Reboot Host Immediately

If checked, the server is rebooted immediately after you click Save Changes.

To specify that the server should not reboot automatically, clear this check box. Any parameter changes will take effect the next time the server is rebooted.

POST Error Pause

What happens when the server encounters a critical error during POST. This can be one of the following:

• Enabled—The BIOS pauses the attempt to boot the server and opens the Error Manager when a critical error occurs during POST.
• Disabled—The BIOS continues to attempt to boot the server.

USB Boot Priority

Whether the BIOS tries to boot from any available USB device before it tries to boot from the server hard drive. This can be one of the following:

• Enabled—The server attempts to boot from a USB device if one is available. In addition, when a USB device is discovered, it is put at the top of its boot category.
• Disabled—The server attempts to boot from the server hard drive before it tries USB devices. In addition, when a USB device is discovered, it is put at the bottom of its boot category.

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Whether the processor uses Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which allows the processor to automatically increase its frequency if it is running below power, temperature, or voltage specifications. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not increase its frequency automatically.
• Enabled—The processor utilizes Turbo Boost Technology if required.

Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology

Whether the processor uses Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology, which allows the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency. This technology can result in decreased average power consumption and decreased average heat production. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor never dynamically adjusts its voltage or frequency.
• Enabled—The processor utilizes Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and enables all supported processor sleep states to further conserve power.

We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Whether the processor uses Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, which allows multithreaded software applications to execute threads in parallel within each processor. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not permit hyperthreading.
• Enabled—The processor allows for the parallel execution of multiple threads.

We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

Number of Enabled Cores

Sets the state of logical processor cores in a package. If you disable this setting, Hyper Threading is also disabled. This can be one of the following:

• All—Enables multi processing on all logical processor cores.
• 1 through n—Specifies the number of logical processor cores that can run on the server. To disable multi processing and have only one logical processor core running on the server, select 1.

We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

Execute Disable

Classifies memory areas on the server to specify where application code can execute. As a result of this classification, the processor disables code execution if a malicious worm attempts to insert code in the buffer. This setting helps to prevent damage, worm propagation, and certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not classify memory areas.
• Enabled—The processor classifies memory areas.

We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

Intel Virtualization Technology

Whether the processor uses Intel Virtualization Technology (VT), which allows a platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not permit virtualization.
• Enabled—The processor allows multiple operating systems in independent partitions.

Intel VT for Directed IO

Whether the processor uses Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d). This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not use virtualization technology.
• Enabled—The processor uses virtualization technology.

Intel VT-d Interrupt Remapping

Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Interrupt Remapping. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not support remapping.
• Enabled—The processor uses VT-d Interrupt Remapping as required.

Intel VT-d Coherency Support

Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Coherency. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not support coherency.
• Enabled—The processor uses VT-d Coherency as required.

Intel VT-d Address Translation Services

Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Address Translation Services (ATS). This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not support ATS.
• Enabled—The processor uses VT-d ATS as required.

Intel VT-d PassThrough DMA

Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Pass-through DMA. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not support pass-through DMA.
• Enabled—The processor uses VT-d Pass-through DMA as required.

Direct Cache Access

Allows processors to increase I/O performance by placing data from I/O devices directly into the processor cache. This setting helps to reduce cache misses. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—Data from I/O devices is not placed directly into the processor cache.
• Enabled—Data from I/O devices is placed directly into the processor cache.

Processor C3 Report

Whether the processor sends the C3 report to the operating system. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not send the C3 report.
• ACPI C2—The processor sends the C3 report using the ACPI C2 format.
• ACPI C3—The processor sends the C3 report using the ACPI C3 format.

Processor C6 Report

Whether the processor sends the C6 report to the operating system. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not send the C6 report.
• Enabled—The processor sends the C6 report.

Processor C7 Report

Whether the processor sends the C7 report to the operating system. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The processor does not send the C7 report.
• Enabled—The processor sends the C7 report.

CPU Performance

Sets the CPU performance profile for the server. The performance profile consists of the following options:

• Data Reuse Optimization
• DCU Streamer Prefetcher
• DCU IP Prefetcher
• Hardware Prefetcher
• Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch

This can be one of the following:

• Enterprise—Only the DCU IP Prefetcher is enabled. The rest of the options are disabled.
• High Throughput—All options are enabled.
• HPC—Data Reuse Optimization is disabled and all other options are enabled. This setting is also known as high performance computing.
• Custom—All performance profile options can be configured from the BIOS setup on the server. In addition, the Hardware Prefetcher and Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch options can be configured in the fields below.

