dmidecode能把系统中的硬件信息读出、解码并友好的展现给我们；一些知名厂商的服务器还可以展现出其服务器型号，序列号等等，可以有效的帮助我们做一些设备管理的工作。
安装：
debian/ubuntu: apt-get install dmidecode
FreeBSD: cd /usr/ports/sysutils/dmidecode && make install clean;
在我的IBM T43上读取的主板硬件信息：
$ dmidecode -t 1
Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer: IBM
Product Name: 2668AH3
Version: ThinkPad T43
Serial Number: L3TLL14
UUID: 540DB801-471D-11CB-8A5F-912E855BB5C9
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
在一台服务器上读取的CPU信息：
$ dmidecode -t 4
Handle 0x002B, DMI type 4, 35 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: CPU1
Type: Central Processor
Family: Xeon
Manufacturer: Intel(R) Corporation
ID: F6 06 00 00 FF FB EB BF
Signature: Type 0, Family 6, Model 15, Stepping 6
Flags:
FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
VME (Virtual mode extension)
DE (Debugging extension)
PSE (Page size extension)
TSC (Time stamp counter)
MSR (Model specific registers)
PAE (Physical address extension)
MCE (Machine check exception)
CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
SEP (Fast system call)
MTRR (Memory type range registers)
PGE (Page global enable)
MCA (Machine check architecture)
CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
PAT (Page attribute table)
PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
DS (Debug store)
ACPI (ACPI supported)
MMX (MMX technology supported)
FXSR (Fast floating-point save and restore)
SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
SS (Self-snoop)
HTT (Hyper-threading technology)
TM (Thermal monitor supported)
PBE (Pending break enabled)
Version: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5110 @ 1.60GHz
Voltage: 1.6 V
External Clock: 1066 MHz
Max Speed: 1600 MHz
Current Speed: 1600 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled
Upgrade: ZIF Socket
L1 Cache Handle: 0x002D
L2 Cache Handle: 0x002C
L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
Handle 0x002E, DMI type 4, 35 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: CPU2
Type: Central Processor
Family: <OUT OF SPEC>
Manufacturer: Not Specified
ID: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Version: Not Specified
Voltage: 0.0 V
External Clock: 1066 MHz
Max Speed: 1600 MHz
Current Speed: 1600 MHz
Status: Unpopulated
Upgrade: ZIF Socket
L1 Cache Handle: Not Provided
L2 Cache Handle: Not Provided
L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
更多的参数可以查询其man手册。