Ten helpful SuperMicro tips

Getting used to SuperMicro can be a time consuming experience if you are coming from Dell, HP or another manufacturer. 

Here are 10 Supermicro tips to help you make the most out of your Supermicro server hardware, whether you're dealing with their motherboards, chassis, or management software:

1. Use IPMI for Remote Management

Supermicro servers often come with IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) for out-of-band management, even if the server OS is down. This allows you to power cycle the system, manage hardware, and access the server’s console remotely. You can also update the BIOS/firmware through IPMI without needing to be physically at the machine.

• Tip: Use Supermicro IPMIView software or access via a browser to quickly manage multiple servers in your datacenter.

2. Custom BIOS Settings for Power Users

Many Supermicro motherboards allow you to tweak BIOS settings for better performance or efficiency. To improve power consumption, stability, or overclocking, you can adjust the processor settings, memory settings, and fan profiles directly from the BIOS menu.

• Tip: Save your BIOS configurations to a USB stick to quickly restore or replicate settings across other servers.

3. Supermicro X9/X10/X11 Series Remote Power Control

If your server supports Redundant Power Supplies (RPS), ensure that you configure the power redundancy settings properly. You can also enable "Power Sequencing" to ensure the server starts up in a specific order when multiple power supplies are in use.

• Tip: You can configure "AC Power Recovery" to automatically power on the server after a power loss, or to leave it off until manually reset.

4. Use the Supermicro System Health Monitoring Tool

Supermicro includes a built-in System Health Monitoring tool that tracks system temperature, voltage, and fan speed. You can configure this to send alerts if any component goes out of spec.

• Tip: Set up email notifications for temperature spikes or other warnings, so you can react before hardware fails.

5. SATA/NVMe SSD Caching with Supermicro Controllers

Supermicro's hardware RAID controllers (like Supermicro X10/X11 RAID cards) support SSD caching to enhance read and write speeds. Using an SSD cache on slower HDD arrays can significantly boost performance.

• Tip: Look for Hardware RAID controllers like the Supermicro AOC-S3008L-L8i for great cache performance.

6. Enable TPM for Enhanced Security

Supermicro motherboards support TPM (Trusted Platform Module), which adds an extra layer of security by enabling encryption for sensitive data. If you’re using the server for storing confidential information or secure boot processes, enable TPM in the BIOS and install the necessary software on your OS.

• Tip: TPM also improves the security of virtualization technologies and is useful for full disk encryption on your operating system.

7. Supermicro Network Bonding for Failover and Load Balancing

Supermicro servers, especially in high-availability environments, support network bonding. You can combine two or more network interfaces (NICs) into a single logical interface for load balancing or failover.

• Tip: If you're running Linux, you can configure network bonding using the ifenslave command to set up the bonded interfaces for redundancy or increased throughput.

8. Pre-Configure Supermicro Firmware Updates

Supermicro frequently releases BIOS and firmware updates for their servers. Use Supermicro’s Update Manager or the IPMI web interface to schedule or apply firmware updates, ensuring your servers are up to date with the latest bug fixes, security patches, and features.

• Tip: Test updates on a development server first to avoid introducing issues to production systems.

9. Supermicro Storage Expansion via JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks)

Supermicro has JBOD enclosures that can be used to expand storage capacity, especially in environments where you need to add multiple hard drives to a single server. By using these, you can connect them via SAS or SATA and manage them easily.

• Tip: When setting up JBOD, ensure that smart management software (like SuperDoctor) is installed for monitoring and easy management of these drives.

10. Create Custom Server Profiles for Quick Deployment

If you deploy multiple Supermicro servers and want to standardize configurations, create server profiles for BIOS settings, network configuration, and OS installation. This allows you to deploy similar systems rapidly across your infrastructure, especially in virtualized or cloud environments.

• Tip: Automate the deployment using PXE boot (network boot) to streamline the process of installing an OS and applying configuration.

As a premier SuperMicro partner, we can help you out.