Hardware Prefetcher

Whether the processor allows the Intel hardware prefetcher to fetch streams of data and instruction from memory into the unified second-level cache when necessary. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The hardware prefetcher is not used.
• Enabled—The processor uses the hardware prefetcher when cache issues are detected.

Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch

Whether the processor uses the Intel Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch mechanism to fetch data when necessary. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch mechanism is not used.
• Enabled— The Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch mechanism is used when cache issues are detected.

CPU C State

Whether the system can enter a power savings mode during idle periods. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The system remains in high performance state even when idle.
• Enabled—The system can reduce power to system components such as the DIMMs and CPUs. The amount of power reduction is specified in the Package C State Limit field.

Package C State Limit

The amount of power available to the server components when they are idle. This can be one of the following:

• C0 state—The server provides all server components with full power at all times. This option maintains the highest level of performance and requires the greatest amount of power.
• C1 state—When the CPU is idle, the system slightly reduces the power consumption. This option requires less power than C0 and allows the server to return quickly to high performance mode.
• C3 state—When the CPU is idle, the system reduces the power consumption further than with the C1 option. This requires less power than C1 or C0, but it takes the server slightly longer to return to high performance mode.
• C6 state—When the CPU is idle, the system reduces the power consumption further than with the C3 option. This option saves more power than C0, C1, or C3, but there may be performance issues until the server returns to full power.
• C7 state—When the CPU is idle, the server makes a minimal amount of power available to the components. This option saves the maximum amount of power but it also requires the longest time for the server to return to high performance mode.
• No Limit—The server may enter any available C state.

C1E

Whether the CPU transitions to its minimum frequency when entering the C1 state. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The CPU continues to run at its maximum frequency in C1 state.
• Enabled—The CPU transitions to its minimum frequency. This option saves the maximum amount of power in C1 state.

Select Memory RAS

How the memory reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) is configured for the server. This can be one of the following:

• Maximum Performance—System performance is optimized.
• Mirroring—System reliability is optimized by using half the system memory as backup.
• Sparing—System reliability is enhanced with a degree of memory redundancy while making more memory available to the operating system than mirroring.

NUMA Optimized

Whether the BIOS supports NUMA. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The BIOS does not support NUMA.
• Enabled—The BIOS includes the ACPI tables that are required for NUMA-aware operating systems. If you enable this option, the system must disable Inter-Socket Memory interleaving on some platforms.

Low Voltage DDR Mode

Whether the system prioritizes low voltage or high frequency memory operations. This can be one of the following:

• Power Saving Mode—The system prioritizes low voltage memory operations over high frequency memory operations. This mode may lower memory frequency in order to keep the voltage low.
• Performance Mode—The system prioritizes high frequency operations over low voltage operations.

Sparing Mode

The sparing mode used by the CIMC. This can be one of the following:

• Rank Sparing—The spared memory is allocated at the rank level.
• DIMM Sparing—The spared memory is allocated at the DIMM level.

Mirroring Mode

Mirroring is supported across Integrated Memory Controllers (IMCs) where one memory riser is mirrored with another. This can be one of the following:

• Intersocket—Each IMC is mirrored across two sockets.
• Intrasocket—One IMC is mirrored with another IMC in the same socket.

Patrol Scrub

Whether the system actively searches for, and corrects, single bit memory errors even in unused portions of the memory on the server. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The system checks for memory ECC errors only when the CPU reads or writes a memory address.
• Enabled—The system periodically reads and writes memory searching for ECC errors. If any errors are found, the system attempts to fix them. This option may correct single bit errors before they become multi-bit errors, but it may adversely affect performance when the patrol scrub is running.

Patrol Scrub Interval

Controls the time interval between each patrol scrub memory access. A lower interval scrubs the memory more often but requires more memory bandwidth.

Select a value between 5 and 23. The default value is 8.

CKE Low Policy

Controls the DIMM power savings mode policy. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—DIMMs do not enter power saving mode.
• Slow—DIMMs can enter power saving mode, but the requirements are higher. Therefore, DIMMs enter power saving mode less frequently.
• Fast—DIMMs enter power saving mode as often as possible.
• Auto—The BIOS controls when a DIMM enters power saving mode based on the DIMM configuration.

Onboard SATA Controller

Whether the processor uses its built-in SATA controller. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The server does not use the onboard SATA controller.
• Enabled—The processor uses the built-in SATA controller.

