01-15-2008 Chat Log



	DELL-ScottH	hi roger
	DELL-RogerF	Afternoon
		MarkO joined.
	DELL-ScottH	hey mark
	MarkO	Hey ya
	DELL-ScottH	I'll wait a few more minutes and then kick it off, Todd should be here in a sec
		DELL-ToddM joined.
	DELL-ScottH	hey todd
	DELL-ToddM	I am ready to talk about blades
	DELL-ScottH	should be a "pointed" discussion !
	DELL-ToddM	I'm excited to sharpen my skills
	DELL-RogerF	Let's be careful out there. No running with sharp objects.
	DELL-ScottH	... all fun and games until .... ouch my eye !
	DELL-ScottH	ok, 3:05 time for kickoff
	DELL-ScottH	Welcome everyone to our 5th installment of our chat series ...
	DELL-ScottH	This weeks topic is on Systems Management
	DELL-ScottH	We'll make you aware of some of the features in the blade offerering, as well as other places to help you get started with Dell's Openmanage solution
	DELL-ScottH	First, let me give you the link to our Openmanage wiki section on the main site .... http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/openmanage+systems+management
	DELL-ScottH	You can start here, end here, and as always contribute any knowledge you have on the topic
	DELL-ScottH	We also discuss current findings in the lab on our Systemsedge blog which is here ...
	DELL-ScottH	http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/openmanage+systems+management
	DELL-ScottH	So lets start the discussion with the Blade Chassis and what you get out of the box ....
	DELL-ScottH	Our management strategy is built on open standards ... out of the box you have the Cmc .. Chassis Management Controller ... once given an Ip address you can contact it through Http or a telnet interface.
	DELL-ScottH	It is simple to use and familiar interface if you've worked with the Drac (dell Remote Access Controllers)
	DELL-ToddM	How do you assign the Ip? Will it use Dhcp by default?
	DELL-ScottH	If I recall correctly (have to check and make sure) .. it tries Dhcp first, then times out and defaults to an Ip. There is also the ability to set the Ip on the front panel interface . I'll double check on the default settings after this chat.
	DELL-ScottH	Unfortunately Dave couldn't join us, he set it up and would have the answer
	DELL-ScottH	once the Ip is set, the Cmc gives you access to all hardware functions and the ability to set the Ips on the Idrac controllers for each blade.
	DELL-ScottH	Each blade has its own separate interface for management, that once given an Ip can be managed over the web as well.
	DELL-ScottH	If you follow this path further, you will quickly see that if you have many chassis and blades you will soon have Many Ip addresses to remember to management in this one-to-one fashion will be cumbersom
	DELL-ScottH	Hence the reason for a systems management package.
	DELL-ScottH	Dell Openmanage is our solution to help .... it is actually a suite of products built around open standards ... if you are familiar with other vendors solutions, this chart will help define what they each do --> http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/competitive+mapping
	DELL-ScottH	the latest version is Openmanage 5.3.0 with 5.3.0.1 right around the corner.
	DELL-ScottH	At the heart is Ita (IT Assistant) version 8.1.0 being the latest. It's a tool that you install on a system to collect all the alerts and act as the central point of management.
	DELL-ScottH	The agents that get installed on the systems being managed are named Omsa (openmanage Server Administrator)
	DELL-ScottH	Once you have Ita installed, and you want to manage the chassis and start consolidation of the management of the blades, you simply need to specify the Snmp details on the Cmc and the Idracs of the blades.
	DELL-ScottH	For the Cmc, starting on the main webpage, click on the "alert Management" tab and then "trap Settings" .. this will allow you to specify the trap destination and community name
	DELL-ScottH	for the Idrac on the blades, it is the same.
	DELL-ScottH	Once that is configured and the systems are in Ita, you can start to do the "regular" systems management functions, ie.. firmware updates, driver updates, scheduling, reporting, etc ....
	DELL-ScottH	for examples and demos of those features ..... see this link
	DELL-ScottH	http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/openmanage%20demos
	DELL-ScottH	If you need to dig into the documents, here is the link with All the systems management docs, great resource --> http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=gen&~cat=6&~subcat=111
	DELL-ScottH	hopefully that link somes across, I remember something about Urls were supposed to be easy to remember :-)
	DELL-ScottH	Another great place to find assistance is from other users ...
	DELL-ToddM	Is Openmanage 5.3.0 required to work with the new 10G blades?
	DELL-ScottH	There is a forum on the Dell Community Forums under "servers and Storage" -- http://www.dellcommunity.com/
	DELL-ScottH	Great question Todd. Yes, actually you need the 5.3.0.1 release that is officially supported with the new blades. We have been testing with beta releases .... 5.3.0.1 releases on the 18th
	DELL-ScottH	Well I don't think I've typed this much since Uil highschool typewriting competition ... questions ?
	DELL-ToddM	What level of detail is Ita able to see in the chassis? What modules is able to see? Can it provide any management of the those network or fibre switches?
	DELL-ScottH	I'm looking at our chassis right now, and the level of detail is limited compared to what I see in the other servers in our Ita console. I'm going to test on the 18th and I'm sure we'll get the same as what we can see in the other systems (device driver versions, Fru number on all components, etc) ... that is the plan for the next demo on systems managment.
	DELL-ScottH	so be on the lookout for that .... as far as the components ...
	DELL-ScottH	Ita acts as a launch point for the compenents managment tools .. for example ...
	DELL-ScottH	we have several ethernet switches, we can see some details on hardware config, but to actually change anything, you simply right click on the swtich object and then launch the native application used to manage the details, be it a web interface, telnet session, ssh session, etc.
	DELL-ScottH	for example, on our Dell Blade Chassis, when you right click it says Application Launch and then Cmc Console. Which brings up the web interface
	DELL-ScottH	Other questions ?
	DELL-ToddM	I really like that the new idrac supports full console redirection, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. What do you think of it?
	DELL-RogerF	So that means every blade can have an active console re-direct session instead of having to share a limited number?
	DELL-ScottH	Yes, great point Roger, since every Idrac has its own Ip and interface, everyone can be active at the same time. The redirection is also very fast and smooth from a Gui aspect.
	DELL-ScottH	I'm actually connected right now through a double redirection --- Rdp to an Ita machine, and then Idrac into the console of a blade. And even through my slower wireless notebook connection, it is Very usable.
	DELL-RogerF	Sounds like a great way to manage machines safely in a Dmz
	DELL-ScottH	I encourage everyone to check out the Systems Management section on the Dell Techcenter wiki, all contributions are welcome. Any thing else, or other questions before we wrap up this week ?
	DELL-ToddM	Thanks for the info
	DELL-ScottH	Next week we will be taking the chat to the public side !
	DELL-ScottH	Thanks again and be on the lookout for some new demos around the blade and systems management since it will be released to public soon.

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Comments

Posted by jeffAZ123

on 14 Nov 2011 1:27 PM

hello, My friend has a Dell inspiron 8500,it will not power up at all, when it did power up, it would freeze at the dell /bios loadng screen then go dark, the two green lights stay blinking but its as if its just dead. any ideas whats wrong?
Posted by DELL-Chris M

on 15 Nov 2011 10:39 AM

jeffAZ123,

I sent you a private message.

If you have support questions, please post them here: en.community.dell.com/.../default.aspx

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