Dell Remote Access Card: Overview and Usage · Web viewThe Dell Remote Assistant Cards (DRAC II and DRAC III) provide a user with tools and functionality to monitor, troubleshoot,

Dell Remote Access: Overview and Usage

Enterprise Systems Group (ESG)

Dell OpenManage™Systems Management

Dell White PaperBy Donnie Bell, Lance Osborne, and Jon McGary

April 2002

ContentsExecutive Summary.............................................................................3Introduction........................................................................................4Introduction to Remote Access...........................................................5Components of Remote Access...........................................................6

Hardware........................................................................................6Software..........................................................................................7

Remote Access Product Descriptions..................................................8Dell Remote Access Hardware Description for x6xx Servers.........8Key Features........................................................................................................8Remote Floppy Boot -- Key Feature for DRAC II................................................10

Remote Access Supported Configurations........................................11Dell Remote Access Features............................................................12Key Differences Between DRAC II and DRAC III..............................14

FiguresFigure 1: Hardware Components of Remote Access...................................................6Figure 2: Diagram of the DRAC III..............................................................................8Figure 3: Boot Path Analysis Screen...........................................................................9Figure 4: Remote Floppy Boot Screen........................................................................9Figure 5: DRAC II......................................................................................................10

TablesTable 1: Remote Access Supported Configurations..................................................11Table 2: Features, Functions, and Benefits of DRAC................................................13Table 3: Key Differences Between DRAC II and DRAC III.........................................14

April 2002 Page 2 Dell Enterprise Systems Group

Section 1Executive Summary

The Dell Remote Assistant Cards (DRAC II and DRAC III) provide a user with the necessary tools and functionality to monitor, troubleshoot, and repair servers that are around the corner or around the world. This paper discusses the DRAC features and functionality with respect to how a DRAC can be used to help reduce time to manage servers, enable faster recovery of remote servers, and, in the end, lower cost of overall network ownership.


Section 2Introduction

Computer system problems can be some of the most frustrating problems to solve. Many of us have felt like kicking our systems at one time or another in frustration. If the system could only talk to us and tell us before something bad happened, it might reduce problems, including loss of data and potentially expensive repairs. Have you ever wished your server would tell you before it crashed that there was a problem? Do you wish that you could be given some sort of warning that small problems were occurring to give you the opportunity to fix them before they became big problems? If a server were “dead” or not responding, wouldn’t it be nice to know what might have caused the problem?For most computer users, the answer is an enthusiastic yes. This paper discusses remote access and presents an overview of the Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC II & III) and the wide range of features and functionality it provides a user to monitor, troubleshoot, and repair a network of servers remotely.


Section 3Introduction to Remote Access

Management of distributed servers from a remote location is often a requirement in today's business environment. IT administrators need to easily and effectively manage servers in locations that have no administrative IT staff, or servers that are locked away in a secure data center. This includes performing remotely all management operations, including server-down situations. The best remote management solutions must provide access to the servers regardless of their status, and enable users to perform all operations associated with the management of servers. Remote access solutions are designed to help those who administer servers to be more productive and to improve overall availability of the server. This is achieved by reducing the need for the administrator to visit the system and the ability to perform some operations on groups of systems instead of one at a time. The DRAC solution is designed to provide IT administrators with continuous access to the servers, and full control of the server hardware and operating system from any client system running a web browser, even if the server is “dead” or hung.Some of the primary features of the Dell Remote Access solution include: Access to a server in the event of a server failure, power outage, or loss of a network connection (via NIC or modem). Remote viewing of server internal event logs and power on self-test (POST) codes for diagnostic purposes. Managing servers in multiple locations from a remote console Managing servers by redirecting the console output to a remote console (graphic and text) Performing an orderly shutdown of the server to do maintenance tasks Diagnosing a server failure and restart the server Alerting the Administrator when the server detects an error (alphanumeric page, numeric page, email, SNMP trap)


Section 4Components of Remote Access

Remote Access solutions for PowerEdge servers are comprised of two components – hardware and software.

