Differences

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--- fester:prelim_bios [2016/06/10 17:15] – [Configuring the BIOS] dan
+++ fester:prelim_bios [2016/06/10 17:24] – [AES-NI Encryption] created dan
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ===== Getting Into Your BIOS =====
+In order to gain access to the motherboard’s BIOS the user is required to press a certain key at a certain point in time (usually as the POST messages are displayed).
+Consult your motherboard documentation to find out how to gain access to your motherboard’s BIOS.
+On Fester’s motherboard it is done by pressing the “DEL” key at a specific point.
+Incidentally, motherboards usually display a screen at some point during the POST process that tells you what key to press, something like this.
+{{:fester:94c6e18bdb6bd389e71de5c5b3531a94.png}}
+When you have access to the BIOS it’s time to configure it.
+Most BIOS settings are navigated using the “←→↑↓” keys.
 ===== BIOS Settings =====
-===== Quiet Boot =====
+==== Quiet Boot ====
+This setting is entirely optional.
+It determines if POST messages are displayed on screen or a graphic logo (so the POST messages are hidden from view) when you first turn on the server. Fester likes to see the POST messages so I disabled this function.
+Navigate to the “Advanced” page.
+{{:fester:d8522b3a234972889e6cae3bfea826b5.png}}
+Select the submenu “Boot Feature”.
+{{:fester:598b861c7cfd26d240bd607d2c616cc5.png}}
+Now go to “Quiet Boot” and select “Disabled”.
+{{:fester:121ebb481316a793fd256996eb91c0a4.png}}
+==== Watch Dog Function ====
+Remain in the “Advanced → Boot Feature” page and select “Watch Dog Function”.
+The watch dog function serves to reboot the server if it experiences an error it cannot recover from (and so hangs) for more than 5 minutes. It works by starting a 5 minute count-down timer when the server hangs. When this timer reaches zero the system is forced to reboot.
+When I first tried this in FreeNAS it caused my system to spontaneously reboot every 5 minutes even though the system was not hanging, so I disabled it.
+{{:fester:e67357e796d4f007ff943fd86ce3f70b.png}}
+==== AES-NI Encryption ====
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+If you intend to encrypt the information on your storage drives then you need to enable this in the BIOS.
+This can be useful as it allows a failing HDD in a vdev to be discarded without worrying about wiping the information before disposal.
+Go to the “Advanced” page.
+{{:fester:d8522b3a234972889e6cae3bfea826b5.png}}
+Now navigate to “CPU Configurtion”.
+{{:fester:1a1fa05bff7f91bae574f5788093b363.png}}
-===== Watch Dog Function =====
+Then scroll down (it is towards the bottom) to “AES-NI” and select “Enable”.
-===== AES-NI Encryption =====
+{{:fester:3a6c951479ea3763d4012e3156539ff9.png}}
 ===== AHCI SATA Configuration =====