Administrator Guide
Checking Guest Virtual Machine Settings
All guest VMs that use Fluid Cache volumes mapped to the ESXi hosts must be configured to start after
the Fluid Cache VSA and stop before the Fluid Cache VSA. Make sure that any non-Fluid Cache VMs are
not configured for a boot order priority of 1.
Preparing the Servers
Make sure that each server in the ESXi cluster has the latest supported BIOS version, Lifecycle Controller
firmware, and iDRAC firmware.
• For updating Dell Lifecycle Controller and BIOS firmware on 13
th
generation of PowerEdge servers,
see the Dell Lifecycle Controller Graphical User Interface Version 2.05.05.05 For 13th Generation Dell
PowerEdge Servers User's Guide, available at http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/idrac8-with-lc-
v2.05.05.05_User's%20Guide2_en-us.pdf
• For updating Dell iDRAC firmware on 13
th
generation of PowerEdge servers, see the Integrated Dell
Remote Access Controller 8 (iDRAC8) Version 2.05.05.05 User's Guide, available at http://topics-
cdn.dell.com/pdf/idrac8-with-lc-v2.05.05.05_User's%20Guide_en-us.pdf
• For updating Dell Lifecycle Controller and BIOS firmware on 12
th
generation of PowerEdge servers,
see the Dell Lifecycle Controller 2 Release 1.4.0 User's Guide, available at http://downloads.dell.com/
Manuals/all-products/esuprt_software/esuprt_remote_ent_sys_mgmt/
esuprt_rmte_ent_sys_lifecycle_cntrllr/dell-lifecycle-cntrler-2-rel-v1.4.0_User%27s%20Guide_en-
us.pdf
• For updating Dell iDRAC firmware on 12
th
generation of PowerEdge servers, see the Integrated Dell
Remote Access Controller 7 (iDRAC7) Version 1.50.50 User's Guide, available at http://topics-
cdn.dell.com/pdf/integrated-dell-remote-access-cntrllr-7-v1.50.50_User's%20Guide_en-us.pdf
• For other latest information related to Dell iDRAC and Dell Lifecycle Controller documentation, go to
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/idrac8-with-lc-
v2.05.05.05/research
Modify your BIOS settings as follows:
1. Enter the system BIOS setup mode and click System BIOS → Integrated Devices.
2. Select SR-IOV Global Enable.
NOTE: SR-IOV is required to create the virtual functions used by the Fluid Cache VSA.
3. Set System Profile Settings to Performance.
4. Click Back, and then click OK to return to the main BIOS page.
5. Restart the server to activate the BIOS changes.
6. Repeat this process for each server in the Fluid Cache cluster.
Preparing the Cache Devices
• Make sure that all cache devices used in the Fluid Cache cluster have the minimum firmware and
driver versions specified in Requirements for Fluid Cache. To download updated firmware or drivers.
• Fluid Cache supports clusters containing cache devices of different sizes, but for the most predictable
performance, it is recommended that the cache devices be of similar capacity.
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