HardwareDRAC solutions reside on two types of platforms – ESM2 and ESM3. ESM2 Dell™ PowerEdge™ systems (x3xx, x4xx, x5xx PowerEdge servers) are Dell proprietary designs and work with DRAC II. ESM3 systems (Dell PowerEdge 1650, 4600, 6600, and 6650) are based on a standard hardware implementation called Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). This standard allows Dell to bring remote management solutions to market at a low cost. However, these are not compatible with the ESM2 systems, meaning that DRAC III cannot be used in ESM2-based systems and DRAC II cannot be used in ESM3-based systems.

Figure 1: Hardware Components of Remote Access


SoftwareTo use remote access, there is required software for the remote system and the central console. For the DRAC III, the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator installs the driver and supplies both a GUI and command line interface to set up and use the DRAC III. For DRAC II, the documentation provides guidelines for driver installation.Server Administrator is designed to install and manage one server at a time. The Remote Access function (provided in Server Administrator 1.1) provides the ability to install the software for the remote access solution, configure the remote access solution, update the software for the remote access solution, and provide remote access service while the server is operational. Dell OpenManage IT Assistant is able to configure and launch access to both DRAC II and DRAC III. IT Assistant provides the ability to access the remote access solution when the server is down, as well as providing access when the server is up.


Section 5Remote Access Product DescriptionsDell Remote Access Hardware Description for x6xx Servers

DRAC III is a half-length PCI card requiring one 33MHz, 32-bit PCI slot – see Figure 2. It provides 16MB of memory and 8MB FLASH/NVRAM, onboard 10/100 Mb/sec Ethernet, one serial interface, battery, real-time clock, and an ESM3 connector. The card may optionally include a PCMCIA modem and AC power adapter.

Figure 2: Diagram of the DRAC III

See Table 1 in Section 6 for a specific list of supported systems.

Key FeaturesKey features of DRAC III for the PowerEdge x6xx systems include: 1. Graphic Console RedirectionNew and even faster graphic console redirection than DRAC II. Also simplifies keyboard functions— such as control-alt-del -- making them easier to use. 2. Boot Path AnalysisBoot path analysis (see Figure 3) allows customers to determine any failures during the boot sequence. Boot path analysis displays the success or failure of Power-On Self Tests as the server comes up. This aids customers in identifying the status of the components before the OS is operational. Any errors in the boot path may be the source of why a server might not boot. By identifying the component early and quickly isolating problems, it may be possible to reduce downtime.


Figure 3: Boot Path Analysis Screen

3. Remote Floppy ProcessRemote floppy performance is enhanced by downloading floppy images to the memory on the card. Functions on the “diskette” are executed in a DOS environment for 32 bit systems. Figure 4: Remote Floppy Boot Screen


4. Increased User AccessImprovements in access by allowing up to 16 users access to the same card at the same time, four of who may be using console redirection. This allows administrators to work together from different locations to isolate problems more quickly.

The DRAC II occupies a single, full-length PCI slot. In addition to the processor, it includes: 16MB memory, FLASH/NVRAM, on-board NIC (10Mb/sec Ethernet), PC CARD interface, PCI controller, battery, real-time clock, and the Embedded Server Management 2 (ESM2) connector.The software necessary to use the DRAC II is incorporated into the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant that ships with every Dell server.

Figure 5: DRAC II

Remote Floppy Boot -- Key Feature for DRAC IIRemote floppy boot allows the user to insert a bootable DOS diskette into the diskette drive of his/her desktop and boot a remote server to that floppy. Operations may then be run from that floppy, including functions like flash BIOS to recover servers with BIOS problems.


Section 6Remote Access Supported Configurations

Table 1 shows the supported configurations (hardware and software) for the Dell remote access solutions.

Remote Management Card

Supported Platforms

Operating Systems Other Software Requirements

DRAC II PowerEdge x3xx, x4xx, x5xx, except 1550, and SC-designated systems

Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Red Hat Linux 7.1+, Novell NetWare 4 and 5.

IE 5.0 or higher

IT Assistant 6.0 or higher

DRAC III PowerEdge 7150 -Microsoft Windows LE for 64 bit platforms

-IE 5.0 or higher with Java 1.1

-Netscape 5 or higher with Java 1.1

-IT Assistant 6.2

DRAC III PowerEdge 4600, 1650

- Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000

- Red Hat Linux 7.1 or later

IE 5.0 or higher with Java 1.1

- Netscape 6 or higher with Java 1.1

- IT Assistant 6.3

Table 1: Remote Access Supported Configurations


Section 7Dell Remote Access Features

Table 2 describes the features, functions and benefits common to all DRAC solutions.