SATA Mode

The mode in which the SATA controller runs. This can be one of the following:

• AHCI—The controller enables the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) and disables RAID.
• Compatibility—The controller disables both AHCI and RAID and runs in IDE emulation mode.
• Enhanced—The controller enables both AHCI and RAID.
• S/W RAID—The controller enables RAID and disables the AHCI.

Serial A Enable

Whether serial port A is enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The serial port is disabled.
• Enabled—The serial port is enabled.

Serial A Address

If serial port A is enabled, select the hex address that it should use. This can be one of the following:

• 3F8
• 2F8
• 3E8
• 2E8

Serial B Enable

Whether serial port B is enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The serial port is disabled.
• Enabled—The serial port is enabled.

Serial B Address

If serial port B is enabled, select the hex address that it should use. This can be one of the following:

• 3F8
• 2F8
• 3E8
• 2E8

USB Controller

Whether the processor uses its built-in USB controller. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The server does not use the built-in USB controller.
• Enabled—The processor uses the built-in USB controller.

Make Device Non-Bootable

Whether the server can boot from a USB device. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The server can boot from a USB device.
• Enabled—The server cannot boot from a USB device.

USB Performance Mode

Whether the server uses USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 mode. This can be one of the following:

• High Performance—The server enables the EHCI (USB 2.0) controllers so that all USB devices function in USB 2.0 mode. This option maximizes USB device performance but requires additional power.
• Lower Idle Power—The server disables the EHCI (USB 2.0) controllers so that all USB devices function in USB 1.1 mode. This option requires less power but decreases USB device performance.

Memory Mapped I/O Above 4GB

Whether to enable or disable memory mapped I/O of 64-bit PCI devices to 4GB or greater address space. Legacy option ROMs are not able to access addresses above 4GB. PCI devices that are 64-bit compliant but use a legacy option ROM may not function correctly with this setting enabled. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The server does not map I/O of 64-bit PCI devices to 4GB or greater address space.
• Enabled—The server maps I/O of 64-bit PCI devices to 4GB or greater address space.

Onboard Gbit NIC 1

Whether the first onboard Network Interface Card (NIC) is enabled or disabled on the server. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—NIC 1 is not available.
• Enabled—NIC 1 is available.

Onboard Gbit NIC 2

Whether the second onboard NIC is enabled or disabled on the server. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—NIC 2 is not available.
• Enabled—NIC 2 is available.

Onboard Gbit NIC 1 ROM

Whether the system loads the embedded PXE option ROM for the first onboard NIC. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—PXE option ROM is not available for NIC 1.
• Enabled—PXE option ROM is available for NIC 1.

Onboard Gbit NIC 2 ROM

Whether the system loads the embedded PXE option ROM for the second onboard NIC. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—PXE option ROM is not available for NIC 2.
• Enabled—PXE option ROM is available for NIC 2.

Onboard Gbit NIC 3 ROM

Whether the system loads the embedded PXE option ROM for the third onboard NIC. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—PXE option ROM is not available for NIC 3.
• Enabled—PXE option ROM is available for NIC 3.

Onboard Gbit NIC 4 ROM

Whether the system loads the embedded PXE option ROM for the fourth onboard NIC. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—PXE option ROM is not available for NIC 4.
• Enabled—PXE option ROM is available for NIC 4.

PCIe Option ROMs

Whether the server can use the PCIe Option ROM expansion slots. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—PCIe Option ROMs are not available.
• Enabled—PCIe Option ROMs are available.

PCIe Slot n ROM

Whether the PCIe expansion slot designated by n is available to the server. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The expansion slot n is not available.
• Enabled—The expansion slot n is available.

PCIe Mezzanine Slot ROM

Whether the PCIe mezzanine slot expansion ROM is available to the server. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The mezzanine slot is not available.
• Enabled—The mezzanine slot is available.

Active Video

How the server displays video. This can be one of the following:

• Auto—The server uses an external graphics adapter for display if one is available.
• Onboard Device—The server always uses its internal graphics adapter even if an external graphics adapter is available.

Reboot Host Immediately

If checked, the server is rebooted immediately after you click Save Changes.

To specify that the server should not reboot automatically, clear this check box. Any parameter changes will take effect the next time the server is rebooted.

Boot Option Retry

Whether the BIOS retries NON-EFI based boot options without waiting for user input. This can be one of the following:

• Enabled—Continually retries NON-EFI based boot options without waiting for user input.
• Disabled—Waits for user input before retrying NON-EFI based boot options.

