The PowerEdge servers come with the Dell Controlled Turbo feature which controls the turbo engagement of the CPUs. This feature can increase performance in both single-threaded and multithreaded applications.

Overview

The Dell Controlled Turbo setting allows the CPUs to run at maximum speed. This option only works if the system profile is set to performance in the BIOS. In this best practice, we enabled the Dell Controlled Turbo with the Database Optimization Performance profile.  

Recommendation

After enabling the Dell Controlled Turbo option, the following test metrics gained an increase in performance and is considered as a Day 1, Highly Recommended best practice.

• New Order per Minute (NOPM)
• Transactions per Minute (TPM)
• PowerStore IOPS
• Server CPU utilization

Implementation Steps

To enable Dell Controlled Turbo, log in to iDRAC and complete the following steps:

1. Click the Configuration pulldown menu 
2. Click the BIOS settings 
3. Navigate to Processors
4. Select Dell Controlled Turbo
5. Select Enabled from the dropdown list 

Additional Resources

Enable Dell Controlled Turbo on 15th Generation (15G) Dell PowerEdge Server

By default, the Database Optimized Performance (DOP) profile is not enabled on the PowerEdge R750xs server. In this best practice we selected the DOP profile in BIOS to evaluate its impact on performance. 

Overview

A BIOS profile is an easy way to apply firmware values that optimize the system. The following list describes BIOS settings that are automatically changed by selecting the DOP profile:

Virtualization Technology: Default is ENABLED, changed to DISABLED with the DOP profile.

When Virtualization Technology (VT) is enabled, firmware settings are configured for enhanced support of hypervisors. Using VT offers greater integration with virtualization that can optimize virtualization on the server. 

The DOP profile disables VT as many databases are not virtualized. As the Oracle databases have been virtualized in our best practice infrastructure, the Engineering team enabled virtualization technology after it had been disabled by the DOP profile. 

System Profile: Default is Performance Per Watt (DAPC) and changed to Performance.

DAPC is Dell’s proprietary implementation of dynamic processor management. Selecting the DOP profile changes the system profile from the default to Performance. Instead of the server balancing performance per watt to drive cost savings, the system is configured for maximum performance.  

CPU Power Management: Default system DBPM and changed to Max Performance.

CPU Power Management controls use of processor performance states. By default, CPU Power Management uses Demand-Based Power Management (DBPM), which enables processor operating frequency and voltage to be dynamically adjusted. The DOP profile changes CPU Power Management to a static state of Maximum Performance. 

Other system profile changes include:

• C1E: Default Enabled, changed to Disabled. Disables DIMM CKE power down and QPI power management. 
• C States: Default Enabled, changed to Disabled. Disables C-states and DIMM self-refresh. 
• Uncore Frequency: Default is Dynamic UFS, changed to Maximum. Setting to Maximum enables best performance of the cores and uncore during runtime. 
• Energy Efficient Policy: By default the balanced performance policy is used. This setting was changed to Performance, which instructs the processors to operate at the highest performance level. 
• CPU Interconnect Bus Link Power Management: Default Enabled, changed to Disabled. 
• PCI ASPM L1 Link Power Management: Default Enabled, changed to Disabled. 

Overall, the benefit of the DOP is setting several firmware settings to maximum performance. The only exception in our validation tests was changing Virtualization Technology back to its default value of Enabled. However, for customers with physical (non-virtual) database deployments it is recommended to keep the DOP profile change for VT to Disabled.  

Recommendation

After setting the Database Optimization Performance profile in the BIOS, there was a performance improvement in our testing with virtual machines for the following metrics; hence it is recommended as a Day 1, Highly Recommended best practice.

• New Order per Minute (NOPM)
• Transactions per Minute (TPM)
• PowerStore IOPS
• Server CPU utilization

Implementation Steps

To set the Database Optimized Performance Workload Profile: 

1. Log into the iDRAC console and navigate to BIOS settings 
2. In System Profile Settings, select the Database Optimized Performance Profile in the Workload profile dropdown list

To enable Virtualization Technology on the iDRAC console: 

1. Navigate to Processor Settings
2. Select Enabled for Virtualization Technology

Additional Resources

Setting up BIOS on 15th Generation (15G) Dell PowerEdge Servers