Dell PowerEdge T710 Owner's manual

Type
Owner's manual

This manual is also suitable for

Dell PowerEdge T710: A versatile and powerful server solution for demanding workloads. With its dual-socket LGA1366 platform, it supports up to two Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 series processors, providing exceptional processing power for virtualization, database, and high-performance computing applications. Equipped with 18 DIMM slots, the T710 offers up to 288GB of DDR3 memory, enabling seamless multitasking and handling of memory-intensive workloads.

Dell PowerEdge T710: A versatile and powerful server solution for demanding workloads. With its dual-socket LGA1366 platform, it supports up to two Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 series processors, providing exceptional processing power for virtualization, database, and high-performance computing applications. Equipped with 18 DIMM slots, the T710 offers up to 288GB of DDR3 memory, enabling seamless multitasking and handling of memory-intensive workloads.


DeployingUEFI
AwareOperating
SystemsonDell™PowerEdge
Servers
ByAnandJoshi,BillMunger,MarkShutt,
ThomasCantwell,andJohnSieber
Pageii
THISWHITEPAPERISFORINFORMATIONALPURPOSESONLY,ANDMAYCONTAINTYPOGRAPHICALERRORSAND
TECHNICALINACCURACIES.THECONTENTISPROVIDEDASIS,WITHOUTEXPRESSORIMPLIEDWARRANTIESOF
ANYKIND.
©2009DellInc.Allrightsreserved.Reproductionofthismaterialin
anymannerwhatsoeverwithouttheexpress
writtenpermissionofDellInc.isstrictlyforbidden.Formoreinformation,contactDell.
Dell,theDELLlogo,andtheDELLbadge,andPowerEdgearetrademarksofDellInc.Microsoft,Windows,Windows
Server,andActiveDirectoryareeithertrademarksorregisteredtrademarksof
MicrosoftCorporationintheUnited
Statesand/orothercountries.;SUSEisaregisteredtrademarkofNovell,Inc.,intheUnitedStatesandother
countries.
Page1
Table of Contents
History...................................................................................................................................................................2
WhatisUEFI?.........................................................................................................................................................2
WhatUEFIhastoOffer..........................................................................................................................................3
HowisDell’sUEFIimplemented?..........................................................................................................................3
DifferencesbetweenBIOSandUEFIBootModes...........................................................................................4
UEFIBootOptions...........................................................................................................................................4
AutomaticandManualBootOptions....................................................................................................................4
BootingtoaRemovableMediaDevice..................................................................................................................5
UEFIBootManager.........................................................................................................................................5
BootOptions..........................................................................................................................................................5
UEFIBootSettings.................................................................................................................................................5
SystemUtilities......................................................................................................................................................6
DeployingaUEFIAwareOperatingSystem....................................................................................................7
DeployingaUEFIOperatingSystem......................................................................................................................7
Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................8
LargeOperatingSystemPartitions........................................................................................................................8
ThirdPartyImagingUtilities..................................................................................................................................8
TransferringHardDisks.........................................................................................................................................8
UEFILegacyBootControllers.................................................................................................................................8

