HP ProLiant SL170s ISS Technology Update, Volume 9 Number 5 - Page 1

2 HP ISS Technology Update Volume 9, Number 5 Keeping you informed of the latest ISS technology Understanding UEFI ...1 Quick Tip: Changing the iLO Passwords for multiple ProLiant server blades in an enclosure 3 Changing terms from stripe size to strip size with HP Smart Array utilities 4 Meet the Expert-David Engler...6 Recently published Industry-Standard Server technology papers 7 Contact us ...7 Understanding UEFI UEFI (Unified Enhanced Firmware Interface) is a specification that defines a new interface and architecture for the system firmware that initializes server hardware subsystems before starting the OS boot process. It is now touted as a long-term successor to the BIOS system, which has been part of the x86 system architecture since its inception. Keep reading to understand more about its strengths and challenges. Origins of UEFI UEFI began as EFI, or the Enhanced Firmware Interface, and it was first proposed for the development of the Intel Itanium-based systems in the late 1990s. Because the Itanium architecture was essentially starting from scratch, there wasn't much downside to defining a new firmware architecture for it. UEFI has grown out of a desire to extend this new firmware architecture to x86-based systems.