The hardware to any server is very important as it tells you its capabilities. In most instances, you can simply look at the hardware component and pick up the model number or you can just click on properties under Windows as you have a graphical user interface.
If the server is in a datacenter where by you don’t have access physical access, it wouldn’t be possible for you to simply read the model number printed on the component. If your also running a environment which is based on the command line you wouldn’t have the luxury of right clicking on icons. Typically this would be an Linux based operating system where by it is primarily managed from the command line interface.
dmidecode is a tool for dumping a computer's DMI (some say SMBIOS) table contents in a human-readable format. This table contains a description of the system's hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information such as serial numbers and BIOS revision. Thanks to this table, you can retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware. While this is a good point in terms of report speed and safeness, this also makes the presented information possibly unreliable.
The DMI table doesn't only describe what the system is currently made of, it also can report the possible evolutions (such as the fastest supported CPU or the maximal amount of memory supported).The syntax for dmidecode would be followed by the –type flag as it will define the type of hardware your probing.
Valid type keywords are:
bios
system
baseboard
chassis
processor
memory
cache
connector
slot
Baseboard
The base board is also referred to as the logic board or motherboard. We can probe the information with the following command:
dmidecode --type baseboard
Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Product Name: DH61AG
Version: AAG23736-505
Serial Number: BTAG23600UU2
Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
Features:
Board is a hosting board
Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0
Memory
The memory is referred to as the Random Access Memory (RAM). There is the output:
dmidecode --type memory
Handle 0x0026, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
Error Information Handle: No Error
Number Of Devices: 2
Handle 0x0029, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0026
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 8192 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: SODIMM1
Bank Locator: Channel A DIMM 0
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1333 MHz
Manufacturer: Kingston
Serial Number: 3402543D
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum0
Part Number: 99U5428-068.A00LF
Rank: 2
Handle 0x002C, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0026
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: No Module Installed
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: SODIMM2
Bank Locator: Channel B DIMM 0
Type: Unknown
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer: A1_Manufacturer1
Serial Number: A1_SerNum1
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum1
Part Number: Array1_PartNumber1
Rank: Unknown
From this information we can see that our server can manage up to 16GB of RAM over 2 slots. Our server has 8GB of RAM in the first slot and the second slot is empty.
You can run the other commands on your server to see what kind of server hardware you have and the options which you can upgrade at an later date.