Page2
History
Inthemid1990sduringthedevelopmentofIntel’sItaniumbasedsystem,PCBIOSlimitations(forexample,16bit
processormode,1MBaddressablespace,PCAThardwaredependencies,etc.)hinderedplatformdevelopmentfor
Itanium.WhiletheItaniumchipwasnotwellreceived,thedevelopmentexposedsignificantlimitationstothe
originalPCfirmwarearchitecturethatledtothedevelopmentofanewframework,calledExtensibleFirmware
Interface(EFI).
In2005,severalleadingtechcompaniescametogethertocreatetheEFIForum.BasedonEFIarchitecture,the
UEFIForum’smissionwastocreatethefirsteverindustrystandardfirmwareinterfacespecificationUnified
ExtensibleFirmwareInterface(UEFI).DellisrepresentedontheboardofdirectorsoftheUEFIForum.
WhatisUEFI?
TheUEFIspecificationdefinesaninterfacebetweenoperatingsystemsandplatformfirmware.Theinterface
consistsofdatatablesthatcontainplatformrelatedinformation,plusbootandruntimeservicecallsthatare
availabletotheoperatingsystemanditsloader.
Together,theseprovideastandard,modern
environmentforbootinganoperatingsystemand
runningprebootapplications.
Inadditiontotheservices,UEFIdefinesvarious
protocols/APIstoaccessvarioushardwareandthe
bootdevicesinthesystem.TheUEFIspecificationalso
definesadrivermodelthatisgenericandcanbe
adaptedtoanytypeofbusordevice.TheUEFIDriver
Model
isdesignedtosupporttheexecutionof
modularpiecesofcode,knownasdrivers,thatrunin
theprebootenvironment.Thesedriversmaymanage
orcontrolhardwarebusesanddevicesonthe
platform,ortheymayprovidesomesoftwarederived,
platformspecificservice.
Thereare3typesofentitiesthatcan
executeunderUEFIenvironment:
Applications:SomeexamplesofcommonEFIapplicationsincludetheEFIshell,EFIshell
commands,flashutilities,anddiagnosticutilities.ItisperfectlyacceptabletoinvokeEFI
applicationsfrominsideotherEFIapplications.
OperatingSystemLoader:AspecialtypeofEFIapplication,calledan
operatingsystemboot
loader,providesthenecessaryinitializationroutinesuntiltheloaderhassetupenoughofthe
operatingsysteminfrastructuretobereadytoassumeownershipofthesystemresources.Once
theoperatingsystemassumescontrol,theEFIcorefreesallofitsboottimeservicesanddrivers,
leaving
onlytheruntimeservicesanddrivers.
Drivers:EFIdriversdifferfromEFIapplicationsinthatthedriverstaysresidentinmemoryunless
anerrorisreturnedfromthedriver'sentrypoint.TheEFIcorefirmware,thebootmanager,or
otherEFIapplicationsmayloaddrivers.
Page3
WhatUEFIhastoOffer
TheprimarygoalofUEFIistodefineanarchitecturethatcanscalewithtimeandtoofferstructuredcoding
environmentallowingeasyenablementofnewtechnology.ThemaincharacteristicsofUEFIare:
AbstractionfortheOperation System.TheUEFIspecificationprovidesaninterfacebetweentheplatform
firmwareandthe
operatingsystem.Theinterfaces/API/protocolsmarkaclearboundarybetweenthe
firmwareandtheoperatingsystemandtheoperatingsystemloader.
Abstractionfordevicesandrelatedcode.UEFIabstractsinterfacesthatmakeitpossibletobuildcode
whichworksonarangeofunderlyinghardwaredeviceswithouthavingexplicitknowledge
ofthespecifics
foreachdevice.Thespecificationdefinesinterfacestoplatformcapabilitiessuchasstandardbustypes
(PCI,USB,andSCSI).Thelistofsupportedbustypesmaygrowovertime.Thesedefinedinterfacesandthe
abilitytoextendtofuturebustypesarecomponentsoftheUEFIDriver
Model.
Scalableplatformenvironment.Thespecificationdefinesacompletesolutionforthefirmwareto
describeallplatformfeaturesandcapabilitiestotheoperatingsystemduringthebootprocess.These
definitionscoverarangeofthecontemporaryplatformdesignsbutaresimpleenoughtobeableto
extendinthe
future.
OperatingSystemAgnosticRichPreBootenvironment.TheUEFIspecificationdefinesextensible
interfacesthatenablecreationofplatformdrivers.Thedrivers,analogoustooperatingsystemdrivers,
providesupportfornewdevicesandmayprovideenhancedplatformcapabilities,suchasfirmware
