Optimizing HP BIOS Settings For VMware vSphere

by Davoud Teimouri · Published 19/07/2015 · Updated 22/09/2017

Achieving best performance on ESXi by HP ProLiant servers needs to change some default configuration on HP RBSU (ROM-Based Setup Utility) or UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface).

Some of the configurations have been mentioned on “Performance Best Practices for. VMware vSphere” but some them not mentioned.

You can change the below configuration to achieve best performance on ESXi:

Setting	Default	Recommended	Reason
No-Execute Page Protection (AMD)System Options -> Processor Options -> No-Execute Page Protection No-Execute Memory Protection (Intel) System Options -> Processor Options -> No-Execute Memory Protection	Enabled	Enabled	It’s recommended by HP and the features protects systems against malicious code and viruses.
Intel Virtualization TechnologySystem Options -> Processor Options -> Intel Virtualization Technology AMD V (AMD Virtualization) System Options -> Processor Options -> AMD V (AMD Virtualization)	Enabled	Enabled	When enabled, a hypervisor supporting this feature can use extra hardware capabilities provided by AMD/Intel.
Intel Hyperthreading OptionsSystem Options -> Processor Options -> Intel Hyperthreading Options	Enabled	Enabled	Intel Hyperthreading Options is a toggle setting that allows Intel Hyperthreading Technology to be enabled or disabled. Intel Hyperthreading delivers two logical processors that can execute multiple tasks simultaneously using the shared hardware resources of a single processor core.
Enhanced Processor Core Disable (Intel Core Select)System Options -> Processor Options -> Enhanced Processor Core Disable (Intel Core Select) Processor Core Disable (Intel Core Select/AMD Core Select) System Options -> Processor Options -> Processor Core Disable (Intel Core Select/AMD Core Select)	All	All	The Enhanced Processor Core Disable option allows you to specify the number of cores to enable per processor socket, in multiples of 2. Unused cores are disabled.
Intel Turbo Boost TechnologySystem Options -> Processor Options -> Intel Turbo Boost Technology AMD Core Performance Boost System Options -> Processor Options -> AMD Core Performance Boost	Enabled/Optimized for Performance (G7 Servers)	Enabled/Optimized for Performance (G7 Servers)	Intel Turbo Boost Technology enables a processor that has available power headroom and is under temperature specification to transition to a higher frequency than the rated speed.If supported by your processor, AMD Core Performance Boost enables the processor to transition to a higher frequency than the processor`s rated speed if the processor has available power headroom and is within temperature specifications.
Intel VT-dSystem Options -> Processor Options -> Intel VT-d AMD-Vi (IOMMU) System Options -> Processor Options -> AMD-Vi (IOMMU)	Enabled	Enabled	When enabled, a Virtual Machine Manager supporting this feature can use hardware capabilities provided by the Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O. (Passthrough)When enabled, a Virtual Machine Manager supporting this feature can use hardware capabilities provided by the AMD I/O Memory Management Unit (IOMMU).
HP Power RegulatorPower Management Options -> HP Power Regulator	HP Dynamic Power Savings Mode	OS Control Mode	Processors run in the maximum power and performance state, unless theOS enables a power management policy.Reduce CPU ready on virtual machines.
HP Power ProfilePower Management Options -> HP Power Profile	Balanced Power and Performance	Custom	Provides the opportunity to configure settings for your environment.
Intel QPI Link Power ManagementAdvanced Power Management Options -> Intel QPI Link Power Management	Enabled	Disabled	This feature places the Quick Path Interconnect links into a low power state when the links are not being used. This reduces power usage with minimal performance impact.
Minimum Processor Idle Power Core State (Intel)Advanced Power Management Options -> Minimum Processor Idle Power Core State Minimum Processor Idle Power Core C6 State (AMD) Advanced Power Management Options -> Minimum Processor Idle Power Core C6 State	C6 State Enabled	C6 State Enabled	This feature selects the lowest processor idle power state (C-state) supported by the OS. The higher the C-state, the lower the power usage of the idle power state. C6 is the lowest power idle state supported by the processor.
Energy/Performance BiasAdvanced Power Management Options -> Energy/Performance Bias	Balanced Performance	Maximum Performance	Provides the highest performance and lowest latency, but should be used only in environments that are not sensitive to power consumption.
Channel InterleavingAdvanced Power Management Options -> Channel Interleaving Memory Interleaving Advanced Power Management Options -> Memory Interleaving	Enabled/Channel Interleaving/ Full Interleaving	Disabled/No Interleaving
ACPI SLIT PreferencesAdvanced Power Management Options -> ACPI SLIT Preferences	Disabled	Enabled	ACPI SLIT (System Locality Information Table) describes the relative access times between processors, memory subsystems, and I/O subsystems. Operating systems that support SLIT can improve performance by allocating resources and workloads more efficiently.
DIMM Idle Power Saving ModeAdvanced Power Management Options -> DIMM Idle Power Saving Mode Memory Power Savings Mode Advanced Power Management Options -> Memory Power Savings Mode	Enabled/Balanced	Disabled/Maximum Performance	In some applications, this can reduce overall system power consumption, but may also slightly reduce overall memory performance due to the increased latency associated with transitions into and out of idle power saving mode.
ASR StatusServer Availability -> ASR Status	Enabled	Disabled	ASR can reboot server automatically, when it didn’t receive any heartbeat. You can disable it and then you have time to fix your issues on hosts and prevent unplanned downtimes.
Thermal ShutdownServer Availability -> Thermal Shutdown	Enabled	Enabled	It can help you to reduce hardware damage when it’s overheating.
Wake-on LANServer Availability -> Wake-on LAN	The default setting varies, depending on the server model.	Enabled	If you want to use DPM.
Automatic Power-OnServer Availability -> Automatic Power-On	Enabled	Disabled	When power cord attached to your server, the server will be powered on automatically. But this is not good in some cases and can damage your hardware.
Virtual Install DiskAdvanced Options -> Advanced System ROM Options -> Virtual Install Disk	Disabled	Disabled	This feature is not necessary when you have ESXi and it’s not supported by ESXi, so you should disable it.
Power-On LogoAdvanced Options -> Advanced System ROM Options -> Power-On Logo	Enabled	Disabled	If this setting is disabled the monitoring of the boot up process is easier.
Advanced Performance Tuning Options	Leave these settings and keep default values. Any changes will impact on system performance.
SR-IOVAdvanced Options -> SR-IOV	Disabled	Enabled	This option controls Single Root I/O Virtualization. SR-IOV is supported on select operating systems and allows, in some cases, the creation of separate virtual instances of a PCIe device. In certain environments, this may increase virtual machines and hypervisor response times.

Important notes:

Some of the settings are available on some servers and may be not available on some others.
May be some settings are missed in the table but I have mentioned most important settings. Leave any setting, if the setting is not mentioned.
You need to read “HP ROM-Based Setup Utility User Guide” for more information.
I can’t guarantee which the settings have no impact on your performance and can’t damage your hardware, so please change them if you are ensure about them.
About Power Management Options, if you have no power limit, change those settings, otherwise you should consider power cost and cooling.