I've been reading the Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 6.5 guide and they've got a section on Power Management BIOS Settings. In it, they essentially say to switch everything to "OS Controlled Mode" so ESXi controls everything.
There are several settings in the Supermicro BIOS but I'm not sure which one(s) accomplish the VMware guidance.
The BIOS settings are:
1) Power Technology
There are also some additional settings that are available if #1 is set to Custom
5) CPU P State Control
6) CPU HWPM State Control
7) CPU C State Control
8) CPU T State Control
Setting #2 seems most relevant but the choices aren't clear. I'm assuming "Disable" means "OS chooses".
Setting #1 seems somewhat relevant but its not clear to me if setting it to Disable will completely kill the power management features or simply let the OS take control.
Setting #3's help text is concerning in that it says that it overrides the OS setting but doesn't provide an option for not overriding the OS.
FWIW, this is for a small office. I'm looking for a middle ground of good energy efficiency without impacting performance too much. I like the idea of VMware managing things but can't figure out how to implement what they're asking for.
There are several settings in the Supermicro BIOS but I'm not sure which one(s) accomplish the VMware guidance.
The BIOS settings are:
1) Power Technology
Choices: Disable, Energy Efficient, Custom
BIOS help text: Enables process power management features.
2) Energy Performance TuningBIOS help text: Enables process power management features.
Choices: Enable, Disable
BIOS help text: Selects whether BIOS or OS chooses energy performance bias tuning
3) Energy Performance BIAS settingBIOS help text: Selects whether BIOS or OS chooses energy performance bias tuning
Choices: Performance, Balanced Performance, Balance Power, Power
BIOS help text: Set energy performance bias, which overrides OS setting.
4) Energy Efficient TurboBIOS help text: Set energy performance bias, which overrides OS setting.
Choices: Enable, Disable
BIOS help text: Energy Efficient Turbo Mode makes sure core frequency only goes up if the result is still energy efficient.
BIOS help text: Energy Efficient Turbo Mode makes sure core frequency only goes up if the result is still energy efficient.
There are also some additional settings that are available if #1 is set to Custom
5) CPU P State Control
6) CPU HWPM State Control
7) CPU C State Control
8) CPU T State Control
Setting #2 seems most relevant but the choices aren't clear. I'm assuming "Disable" means "OS chooses".
Setting #1 seems somewhat relevant but its not clear to me if setting it to Disable will completely kill the power management features or simply let the OS take control.
Setting #3's help text is concerning in that it says that it overrides the OS setting but doesn't provide an option for not overriding the OS.
FWIW, this is for a small office. I'm looking for a middle ground of good energy efficiency without impacting performance too much. I like the idea of VMware managing things but can't figure out how to implement what they're asking for.