18 Intel Server Board SE7500CW2 Product Guide
Security
The Server Board SE7500CW2 BIOS provides the ability to secure itself. Table 2 summarizes the
security options available in the BIOS.
Table 2. Security Operation Summary
Mode
Entry Method/
Event
Entry
Criteria
Behavior
Exit Criteria
After Exit
User
Password
on boot
(AT style)
Power On/Reset User
password
set and
password on
boot enabled
System halts for
User Password
before booting. The
system is not in
secure mode.
Except for the
password, no mouse
or keyboard input is
accepted.
User
password
followed by
[Enter]
Power and Reset
switches are
enabled.
Keyboard and
mouse inputs are
accepted. The
system boots
normally. Boot
sequence is
determined by
setup options.
Password Protection
The BIOS uses passwords to prevent unauthorized tampering with the system. Once secure mode
is entered, access to the system is allowed only after the correct password(s) has been entered.
Both user and supervisor passwords are supported by the BIOS. The user password cannot be set
unless a supervisor password has been set.
When set, a password can be cleared by changing it to a null string. Clearing the supervisor
password also clears the user password. Entering the user password permits modification of the
time, date, language, user password, and password on boot setup fields; other setup fields can be
modified only if the supervisor password is entered. The user password also allows the system to
boot, if secure boot is enabled.
If a wrong password is entered three times in a row, the BIOS stops validating passwords and the
BIOS security engine returns a failure for any further password validation attempt. If the user
enters three wrong passwords in a row during the boot sequence (i.e., when entering Setup), the
system is placed into a halt state. This feature makes is difficult to break the password by the “trial
and error” method.