update,platformconfiguration,diagnosticsanddeployment services.The
existenceofnetworking,USB,
andfilesystemcapabilitiesaddstotherichnessoftheprebootenvironment.
GUIDPartitionTable.TheUEFIdefinesanewstandardlayoutforthepartitiontable,knownasGUID
PartitionTable(GPT).GPTprovidesamoreflexiblemechanismforpartitioningdisksthanthe
Master
BootRecord(MBR)partitioningschemethathasbeencommontocomputers.MBRdiskssupportonly
fourpartitiontableentriesandthepartitionsizeislimitedto2TB.GPTschemeallowsupto128primary
partitionsandcansupportlargerthan2terabytepartitions.Someneartermlimitationsto2terabyte
supportexistduetodevicesupport,butoncedevicesfullysupportGPT/UEFI,thiswillnolongerbean
issue.Seethe“Limitations”section.
HowisDell’sUEFIimplemented?
TosupportbootingtobothUEFIandnonUEFIawareoperatingsystems,theDellBIOSsupportsaBootMode
optionintheBIOSSetupUtility.TheBootModecanbesettoBIOSorUEFI.
SettingtheBootModetoUEFIallowsbootingtoaUEFIawareoperatingsystemandprovides
theUEFIBoot
Manager.ThisistheonlychangerequiredtoenableUEFIonthesystem.SettingtheBootModetoBIOSprovides
supportforallcurrentandlegacyoperationsystems.
Page4
DifferencesbetweenBIOSandUEFIBootModes
Thefollowingtablehighlightsthedifferencesbetweenthebootmodes.
Feature
BootMode
BIOS UEFI
OperatingSystemSupport Compatiblewithoperatingsystems
thatdonotsupportUEFI.Allthe
currentandlegacyoperation
systemscanbeinstalledinthis
bootmode.
MustsupportUEFI
BIOSPOST<F11>Boot
ManagerHotKey
EntersBIOSBootManager EntersUEFIBootManager
BootOrderControl ViaBIOSSetupUtility ViaUEFIBootManager
USBEmulation SupportedviaBIOSSetupUtility Notneeded
DefaultBootOrder TraditionalDellBIOSdefaultboot
order
None
BootOptions LegacyBIOSbootstoadrive.
Supportformultibootdrive
requiresabootloader.
InUEFImode,thereisaconceptofa
bootfile.Thisallowsmultiplefiles
tobeaddedasabootoptionona
singledrive.
UEFIBootOptions
ThewaybootoptionsworkinUEFImodediffersfromthatofthelegacyBIOS.TheUEFIbootoption:
Specifiesafileonadriveasaboottarget(vs.adriveasinlegacyBIOS).
Isautomaticallycreatedbytheoperatingsystemduringinstallationandpointstoits
bootfile.
Providesapredeterminedbootpathforremovablemedia.
CanbemanuallyaddedbytheuserviatheUEFIBootManager.
Pointstoaspecificbootfile;henceasystemformatisnotnecessarytomakeadevicebootable.
AutomaticandManualBootOptions
InUEFI
mode,bootoptionsareautomaticallyaddedforremovabledevices.Theseautomaticallyaddedboot
optionscannotbedeleted.OperatingSysteminstallationautomaticallyaddsabootoptionthatpointstothe
OperatingSystemBootloader.BootoptionscanalsobeaddedmanuallybyusingtheUEFIBootManager.Whether
optionsareaddedmanually
orbytheoperatingsystem,theycanbedeletedusingUEFIBootManager.
Multiplebootoptionsperdevice,orperfile,areallowed.Youmaywanttohavetwobootoptionsforthesame
filewithdifferentinputparameters,suchasadebugparameter.WheninstallingaUEFIawareoperating
system,
theinstallationprocesswilladdacorrespondingbootoption.
Page5
BootingtoaRemovableMediaDevice
Tomakearemovabledevicebootable,theUEFIapplicationsimplyneedstoberenamedtoBOOTx64.EFI(case
insensitive)andplacedinthe\EFI\BOOTdirectory.
Whenaremovabledevice,suchasaUSBkey,isdetectedinUEFIBootMode,abootoption
isautomaticallyadded
topointtothefollowinglocation:
\EFI\BOOT\BOOTx64.EFI
UEFIBootManager
TheUEFIBootManagerisenteredbypressing<F11>duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup.InUEFIboot
mode,itreplacesboththeBIOSBootManagerandthebootconfigurationoptionsintheBIOSSetupUtility<F2>.
WhentheBootModeissettoUEFItheBIOSSetupUtility
fields,BootSequenceandUSBFlashDriveEmulation
Typearegrayedout,replacedbyenhancedoptionsintheUEFIBootManager.
BootOptions
ThefrontpageoftheUEFIBootManagerlistsbootoptionsinorderofbootpriority.Selectionofanyofthese
optionsresultsinanattemptto
