DL20 Gen10 iLO5 AHCI - Fans at 43% with AMS

[AndreySm]

Configured SATA AHCI support as I need to install VMWare ESXi. Expectedly, fans went up to 45%. Installed ESXi 6.7 U3 (used HPE Custom Image).

From HP forum (based on similar topics) I noticed comments by HPE employees that AMS is designed (among others) to supply to iLO temperature readings that are otherwise unavailable when SW RAID controller is off - and so utilize more aggressive fan speed management. Also, it is reported that installing AMS indeed helped on some occasions when running Linux.

I verified that:

- In System Information, Agentless Management Service status is OK (it actually came with HPE Custom Image);

- In Power & Thermal, higest temperature reading is 08-BMC System 13 14 OK 66C; other temperature readings do not exceed 44C; ambient temperature is 23C;

- Thermal Configuration is set to Optimal Cooling;

- Verified the newest iLO 5 FW: 2.10 Oct 30 2019 (updated server with SPP 2019.12.0, so other FW should must be up-to-date);

- When SATA is configured in Smart Array SW RAID Support, fans are below 9%.

What I tried to do:

1) When using HPE Custom Image ESXi 6.7 Update 3, switching Workload Profile between "General Power Efficient Compute" and "Virtualization - Power Efficient" - makes no difference;

2) Installed from scratch VMWare ESXi 6.7 Update 3 non-HPE image (boot from image, not using Intelligent Provisioning or Rapid Setup), additionally installed packages "HPE Offline Bundle for ESXi 6.7 3.4.5" and "HPE Utilities Offline Bundle for ESXi 6.7 3.4.5". Verified that amsd version 670.11.4.5-18.7535516 is showing in ESXi packages list. Verified that AMS is showing OK in iLO System Info - fans remain at 45%;

3) Just in case, installed on ESXi package "Agentless Management Service Offline Bundle for VMware vSphere 6.7" - fans remain at 45%;

4) With this new ESXi installation, switching Workload Profile between "General Power Efficient Compute" and "Virtualization - Power Efficient" - makes no difference.

It seems that either I am missing some settings (BIOS? iLO?), or the AMS is not working as expected (with VMWare? on 6.7 U3 release?).

The server is intended for use in an environment where excessive noise can cause significant inconvenience. Also, it is intended to run VMWare ESXi hypervisor. With all that in mind I am really motivated to cut down this excessive fan spinning.

Guys, really counting on your suggestions!

The server is not in production, and no VMs created so far, so I am open to any proposals including reinstalling of ESXi or installind of alternative ESXi releases.

Thanks in advance,
Andrey

[Bunsol]

Hi Andrey,

Please check if there are blanks installed and also check the ambient temperature of the room in which the server is kept. If issue is seen only with AHCI mode then this is as per design so to isolate this if you have any add on controller compatible with this server then install the same and check. If the issue persists with add on controller also then kindly log a support ticket with us.

Regards,

Bunsol.