This post was authored by John Abrams, Systems Management Marketing
There has been a lot of discussion from Dell in recent months talking about our converged infrastructure solutions. Today, we’ll take a closer look at one of the underpinnings of Dell’s converged solutions: the embedded management in Dell PowerEdge servers.
As you may know, Dell OpenManage technologies have won a lot of recognition for their effectiveness and ease-of-use, particularly since the 2012 launch of Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers. One of the critical differences between Dell’s systems management strategy and that of our competitors is our use of agent-free, embedded technology. This means that our customers can deploy, update, monitor, and maintain systems without needing to install a software agent within the OS of a particular system. This translates into less work, fewer pieces of software to install, patch and manage, and server systems that are simpler to operate, with automation of routine tasks and greater overall efficiency for IT departments and the organizations they support.
To better explain how this works in a typical IT environment, let’s peel back the onion a bit. The key management component inside a Dell PowerEdge 12th generation server is the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC). Now in its seventh iteration, iDRAC7 and its companion component, the Lifecycle Controller, are the heart of Dell’s embedded management solution. These two components use built-in firmware to make each system available via an out-of-band connection, so that they can be discovered and managed without any OS being present. This dramatically lowers the time and complexity associated with system setup, OS deployment and making configuration changes. The iDRAC7 and Lifecycle Controller can be accessed via a remote GUI (command line is also available), and once connected, a wide range of system information is made available. This embedded management allows auto-discovery, handles deployment of embedded drivers, allows configuration of system settings and is not in the least bit intrusive to the system’s software environment.
Imagine being able to unbox a server, plug in the power and networking cable, and walking away knowing that Dell OpenManage technologies will allow you to automatically discover the system on your network, rapidly configure the system as desired and deploy your preferred OS and applications straight on top of the bare metal hardware! That’s the power of embedded management.
We can’t wait to answer whatever questions you may have about how it will make your IT life simpler and more efficient.
