Recommended BIOS Settings/Changes for Supermicro Board

[SeaWolfX]

I'm currently setting up a new server and since I have never made a build like this before and I'm new with the Supermicro boards I wonder if someone has some tips or recommendations for changes I should do in the BIOS before proceeding with any installation. The following is my server hardware.

• Intel Xeon E-2276G
• Supermicro X11SCH-F
• Micron DDR4 2666MHz ECC 32GBG
• Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB (x4)
• Samsung 970 Pro Series 512GB (x2)

 

[SeaWolfX]

Maybe wrong forum, does this belong under hardware?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Is there a particular goal you have in mind, or just "best practices?"

Hardware might be a better forum; editing the board model into the title might help so that others with the same unit could chip in, but generally speaking you just need to set the SATA ports to AHCI mode (none of their software-RAID silliness), ensure that the M.2 slots are enabled, and fire away. If you're seeking maximum performance at the cost of increased power consumption, disable any power-saving settings and low-power C-states, and enjoy.

What's the goal of the config here, specifically the 2x 970 Pro? Small high-performance pool?

 

[SeaWolfX]

Is there a particular goal you have in mind, or just "best practices?"

Hardware might be a better forum; editing the board model into the title might help so that others with the same unit could chip in, but generally speaking you just need to set the SATA ports to AHCI mode (none of their software-RAID silliness), ensure that the M.2 slots are enabled, and fire away. If you're seeking maximum performance at the cost of increased power consumption, disable any power-saving settings and low-power C-states, and enjoy.

What's the goal of the config here, specifically the 2x 970 Pro? Small high-performance pool?

Thanks for your reply :) I'm first of all looking for best practices; things one would generally change / tweak in the BIOS of a file-/-media server of this type. I guess I should have elaborated on the model in the title. I thought perhaps the Supermicro boards were pretty much the same in terms of BIOS. Thanks for your tips though!

The primary purpose of the server is to function as seedbox/file-/media-server. The original purpose of the 2 x M.2 SSDs was to host VMs on a Proxmox server, but I guess they could serve the same purpose on a TrueNAS server although running VMs is not the primary function.

 

[HoneyBadger]

You don't really need to do much beyond the defaults aside from the SATA-AHCI setting and configuring for UEFI boot. What's the plan for boot device, USB stick, small SSD on SATA, or a fancy SuperMicro SATADOM?

The M.2's as a dedicated mirror pool for VMs will work nicely, it was more so that they aren't good for SLOG duties if that was the intention.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I regularly

• load the BIOS defaults
• disable all RAID "things", i.e. set SATA to AHCI - if that is available with that particular MB
• enable UEFI boot and disable legacy
• disable all boot devices besides the ones with the TrueNAS installation - yes, that means I have to re-enable USB if I need it
• set "after power loss" option to "always power on"

And that's that. But this is only me, no clue if this is considered best, or even good, or bad practice.