Recommended Settings for Dell Servers with Sapphire Rapids Processors Running a TCP RAN Workload.

Products

• VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN

Issue/Introduction

The following settings and configurations are recommended for Dell Servers running Telco Cloud Platform (TCP) RAN/Telco Cloud Automation (TCA) Workloads.

Supported Servers

Dell PowerEdge XR8620t

Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6433N 32 Cores 
System BIOS Version: 1.6.8
System Management Engine Version: 6.1.4.5
System CPLD Version: 1.1.2
UEFI Compliance Version: 2.7

Dell PowerEdge XR5610

Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6423N 28 Cores
System BIOS Version: 1.6.8
System Management Engine Version: 6.1.4.5
System CPLD Version: 1.0.2
UEFI Compliance Version: 2.7

Environment

2.x, 3.x, 4.x

Resolution

BIOS Recommendations

1. Log into the Dell IDRAC.

2. Under Configuration, select BIOS Settings.
   
   
   
3. In System Profile Settings, set the Workload Profile to Telco Optimized Profile.
   
   
   
   
4. Apply and Reboot the server.
   

Firmware/Driver for Network Interface Card and Accelerator

Complete the firmware and driver installation for the network interface based on the RAN BOM:
Telco Cloud Platform (TCP) RAN and Telco Cloud Automation (TCA) Software and Driver Version Compatibility Matrix

vRAN boost Driver installation

Configuring the ESXI Driver for the Intel vRAN Accelerator Adapter

TCA Host Profile Configuration

Accelerator Card and PTP Configuration

Create and Apply a Host Profile to a Cell Site Group

Note: If you have a pre-existing host profile that is already associated with the cell site, please select that host profile and use EDIT to edit the existing host profile and add the CPU frequency setting, described in the next section. Resync after completing the profile. If it’s a new cell site association, please complete the whole host profile (PTP, SRIOV, accelerator, etc) along with the CPU frequency, as described in the next section.

Set CPU Frequency through Host Profile  

Broadcom's current recommendation is to directly set the CPU frequencies to the vendor recommended value for a given processor family type.
NOTE: Setting CPU Frequency through host profile is supported from TCA 3.1.1 onward.  

1. Log into the TCA. 
2. Under Infrastructure Automation > Configuration > Host Profile > ADD / EDIT.
   
   
   
   
3. In Host Profile, go to CPU Power Management, select ADD Attribute
   
   
   
   
4. Select CPU Frequency (in GHz)
   
   
   
   
5. Enter the Ghz value based on your CPU model
   
   ( Please consult Intel documentation for your CPU model or reach out to Broadcom team)
   
   
   
6. Complete the rest of the host profile such as PCI Device Settings, PCI Device Groups, and ESXi Reservation and click on Save.
   
   
7. Apply the host profile to the cell site group and sync.