Assert NMI on SERR

Whether the BIOS generates a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) and logs an error when a system error (SERR) occurs. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The BIOS does not generate an NMI or log an error when a SERR occurs.
• Enabled—The BIOS generates an NMI and logs an error when a SERR occurs. You must enable this setting if you want to enable Assert NMI on PERR.

Assert NMI on PERR

Whether the BIOS generates a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) and logs an error when a processor bus parity error (PERR) occurs. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The BIOS does not generate an NMI or log an error when a PERR occurs.
• Enabled—The BIOS generates an NMI and logs an error when a PERR occurs. You must enable Assert NMI on SERR to use this setting.

FRB2 Enable

Whether the FRB2 timer is used by CIMC to recover the system if it hangs during POST. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The FRB2 timer is not used.
• Enabled—The FRB2 timer is started during POST and used to recover the system if necessary.

PlugNPlay BMC Detection

Whether the system automatically detects the BMC in ACPI-compliant operating systems. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The system never automatically detects the BMC.
• Enabled—The system automatically detects the BMC whenever possible.

ACPI1.0 Support

Whether the BIOS publishes the ACPI 1.0 version of FADT in the Root System Description table. This version may be required for compatibility with OS versions that only support ACPI 1.0. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—ACPI 1.0 version is not published.
• Enabled—ACPI 1.0 version is published.

Console Redirection

Allows a serial port to be used for console redirection during POST and BIOS booting. After the BIOS has booted and the operating system is responsible for the server, console redirection is irrelevant and has no effect. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—No console redirection occurs during POST.
• Serial Port A—Enables serial port A for console redirection during POST. This option is valid for blade servers and rack-mount servers.

Flow Control

Whether a handshake protocol is used for flow control. Request to Send / Clear to Send (RTS/CTS) helps to reduce frame collisions that can be introduced by a hidden terminal problem. This can be one of the following:

• None—No flow control is used.
• RTS-CTS—RTS/CTS is used for flow control.

Baud Rate

What BAUD rate is used for the serial port transmission speed. If you disable Console Redirection, this option is not available. This can be one of the following:

• 9.6k—A 9600 BAUD rate is used.
• 19.2k—A 19200 BAUD rate is used.
• 38.4k—A 38400 BAUD rate is used.
• 57.6k—A 57600 BAUD rate is used.
• 115.2k—A 115200 BAUD rate is used.

Terminal Type

What type of character formatting is used for console redirection. This can be one of the following:

• PC-ANSI—The PC-ANSI terminal font is used.
• VT100—A supported vt100 video terminal and its character set are used.
• VT100-PLUS—A supported vt100-plus video terminal and its character set are used.
• VT-UTF8—A video terminal with the UTF-8 character set is used.

Legacy OS Redirection

Whether redirection from a legacy operating system, such as DOS, is enabled on the serial port. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The serial port enabled for console redirection is hidden from the legacy operating system.
• Enabled—The serial port enabled for console redirection is visible to the legacy operating system.

OS Boot Watchdog Timer

Whether the BIOS programs the watchdog timer with a specified timeout value. If the operating system does not complete booting before the timer expires, the CIMC resets the system and an error is logged. This can be one of the following:

• Disabled—The watchdog timer is not used to track how long the server takes to boot.
• Enabled—The watchdog timer tracks how long the server takes to boot. If the server does not boot within the length of time specified in the OS Boot Watchdog Timer Timeout field, the CIMC logs an error and takes the action specified in the OS Boot Watchdog Policy field.

OS Boot Watchdog Timer Timeout

What timeout value the BIOS uses to configure the watchdog timer. This can be one of the following:

• 5 Minutes—The watchdog timer expires 5 minutes after the OS begins to boot.
• 10 Minutes—The watchdog timer expires 10 minutes after the OS begins to boot.
• 15 Minutes—The watchdog timer expires 15 minutes after the OS begins to boot.
• 20 Minutes—The watchdog timer expires 20 minutes after the OS begins to boot.

OS Boot Watchdog Policy

What action the system takes if the watchdog timer expires. This can be one of the following:

• Power Off—The server is powered off if the watchdog timer expires during OS boot.
• Reset—The server is reset if the watchdog timer expires during OS boot.

Save Changes button

Saves the settings for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs and closed the wizard.

If the Reboot Host Immediately check box is checked, the server is rebooted immediately and the new BIOS settings go into effect. Otherwise the changes are saved until the server is manually rebooted.

Reset Values button

Restores the values for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to the settings that were in effect when this dialog box was first opened.

Restore Defaults button

Sets the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to their default settings.

Cancel button

Closes the dialog box without making any changes.