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What is APIC ACPI PAE for?
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What is APIC ACPI PAE for?

I see APIC ACPI VNC PAE in my control panel, I use VNC sometimes, but I dont have any idea what the others are for!

Thanked by 1JasonM

Comments

  • angstromangstrom Moderator

    Maybe google a little and try to find out?

    Thanked by 2netomx WebProject
  • emgemg Veteran
    edited July 2022

    I was doing some VPS-related web searches myself, and a link to this thread popped up in the search results. Since I am a member here, and the response above was so unhelpful, I thought I could be nicer to others who stumble on it from a web search, the way I did.

    Summary of Recommendations
    APIC - On
    ACPI - On
    VNC - Off unless needed for early setup or an emergency, then turn off when done.
    PAE - On

    Summary for Additional Settings, Not Mentioned in the Original Post
    Tablet Input Device - Off
    Network Card - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    Disk Driver - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    VNC Keymap - Choose your VPS provider's default. It may be the only choice.

    Descriptions
    APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller.
    Modern x86 processors have APIC for handling interrupts. Older ones have the not-so-advanced "PIC".
    -> RECOMMENDATION: Leave the APIC setting "On" for best performance and compatibility.

    ACPI - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface.
    On a typical computer, this feature lets your operating system communicate with the BIOS for power and other external features of the computer. (On some computers, if you press the "power button" ACPI lets the hardware notify the operating system to shutdown gracefully.
    -> RECOMMENDATION: Leave the ACPI setting "On". If you turn it off, your VPS may not work as expected with the provider's control panel "Shutdown" "Reboot" etc. features.

    VNC - Virtual Network Computing
    This lets you use the VNC protocol to view your VPS' console or desktop window. Depending on the implementation, VNC may not be secure. Be aware that your VNC connection may not be secure, so change passwords after you use VNC. For initial setup, I create dummy passwords, do the minimum necessary to get secure SSH working, and then disable VNC and switch to SSH. First thing I do is change to new secure passwords. From that point on, I use SSH and other secure protocols going forward.
    -> RECOMMENDATION: OFF unless required. Leave VNC disabled unless you need it for early setup or an emergency connection. Remember to disable it again when you have fixed the issue.

    PAE - Physical Address Extension
    Modern x86 processors use PAE to access RAM memory larger than 4 Gigabytes. Even if you do not have 4 Gbytes of RAM in your VPS, you should leave this setting On (enabled).
    -> RECOMMENDATION: ON for best compatibility.

    Additional Descriptions
    For completeness, I am adding the other settings that I see in one of my SolusVM panels here.

    Tablet Input Device - ?
    You got me here. I don't use it, and could not figure it out. I turned it on and rebooted. I turned it off and rebooted. I could not tell the difference. I left it at the default: Off. Perhaps someone here knows more.
    RECOMMENDATION: Off (the default on my VPS)

    Network Card - Dropdown Menu
    On my VPS, the choices are: Realtek 8139, Intel PRO/1000, or Virtio. The default on my VPS is Virtio. If desired, you can run performance tests to see which virtual network card works with your operating system and gives the best performance.
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default.

    Disk Driver - Dropdown Menu
    On my VPS, the choices are: ide or "virtio (default)". The default on my VPS is "virtio (default)". Yes, the text including parentheses, "virtio (default)" is in the dropdown option. If desired, you can run performance tests to see which disk driver works with your operating system and gives the best performance.
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default.

    VNC Keymap - Dropdown Menu, but only one choice.
    On my VPS, the only choice is "Default".
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default. It may be the only choice.

    Conclusion
    Asked and answered. I hope this helps someone in the future. I was surprised that I could not find a webpage with a summary of the settings and what they do.

  • angstromangstrom Moderator

    @emg said: Since I am a member here, and the response above was so unhelpful, I thought I could be nicer to others who stumble on it from a web search, the way I did.

    Too bad you didn't reply in late August 2019! (The OP is long gone now, but better late than never!)

