ESXi memory capacity might be less than the sum of DIMMs installed due to advanced memory configuration in server BIOS/Firmware
Article ID: 345401
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
- A server running VMware vSphere ESXi reports less overall memory than is physically installed.
- This discrepancy is observed in both vSphere Client and ESXi Host Client.
- For example, the server has 24 DIMMs installed on the mainboard, each with a capacity of 32 GByte, aka 768 GByte overall. However, the ESXi hypervisor software only sees 384 GByte memory.
Environment
- VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.x
- VMware vSphere ESxi 8.0.x
Cause
To see which memory modules are available to the ESXi software, you can use the command to query the IPMI:
# localcli hardware ipmi sdr list -p -i -n all
The output of the command will look like in the following example:
Node-Sensor Description Entity-Instance Computed Reading Base Unit Raw Reading Sensor Type Timestamp/Comment
----------- ------------------------------------------------ --------------- --------------------- ----------- ----------- ---------------- -------------------
0.3 Other 1 01-Inlet Ambient 64.1 18 degrees C 18 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.4 Other 1 02-CPU 1 65.1 40 degrees C 40 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.5 Other 2 03-CPU 2 65.2 40 degrees C 40 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.7 Memory Device 2 05-P1 DIMM 7-12 32.2 24 degrees C 24 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.9 Memory Device 4 07-P2 DIMM 7-12 32.4 24 degrees C 24 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
Review this output for the "Memory Device" entries and compare those with the number of DIMMs physically installed in the server.
If the amount listed by IPMI is less than the count of physical modules, review the vendor-specific documentation or reach out to the server vendor.
If the amount of memory devices in the list matches the count of DIMMs physically installed, contact Broadcom support for further assistance.
Resolution
To see which memory modules are available to the ESXi software, you can use the command to query the IPMI:
# localcli hardware ipmi sdr list -p -i -n all
The output of the command will look like in the following example:
Node-Sensor Description Entity-Instance Computed Reading Base Unit Raw Reading Sensor Type Timestamp/Comment
----------- ------------------------------------------------ --------------- --------------------- ----------- ----------- ---------------- -------------------
0.3 Other 1 01-Inlet Ambient 64.1 18 degrees C 18 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.4 Other 1 02-CPU 1 65.1 40 degrees C 40 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.5 Other 2 03-CPU 2 65.2 40 degrees C 40 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.7 Memory Device 2 05-P1 DIMM 7-12 32.2 24 degrees C 24 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
0.9 Memory Device 4 07-P2 DIMM 7-12 32.4 24 degrees C 24 Temperature YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
Review this output for the "Memory Device" entries and compare those with the number of DIMMs physically installed in the server.
If the amount listed by IPMI is less than the count of physical modules, review the vendor-specific documentation or reach out to the server vendor.
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