this profile improves the processor core frequency, which enhances data processing ability and improves system performance.

IO Throughput

Application scenarios

The IO Throughput profile is intended for workloads that require improved IO and memory throughput.

Configuration instructions

This is achieved by disabling prefetch options, turning off turbo boost, enabling some power-saving options, reducing the number of stalled cycles caused by CPU waiting, balancing peak frequency management, and throughput requirements. The end result is improved IO and memory throughput.

Custom

Application scenarios

The Custom profile uses the default BIOS settings.

Configuration instructions

If you select this profile, the system loads the default BIOS settings and you can modify the settings as needed. For information about the default settings, see the BIOS user guide.