boot.Iftheoptionisnotbootable(forexample,nomediainanopticaldrive),an
errormessagedisplaysalongwithaprompttoentertheUEFIBootManagerortheBIOSSetupUtility.
Incaseswhereabootoptionhasbeenaddedmanuallyorbyanoperatingsysteminstallationand
thatoptionisno
longervalid(forexample,aharddiskdrivehasbeenremoved),theoption willcontinuetobelisted,butwillbe
grayedoutanddisplay“Unavailable.”BootOptionentriesforremovabledevicesareautomaticallyaddedand
removedbasedininsertionandremovalofthedevice.
UEFIBootSettings
TheUEFIBootSettingsmenucanbeenteredfromthefrontpage.Thefollowingoptionsareavailablefromthis
menu:
Option Description
AddBootOption Providesamenufromwhichtoselectabootoption.
FormassstoragedeviceswithaFAT32filesystem,amenu
displaystonavigatetoafiletoselectasthebootoption.
ForPXEcapabledevices,thedeviceitselfcanbeselected.
Whenaddinganewbootoption,theDescriptionandOptionalDatacan
beentered.TheDescriptionidentifiesthedeviceintheUEFIBoot
Manager;theOptionalDataispassedtothebootimage,pertheUEFI
specification.
DeleteBootOption Providesamenuofbootoptionsthatweremanuallyandoperating
systeminstalledandcanbedeleted.Bootoptionsthatwere
automaticallyaddedarenotlisted.
Enable/DisableBoot Providesamenuofbootoptionsthatcanbedisabledwhichremoves
themfromthebootoptionlist.Disableddevicescanbereenabledfrom
Page6
Option thismenu.
ChangeBootOrder Allowsthebootpriorityofthebootoptionstobemodified.
OneTimeBootFromFile ProvidesamenusimilartothatofAddBootOption,butdoesnotaddthe
bootoption.Instead,itattemptstoboottotheselectedfileordevice.
SystemUtilities
TheSystemUtilitiesmenucanbeenteredfromthefrontpage.Thefollowingoptionsareavailablefromthis
menu:
Option Description
SystemSetup EnterstheSystemSetupUtility.Thiscanalsobeenteredbypressing<F2>
duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup.
SystemServices EntersSystemServices.Thiscanalsobeenteredbypressing<F10>
duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup.
BIOSBootManager EnterstheBIOSBootManagertoprovidetheabilitytoboottoanonUEFI
awareoperatingsystemwhiletheBootModeissettoUEFI.Thisisthe
sameBootManagerthatwouldbeenteredbypressing<F11>duringthe
prebootphaseofsystemstartup
iftheBootModeissettoBIOS.
RebootSystem Rebootssystem.
Page7
DeployingaUEFIAwareOperatingSystem
OncethehardwareandfirmwaresupportUEFI,theoperatingsystemneedstoberedesignedtosupportUEFI.
UEFIisstillanemergingtechnologyandstandard,sothereareonlyafewoperatingsystemsthathavefullsupport.
DelloffersbothlegacyBIOSmodeandUEFImode.
OperatingSystemsthatsupportUEFI
‐
1) Microsoft®Windows®Vista,SP1andWindowsServer®2008X64versionsonly.
2) SUSE
®
LinuxEnterpriseServer,release11,willcontainsupport
3) GeneralLinuxsupportisavailable,butaskyouroperatingsystemvendoriftheyfullysupportUEFIorwhat
theirplansare.
DeployingaUEFIOperatingSystem
ForMicrosoftoperatingsystems,press<F11>andchangetheBootManagertoUEFI.Oncethisisdone,simply
bootfromtheWindowsServer2008orVistaDVDandfollowthenormalinstallationsteps.Fromthisperspective,
everythingwillbethesameasBIOSmodeinstallation.
WhatHASchanged?
The
primaryvisiblechangesaretotheharddrivesetupalthoughthisisnotvisibletothecustomerduring
installation.BIOSmodesetupinstallsMBRandhasasinglebootpartition.UEFIusesGPT.ForaMicrosoft
Windowsinstallation,threepartitionsarecreated:
Partition Type Format
EFISystemPartition(ESP) EFI(hidden) FAT32
MicrosoftReservedPartition(MSR) MSR
Windowsoperatingsystempartition Primary NTFS
TheESPcontainstheEFIcapableWindowsBootManager,bootconfigurationdata(BCD),andrelatedfontfiles
TheMSRisusedtostoremetadataoutsideoftheWindowsvolume.TheMSRpartitionmustexistbetweenthe
ESPandtheWindowsoperatingsystempartitions.
Thesepartitionsarevisible
withtheDiskpartutilityDONOTchangeorremovethesepartitions.