    I'll take credit for the "unhelpful response", and no doubt I didn't feel especially patient at that particular moment in time, but I would still say that one could expect the OP to have made a minimal effort. Based on a minimal effort, he could then have asked further questions if needed, but by all signs, he couldn't be bothered to make a minimal effort. (It's not as though the terms in question were rare)

    Thanked by 1sybregunne
  • jackbjackb Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2022

    @emg said:
    Summary of Recommendations
    APIC - On
    ACPI - On
    VNC - Off unless needed for early setup or an emergency, then turn off when done.
    PAE - On

    Summary for Additional Settings, Not Mentioned in the Original Post
    Tablet Input Device - Off
    Network Card - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    Disk Driver - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    VNC Keymap - Choose your VPS provider's default. It may be the only choice.

    I agree with this. Extending on why ACPI is important, if you turn it off and shut down your VPS the only option in most cases is a hard power off. You might get some level of corruption depending on filesystem configuration. With ACPI enabled most control panels will attempt a graceful shutdown and only if that is unresponsive go for a hard power off.

    One note re: vnc is that you need to do a full reboot to enable/disable. This might not be desirable in case of a crash. Some providers will limit access to vnc to their own infrastructure (to prevent any potential security issues) but most don't. The default in solusvm is open to the world. With a provider who does limit access you might want to leave it on so you can see console output if a crash happens, otherwise - consider the trade off of security Vs ability to investigate a crash.

  • emgemg Veteran

    I did not write the summary for the OP ... and you are 100% right. He/she was lazy.

    I wrote it because I could not find any basic summary in a web search. This is not the best place to put it, but it had to go somewhere. Soon enough, thousands of bots will find my text and present it on other websites as their own original content. Maybe. :-)

  • yoursunnyyoursunny Member, IPv6 Advocate

    @jackb said:
    One note re: vnc is that you need to do a full reboot to enable/disable.

    Enabling or disabling VNC could change the PCI address of the Ethernet adapter.
    In Ubuntu 20.04 or later, this renames the network interface and causes mismatch in static IP address configuration.

    Full story and solution: Disabling VNC in Virtualizor ⇒ Lost Connectivity?

    Thanked by 1maverickp
  • AXYZEAXYZE Member

    @emg said:
    I was doing some VPS-related web searches myself, and a link to this thread popped up in the search results. Since I am a member here, and the response above was so unhelpful, I thought I could be nicer to others who stumble on it from a web search, the way I did.

    Summary of Recommendations
    APIC - On
    ACPI - On
    VNC - Off unless needed for early setup or an emergency, then turn off when done.
    PAE - On

    Summary for Additional Settings, Not Mentioned in the Original Post
    Tablet Input Device - Off
    Network Card - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    Disk Driver - Choose your VPS provider's default.
    VNC Keymap - Choose your VPS provider's default. It may be the only choice.

    Descriptions
    APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller.
    Modern x86 processors have APIC for handling interrupts. Older ones have the not-so-advanced "PIC".
    -> RECOMMENDATION: Leave the APIC setting "On" for best performance and compatibility.

    ACPI - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface.
    On a typical computer, this feature lets your operating system communicate with the BIOS for power and other external features of the computer. (On some computers, if you press the "power button" ACPI lets the hardware notify the operating system to shutdown gracefully.
    -> RECOMMENDATION: Leave the ACPI setting "On". If you turn it off, your VPS may not work as expected with the provider's control panel "Shutdown" "Reboot" etc. features.

    VNC - Virtual Network Computing
    This lets you use the VNC protocol to view your VPS' console or desktop window. Depending on the implementation, VNC may not be secure. Be aware that your VNC connection may not be secure, so change passwords after you use VNC. For initial setup, I create dummy passwords, do the minimum necessary to get secure SSH working, and then disable VNC and switch to SSH. First thing I do is change to new secure passwords. From that point on, I use SSH and other secure protocols going forward.
    -> RECOMMENDATION: OFF unless required. Leave VNC disabled unless you need it for early setup or an emergency connection. Remember to disable it again when you have fixed the issue.

    PAE - Physical Address Extension
    Modern x86 processors use PAE to access RAM memory larger than 4 Gigabytes. Even if you do not have 4 Gbytes of RAM in your VPS, you should leave this setting On (enabled).
    -> RECOMMENDATION: ON for best compatibility.