Feature Function Benefit

SNMP support A standard message format for notifying the administrator of problems

Notification of problems can be sent, even if the server is down, to most of the industry’s leading consoles.

Ability to monitor the health of the server

Monitors the health of the hardware to identify any failures and provide information to the administrator to isolate components with problems.

Fast troubleshooting, even when the server is not operational-- potentially yields higher availability

Alphanumeric and numeric paging

Notify administrators of problems from wireless devices.

Administrators are immediately notified of server problems – even when the server has failed.

E-mail support Notify administrators of problems via e-mail

Administrators are immediately notified of server problems – even when the server has failed.

Review of hardware logs

Provide access to data showing the state of the hardware and any errors that may have been logged.

Excellent source of hardware data aids in troubleshooting problems, which may help improve availability over systems without hardware log review.

Access to hardware sensors

Provides readouts on all sensors including power, fans, disks, temperature, voltage etc.

The administrator is able to ascertain the condition of the server regardless of the state of the operating system.

Ability to start the server, even from powered down state

Allows remote startup of the server without going to the system.

The administrator is able to power up systems that are powered off at night or over a weekend to save expense and without visiting the system making the administrator potentially more productive.

Shutdown and graceful shutdown procedures

Shutdown without warning or shutdown the OS and then power down.

Administrators are potentially more productive by allowing them to power down the server quickly or in a controlled fashion without visiting the system.

Automatic Server Recovery (watchdog)

Watches the system to identify periods of inactivity indicating a hung condition. Action may be to restart the server.

A proactive approach to recovering servers with a hung condition potentially yielding higher availability.

Remote console redirection

Provides full console redirection of Microsoft, Red Hat Linux, and Novell operating systems.

From the remote console, the administrator is able to perform many maintenance functions without going to the server. Result is potentially higher availability of applications


Feature Function Benefit

and productivity of administrators

Remote floppy boot Provides remote media access allowing the server to boot from that remote media

Note: DRAC II uses floppy redirection

Note: DRAC III use a TFTP image to the card

Administrator is able to use remote media to perform server recovery functions such as flash BIOS or firmware without going to the server.

OS down console access

Provides a remote session when the operating system is down.

Administrators are potentially more productive when they perform operations such as flash BIOS without having to visit the server when it is down.

10 Mbit NIC Provide access to all Ethernet speeds

Provides compatibility with all leading Ethernet speeds

PCMCIA modem Provides WAN access to the DRAC III.

Access via modem when the network interface is not available or desirable for remote management

Optional wall adapter Provides a backup source of power if the main server power is down

May be plugged into a separate power grid or UPS for access to the server, even when the server power grid is not available.

Battery backup Provide 30 minutes of access to the server when power is completely out.

Provides backup when all external power sources are non-functional.

Last screen capture Captures the content of the last screen before a failure.

Assists the administrator in determining what may have gone wrong at the point of failure. Yields potential gains in availability.

Table 2: Features, Functions, and Benefits of DRAC


Section 8Key Differences Between DRAC II and DRAC III

Table 3 describes the differences between the DRAC products.

Feature DRAC II DRAC III

ESM2 X

IPMI, ESM3 X

Form factor Full PCI Short PCI

Web server on the hardware X

Requires client software Yes No

Command line interface or script interface RACCONF RACADM

Remote floppy boot by redirecting floppy interrupt to remote floppy drive where the remote console is running

X

Remote floppy boot using file transfer of diskette image to Remote Access solution for better performance

X

Access to EFI partition for 64 bit systems X

NIC 10 Mbit 10/100 Mbit

Number of user sessions 1 16

Boot path analysis of POST X

Export logs to clipboard or spreadsheet X

Integrated to Server Administrator X

Support for IA64 X

Table 3: Key Differences Between DRAC II and DRAC III


THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

Dell, OpenManage, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation

Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

©Copyright 2002 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.


Documents

Dell Remote Access Card: Overview and Usage · Web viewThe Dell Remote Assistant Cards (DRAC II and DRAC III) provide a user with tools and functionality to monitor, troubleshoot,