IMPORTANT:YoucannotswitchbetweenBIOSmodeandUEFImodewithoutfullywipingthedrive,eitherby
usingtheDiskpartCleancommandorthroughtheharddiskcontrollerandreinitializingtheharddrive.Onceyou
transitiontoUEFI,
DellrecommendsthatyouleavethesysteminUEFImode.
Oncetheoperatingsystemisinstalled,youcaninstallapplicationsandusethesystemnormallywithafewcaveats.
Thereareapplicationsthatmaytrytointeractwiththeharddrivedirectly(imagingtools)thesemaynotworkas
Page8
expected.Dellrecommendsthatyoucontactyourapplicationvendorsforallmissioncriticalapplicationsto
ensuretheyworkintheUEFIenvironment.
Limitations
ThissectionexplainspotentialproblemswhichmayoccurwhileinstallingaUEFIawareoperatingsystemandhow
toavoidthem.
LargeOperatingSystemPartitions
Anoperatingsysteminstallerreliesondiskcontrollerfirmwaretoperformdiskread/writefunctionspriortothe
diskdriverisavailable.Certainlegacydiskcontrollersuseolder
firmware(suchasInterrupt0x13handlers)to
executeread/writefunctionsinUEFImodeanddonotprovidenativeaccessdisksinUEFImode.TheUEFIlayer
providestheabstractiondrivertoaccessthedisksusingtheoldfirmware.Themostnotablerestrictionisthatthe
legacyinterrupt0x13functionsare
unabletoaccesslogicalblockaddresseshigherthan2terabytes(TB).Forthis
reason,Dellstronglyrecommendsusingapartitionorvirtualdisksmallerthan2TBforthepartitionwherethe
operatingsystemresides.Failuretouseapartitionsizeoflessthan2TBfortheoperatingsystemvirtualdiskmay
causeundesiredbehaviorandwilleliminatetheinherentGPTpartitionredundancy.Datapartitions(nonsystem
partitions)canbelargerthan 2TBsincethediskdriverisavailablewhentheoperatingsystemaccessesthese
partitions.
ThirdPartyImagingUtilities
UEFIusesapartitioningschemeknownasaGPT.Thisschemeassigns
aGloballyUniqueIdentifier(GUID)toeach
partitioninadisk.Beawarethatimagingutilities(suchasNortonGhost)needtorecreatetheGPTinorderto
haveuniqueGUIDsforpartitionswhicharecopiedfromonedisktoanother.Otherwisedifferentdiskswillusethe
sameGUIDfor
multiplepartitions,whichmaycauseconflictsforsoftwarewhichusestheGUIDstodistinguisheach
partition.
TransferringHardDisks
UEFIBootOptionsarestoredinnonvolatilememoryonasystem.Whenanoperatingsysteminstallerexecutes,it
createsabootoptionfortheoperatingsysteminthesystem’snon
volatilememory.Iftheharddiskwhich
containstheoperatingsystemisremovedandtransferredtoanothersystem,thisnewsystemwillnothavethe
bootoptioninitsnonvolatilememory,andauserwillnotbeabletoboottotheoperatingsystem.
Dellhasaddressedthisproblemby
keepingacopyoftheoperatingsystembootoptionontheharddiskwiththe
operatingsystem.WhentheharddiskistransferredtoanotherDellsystem,thesystemusesthecopyofthe
operatingsystembootoptiontocreateabootoptioninitsnonvolatilememory.Thisallows
ausertoboottothe
operatingsystem.Theprocessisautomatic;nouserinteractionisnecessarytocreatethebootoptiononthe
secondsystem.
UEFILegacyBootControllers
TheUEFIlayerprovidestheabstractiondrivertoaccessthedisksusingtheinterrupt0x13functions.Thefollowing
DellUEFILegacybootcontrollersoperateusinglegacyabstractionsupportedinUEFImode:
DellPERC6/i
DellSAS6/iR
FuturecontrollerswillprovidenativeUEFIdrivers.
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Dell PowerEdge T710 Owner's manual

Type
Owner's manual
This manual is also suitable for

Dell PowerEdge T710: A versatile and powerful server solution for demanding workloads. With its dual-socket LGA1366 platform, it supports up to two Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 series processors, providing exceptional processing power for virtualization, database, and high-performance computing applications. Equipped with 18 DIMM slots, the T710 offers up to 288GB of DDR3 memory, enabling seamless multitasking and handling of memory-intensive workloads.

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