    Additional Descriptions
    For completeness, I am adding the other settings that I see in one of my SolusVM panels here.

    Tablet Input Device - ?
    You got me here. I don't use it, and could not figure it out. I turned it on and rebooted. I turned it off and rebooted. I could not tell the difference. I left it at the default: Off. Perhaps someone here knows more.
    RECOMMENDATION: Off (the default on my VPS)

    Network Card - Dropdown Menu
    On my VPS, the choices are: Realtek 8139, Intel PRO/1000, or Virtio. The default on my VPS is Virtio. If desired, you can run performance tests to see which virtual network card works with your operating system and gives the best performance.
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default.

    Disk Driver - Dropdown Menu
    On my VPS, the choices are: ide or "virtio (default)". The default on my VPS is "virtio (default)". Yes, the text including parentheses, "virtio (default)" is in the dropdown option. If desired, you can run performance tests to see which disk driver works with your operating system and gives the best performance.
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default.

    VNC Keymap - Dropdown Menu, but only one choice.
    On my VPS, the only choice is "Default".
    RECOMMENDATION: Choose your VPS provider's default. It may be the only choice.

    Conclusion
    Asked and answered. I hope this helps someone in the future. I was surprised that I could not find a webpage with a summary of the settings and what they do.

    Actually good necro

  • @emg said: Tablet Input Device - ?

    This provides mouse and touch input (absolute input) to the virtual machine. Useful only if your VPS has a graphical interface, of course.

    Without this option a old PS/2 mouse is emulated (relative input). This is more compatible, but sometimes the location of your PC's cursor gets out of sync with the virtual machine's cursor, and is awkward to use.

    It is recommended to have it enabled if you have a VPS with a GUI, even if you only have a mouse/touchpad on your physical machine.

    Thanked by 1emg
  • angstromangstrom Moderator
    edited July 2022

    @emg said: Summary of Recommendations
    APIC - On
    ACPI - On
    VNC - Off unless needed for early setup or an emergency, then turn off when done.
    PAE - On

    My (perhaps incorrect) impression is that nowadays, most providers offering SolusVM have VNC on and PAE off by default

    Arguably, few VPS users nowadays who have >3GB RAM want to install a 32-bit system (and if they do, they probably know about the need for PAE)

    Not to mention that turning VNC off and on (and off and on) isn't much fun

    I think that my general advice to a VPS user would be to use the defaults unless they have a clear reason for doing otherwise

  • yoursunnyyoursunny Member, IPv6 Advocate

    @angstrom said:
    Not to mention that turning VNC off and on (and off and on) isn't much fun

    The concern of leaving VNC on (not turning off, or there's no option to turn off) is that the VNC password is weak.
    Neither SolusVM nor Virtualizor accepts long (16 char) VNC passwords.

    Then, kernel logs printed on screen could leak information.
    Hacker can probe VNC password, then probe user password over VNC.
    VNC is simply another attack factor, after turning off passwords in SSH.

    Thanked by 1angstrom
  • angstromangstrom Moderator

    @yoursunny said:

    @angstrom said:
    Not to mention that turning VNC off and on (and off and on) isn't much fun

    The concern of leaving VNC on (not turning off, or there's no option to turn off) is that the VNC password is weak.
    Neither SolusVM nor Virtualizor accepts long (16 char) VNC passwords.

    Then, kernel logs printed on screen could leak information.
    Hacker can probe VNC password, then probe user password over VNC.
    VNC is simply another attack factor, after turning off passwords in SSH.

    Yes, I know, and I certainly wouldn't advise against turning VNC off

    It's simply that VNC on is useful, especially if you find yourself suddenly needing it

    In any case, your point is taken

  • @angstrom said: The OP is long gone now

    I am still here B)

  • angstromangstrom Moderator
    edited July 2022

    @saudiqbal said:

    @angstrom said: The OP is long gone now

    I am still here B)

    Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you're here again? (You've just returned. Your previous post is from July 2020, which is also when you had been last active)

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