Contents

Introduction

Prerequisites

Requirements

Components Used

Background Information

UCS C-Series M5 Server Components Relation to Fan Policy and Fan Noise

How Each Component Influences FAN Policy

How to Relate Inlet Temperature with FAN Policy and PWM

Related Information

Introduction

This document describes the Unified Computing Server (UCS) C-Series M5 server components relation to Fan Policy and Fan Noise. It is noticed that different configured servers and different server models result in more fan noise when compared.

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

The information in this document is based on these software and hardware versions:

- C220M5

- C240M5

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Background Information

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is the measurement of the average fan speed in percentage (%) of the maximum Revolutions Per Minute (RPMs) for a specific fan model.

Specific components influence the FAN policy for Cisco Servers. If you add new internal hardware, it can change the FAN Policy due to requirements and might result in difference of average fan speed and noise level.

UCS C-Series M5 Server Components Relation to Fan Policy and Fan Noise

How Each Component Influences FAN Policy

PID

Name of Card

Minimum Fan Profile

Category

Release

C220M5

C240M5

UCSC-GPU-7150x2

AMD FirePro S7150x2

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-BD16GF

Emulex LPe31002 Dual-Port 16G FC HBA

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-BS32GF

Emulex LPe32000 Single-port 32Gb FC HBA

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-BD32GF

Emulex LPe32002 Dual-port 32Gb FC HBA

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45

Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T4

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

N2XX-AIPCI01

Intel X520-DA2 10 Gbps 2 port NIC

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-ID10GC

Intel(R) X550-T2 SagePond 2x10GB 10GBaseT

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-ID40GF

Intel(R) XL710-QDA2 SpiritFalls 2x40GB QSFP+

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-ID10GF

Intel(R) X710-DA2 EagleFountain 2x10GB SFP+

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-IQ10GF

Intel(R) X710-DA4 EagleFountain 4x10GB SFP+

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-IQ10GC

Cisco(R) Ethernet Converged NIC X710-T4

High Power

3

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-ID25GF

Cisco(R) Ethernet Converged NIC XXV710-DA2

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-MLOM-IRJ45

Intel(R) I350-mLOM 1 Gbps Network Controller

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

Cisco 12G SAS Modular Raid Controller

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

NA

UCSC-RAID-M5

Cisco 12G Modular RAID Controller with 2GB cache

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-SAS-M5

Cisco 12G Modular SAS HBA(Max 16 drivers)

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-9400-8E

Cisco 9400-8E 12G SAS HBA

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-RAID-M5HD

Cisco 12G Modular RAID Controller with 4GB cache

Low Power

1

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-SAS-M5

Cisco 12G Modular SAS HBA (Max 26 drives)

Low Power

1

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-M10

Nvidia M10 P2405-070

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-M60

Nvidia TESLA M60

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-P100-12G

Nvidia GP100 PCIe PH400-201 PASSIVE, 250W, FF 3.0, 16GB

Max Power

4

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-P100-16G

Nvidia GP100 PCIe PH400-202 PASSIVE, 250W, FF 3.0, 12GB

Max Power

4

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-P4

Nvidia P4 (PG414-200), PASSIVE, 75W, 8GB PCIe Card

High Power

3

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-P40

Nvidia P40 (PG610-200), PASSIVE, 250W, FF 3.0, 24GB PCIe Card

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-V100

NVIDIA V100 SXM2 PG503-203, 300W, 16GB

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-GPU-V100-32

NVIDIA V100 SXM2 PG503-203, 300W, 32GB

High Power

3

HP

NA

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-QD25GF

Qlogic QL41212H 25GbE Adapter

High Power

3

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-QD40GF

Qlogic QL45412H 40GbE Adapter

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-QD16GF

Qlogic QLE2692 dual-port 16G FC

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-QD32GF

Qlogic QLE2742 dual-port 32G FC HBA

Balanced

2

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-C40Q-03

UCS VIC 1385 40Gb 2 port CNA QSFP+

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-MLOM-C40Q-03

UCS VIC 1387 40Gb 2 port QSFP+

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-MLOM-C25Q-04

Cisco UCS VIC 1457 MLOM

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-PCIE-C25Q-04

Cisco UCS VIC 1455

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-F-H16003

Cisco HHHL AIC 1.6TB HGST SN250 NVMe

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-NVME-H32003

Cisco HHHL AIC 3.2TB HGST SN260 NVMe

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-NVME-H64003

Cisco HHHL AIC 6.4TB HGST SN260 NVMe

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-NVME-H38401

Cisco HHHL AIC 3.8TB HGST SN260 NVMe

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCSC-NVME-H76801

Cisco HHHL AIC 7.7TB HGST SN260 NVMe

Low Power

1

HP

Applicable

Applicable

UCS C-Series Servers support 4 fan policy, Low Power, Balanced, High Power and Maximum Power. Navigate to CIMC UI > Compute > Power Policies in order to find the setting.

Minimum allowable fan speed is a function of server inlet air temperature and applied fan policy.

How to Relate Inlet Temperature with FAN Policy and PWM

Inlet Temperature

Acoustic Mode Policy

Lower Power Policy

Balanced Policy

High Power Policy

Maximum Power Policy

[C]

[PWM %]

≥

5

≤

21

20

20

30

30

50

>

21

≤

23

20

20

30

40

60

>

23

≤

25

20

25

30

50

70

>

25

≤

27

20

30

40

60

80

>

27

≤

29

20

35

50

70

90

>

29

≤

31

25

40

60

80

100

>

31

≤

33

25

45

70

90

100

>

33

≤

35

30

50

80

100

100

>

35

≤

37

35

55

80

100

100

>

37

≤

39

35

60

80

100

100

>

39

≤

41

40

65

80

100

100

>

41

40

70

80

100

100

Example: At 23°C inlet air temperature, with a Maximum Power policy applied, the minimum allowable fan speed is 60% Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). A Low Power policy minimum fan speed is 20% PWM at 23°C inlet air temperature .

Related Information

- UCSM Configuration Guide on Page 54 Describes Best Practice for Fan Policy Configuration

- CSCvj78750DOC BUG | Mention maximum fan speed in M5 servers spec sheet or installation guide

- CSCvj21242UCSC M5 server fans are having high fan speed than M4, no upper threshold set for alarm.

- CSCvm27310Policy taking Max power instead of High power policy for NVidia GPU P40.

- CSCvd37009C-series FAN POLICY OVERRIDE - Card(s) 'unknown card PCI-Ids: 0x8086-0x1521-0x1137-0x00b9'

- CSCvi97762C240-m5 FAN POLICY OVERRIDE - Card(s) "unknown card PCI-Ids: 0x8086-0x1521-0x1137-0x00b9"

- CSCvf38379AIR-CT5520-K9 or AIR-CT8540-K9 may fail to boot, showing Fatal Error when Cavium card is installed.

- Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems