In this section:
This section describes the DSC SWe hardware and software requirements and recommendations.
To install and configure the DSC SWe, make sure the Virtual Machine (VM) host meets the following recommended hardware, server platform, and software requirements.
Caution
The recommended hardware and software settings intended to ensure optimum DSC SWe stability and performance. If the recommended settings are not used, the DSC SWe system may not behave as expected.
Caution
The DSC SWe software only runs on platforms using Intel processors. Platforms using Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors are not supported.
Server Hardware Requirements
The following table lists the host server (VMware ESXi) hardware requirements. Host Server Hardware Requirements Intel Xeon processors (Nehalem micro-architecture or above). Minimum four NICs if physical NIC redundancy is not required. Otherwise, eight NICs [preferably with single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) capability to support future SWe optimizations]. Note: Make sure that the NIC has multi-queue support which enhances network performance by allowing Receiver (RX) and Transmitter (TX) queues to scale with the number of CPUs on multi-processor systems. Note: Only Intel I350 Ethernet adapter is supported for configuring as VM DirectPath I/O pass-through device. Number of ports allowed:Configuration Requirement Processor RAM Minimum 24 GB Hard Disk Minimum 500 GB Network Interface Cards (NICs) Ports
Recommended BIOS Settings
Recommended BIOS Settings for Optimum Performance
The following BIOS settings are recommended for optimum performance.
BIOS Parameter | Recommended Setting | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Intel VT-x (Virtualization Technology) | Enabled | For hardware virtualization |
| Intel VT-d (Directed I/O) | Enabled | If available |
| Intel Hyper-Threading | Enabled | |
| Intel Turbo Boost | Enabled | |
| CPU power management | Maximum Performance |
BIOS Setting Recommendations for HP DL380p Gen8 Server
The following table provides an example BIOS settings for HP DL 380p Gen8 server as an example. For more information on BIOS settings for other servers, refer to the vendor's Web site.
| BIOS Parameter | Recommended Setting | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| HP Power Profile | Maximum Performance | Balanced Power and Performance |
| Thermal Configuration | Maximum Cooling | Optimal Cooling |
| HW Prefetchers | Disabled | Enabled |
| Adjacent Sector Prefetcher | Disabled | Enabled |
| Processor Power and Utilization Monitoring | Disabled | Enabled |
| Memory Pre-Failure Notification | Disabled | Enabled |
| Memory Refresh Rate | 1x Refresh | 2x Refresh |
| Data Direct I/O | Enabled | Disabled |
| SR-IOV | Enabled | Disabled |
| Intel® VT-d | Enabled | Disabled |
Software Requirements
The following table lists the host server (VMware ESXi) and the DSC SWe software requirements. Host Server Software Requirements 6.0 or above Ensure that the required drivers for network and storage controllers are available to run ESXi software. Customized ESXi images for various server platforms are available on VMware and hardware platform vendor sites. Most of the customized ESXi images are provided with management software to manage servers running ESXi software. Customized ESXi images for HP ProLiant and IBM servers are available at:Software Version For More Information vSphere ESXi vCenter Server 6.0 or above
The third-party references are as follows:
- VMware Compatibility Guide (external site) for VMware supported Intel processors.
- ESXi hardware requirements to ensure the VMware supported Intel processors meet ESXi hardware requirements.
VM Configuration Recommendations
The following recommendations are provided to ensure that the VMware ESXi Host can support two DSC SWe VMs with the minimum required resources.
Recommended VMware ESXi Host resources allocated for DSC (Diameter only)
| 2 VMs supporting a single DSC | |
|---|---|
| vCPU | 4 cores; 2 GHz minimum |
| vRAM | 5 GB |
| vHDD | 65 GB |
| vNIC | 4 virtual NICS (1 MGMT, 1 HA, and 2 packet ports) |
Recommended VMware ESXi Host resources allocated for DSC (SS7 only)
| 2 VMs supporting a single SS7 | |
|---|---|
| vCPU | 4 cores; 2 GHz minimum |
| vRAM | 5 GB |
| vHDD | 65 GB |
| vNIC | 4 virtual NICS (1 MGMT, 1 HA, and 2 packet ports) |
Recommended VMware ESXi Host resources allocated for DSC (Diameter and SS7) VMs
| 2 VMs supporting Diameter and SS7 | |
|---|---|
| vCPU | 8 cores; 2 GHz minimum |
| vRAM | 5 GB |
| vHDD | 65 GB |
| vNIC | 4 virtual NICS (1 MGMT, 1 HA, and 2 packet ports) |
Caution
It is recommended that you disconnect or disable your computer's Basic Input Output System (BIOS) settings for physical hardware devices not being used (floppy devices, network interfaces, storage controllers, optical drives, or USB controllers) to free CPU resources.
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