Server BIOS Boot Modes

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This section describes the server BIOS boot mode optoins.

The Oracle Server X5-4 contains two BIOS boot modes: Legacy BIOS Boot Mode and a boot mode that is compatible with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). Both boot modes allow you to manage boot devices. However, the UEFI BIOS boot mode provides more boot option candidates than the Legacy BIOS Boot mode, and it also integrates the BIOS configuration capabilities of the host-bus adapter (HBA) cards. UEFI BIOS also provides the ability to select between UEFI and legacy boot modes.

Select the boot mode in the BIOS Setup Utility. Once the server is rebooted and the boot mode configured, you can manage your boot devices (such as storage drives) with a supported operating system.

Note - Some devices and operating systems do not yet support UEFI BIOS boot mode and can only boot with the server configured for Legacy BIOS Boot Mode.

Before changing boot modes, use the Oracle System Assistant or the Oracle ILOM backup function to preserve the existing configuration.

Note - If you change boot modes, boot candidates (such as disk drives) configured when the server was in the previous mode are no longer available. The only way to make them available is to either go back to the previous boot mode or to reconfigure them while in the new boot mode (which would wipe out any data on them).

Legacy BIOS Boot Mode

Legacy BIOS Boot Mode is the default setting in the BIOS Setup Utility. Choose Legacy BIOS Boot Mode when host bus adapters (HBAs) need to use adapter option ROMs or when adapters do not have UEFI drivers.

In Legacy BIOS Boot Mode, only boot candidates that support Legacy BIOS Boot Mode appear in the BIOS Setup Utility screens in the Boot Options Priority list.

Note - Rebooting the server using a different BIOS boot mode than the one used for the OS install makes the OS inaccessible. You need to switch back to the correct boot mode setting to boot the OS.

UEFI BIOS Boot Mode

Choose UEFI BIOS Boot Mode from the BIOS Setup Utility to use UEFI drivers when software and adapters have UEFI drivers.

In UEFI BIOS Boot Mode, only boot candidates that support UEFI BIOS Boot Mode appear on the BIOS Setup Utility screens in the Boot Options Priority list.

The following operating systems are available for the Oracle Server X5-4 and support UEFI BIOS Boot Mode:

Oracle Solaris 11.1 and later
Oracle Linux 6.5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Microsoft Windows Server 2012

All other supported operating systems (including factory preinstalled OS images) must use Legacy BIOS Boot Mode. For an up-to-date list, refer to the Oracle Server X5-4 Product Notes

Addtional BIOS Information

For server version information, refer to the Oracle Server X5-4 Product Notes
For more information about UEFI BIOS, refer to Oracle X5 Series Servers Administration Guide (http://www.oracle.com/goto/x86AdminDiag/docs)
For information about system management tools, see: http://www.oracle.com/goto/system-management