Managing servers is always a challenge. Join us in our weekly chat sessions where this week we will discuss the unique challenges in managing a bladed environment and what tools Dell has to offer to help with those challeneges.

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Chat Transcript

Stuart joined.
DELL-ScottH hey stuart, you are about hour early too :-)
Stuart Hi there :)
DELL-ScottH you write my script yet ?
Stuart Yeah, I am at work doing an upgrade... :(
DELL-ScottH os or hardware ?
Stuart hehehe no not yet....
Stuart Vm coversion.... our Pabx server going virtual... we have a big Dr project going right now...
DELL-ScottH cool, no special hardware needed on the pbx ?
Stuart No (lucky for me) it is all Ip bases :)
Stuart I did get the shirt btw... thanks heaps... I have just been off work for the last couple of weeks and so didn't have a chance to say thanks ... it is a great fit hehe
DELL-ScottH If I had more time, I'd write that racadm script for you, I don't have all the older stuff to test with, and trying to get other community members to step up and help out, I don't want this to become "scott's script writting shop" :-)
DELL-ScottH no problem, glad it fits, because shipping international was a pain .. too many forms, they acutually wanted to know the fibre content
Stuart yeah for sure, I will have a go at it today but I have not done much scritping... I will pass it around the team and see if anyone else can help as well...
Stuart hehe... sending me illegal fibre!! : )
DELL-ScottH ok, I might be able to find some time, it's really not that hard ... yeah don't smoke it :-)
Stuart So what is todays chat about?? looks like I will be able to join in..
DELL-ScottH blade systems management on the M1000e, you have those ?
Stuart No, I think we need them though... we have a secondary datacentre with limited rack space due to costs... but it is getting filled up what r200s/2950s and cisco routers/switches....
Stuart ooops... my Vm conversion just completed.... I will be back in a few mins.... :)
DELL-ScottH yeah, you might want to do a quick price check on similiary configured blade chassis with integrated switches, system might cost less, and less U space
DELL-ScottH k
DELL-ScottH philip, anything special we need to cover for you or your customers today ?
DELL-ScottH or did you go to sleep already ? ::biggrin
Philip Hi, no not sleeping yet.
Philip Actually, I have fairly decent experience with our new Blades and a great management story!
DELL-ScottH great, feel free to chime in during the discussion if you have relevant points to make
Philip Although I am a Systems Consultant, in order to close a deal, I included my time to do the installation!!!
DELL-ScottH whatever it takes, right ?
Philip I setup 16 Blades with Vmware 3.5 in 4 hours...that includes getting it into the rack...
DELL-ScottH wow, not bad, how did you load Vmware ? from Cd ?
Philip Via idrac - remotely mounted Iso image of the Vmware Cd
Philip Works like a dream!
DELL-ScottH nice, so all 16 at the same time ? unattended install, or walk through the install ? Vm installs so fast, I guess really not need for unattended install with only 16
Philip Just about all at same time. The Blades Management is super.
Philip I just wanted to look on this discussion to see if anything new and useful is about...
Dell-RogerF joined.
DELL-ScottH not much new on this talk ...
DELL-ScottH hey roger
Dell-RogerF Afternoon.
DELL-ScottH you can lurk and see what discussion come or, or chime in
DELL-ScottH we'll be doing the flex address thing in a few weeks (days maybe), that will be new
Philip ok
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Kristoffer joined.
DELL-ScottH hello kristoffer
Kristoffer Hi Scott
Kristoffer and everybody else
DELL-ScottH I hear you're going to do a case study ... wating for others to join
Dell-RogerF Welcome back Kristoffer
Kristoffer Thanks :-)
DELL-ScottH should be some good press and promo , of course you have to have ytour homepage up :-)
Kristoffer haha, yep.. working on it... just recieved some of my gear and I'm busy configuring it... Homepage got to wait a bit..
DELL-ScottH fun fun , late hours , I'm a night owl I think that's why I've always liked It, all the fun stuff happens at night
DELL-ScottH just ask stuart who is in Australia converting pbxs to Vmware servers as we speak :-)
DELL-ScottH he said be right back about 30 mins ago, I knew it would take him longer that a second
DELL-ScottH we'll start in a few minutes, give em a littel more time to join, and for Todd too ... Todd !!!
DELL-ToddM joined.
DELL-ScottH I guess i yelled loud enough
DELL-ToddM Hello everybody
DELL-ScottH hey todd
Kristoffer hey
DELL-ScottH giving everybody exactly .05 hours more to join
flakrat joined.
DELL-ScottH hey flakrat, welcome
flakrat howdy
David_Ouellette joined.
DELL-ToddM Hello David
DELL-KentS joined.
DELL-ScottH alright, lets get started .... for you new comers, you can click "action" .. "recent room history" to catch up on anything you missed ... Todd can you tell all the newcomers this ? I swear I put it in the welcome text
David_Ouellette afternoon
DELL-ToddM Hey Kent
DELL-ScottH so the format is very casual ..... I throw a few things out with links ...
DELL-ScottH ohhhh , Roi
DELL-ScottH Right click on the links, or you';ll get kicked out :-)
DELL-ScottH and anyone can chime it at anytime, don't worry about interrupting, we can carry on multiple conversations
DELL-ScottH so todays topic is Blade Systems management
DELL-ScottH specifically we will cover the hardware management portions of the Dell poweredge M1000e
DELL-ScottH I created a page to track all the updated topics we will be covering for the next few weeks ... http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/blades+management
DELL-ScottH Just a reminder, that I'll also talk about upcoming events and new findings around this topic on my blog -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/systems+edge
DELL-ScottH Ok, so the first thing to discuss around M1000e hardware management is the Cmc - the chassis managment controller ....
DELL-ScottH it has a web interface that allows mgmt of the chassis
steven_chin joined.
DELL-ToddM welcom steven
DELL-ScottH We've got a demo of it here -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/poweredge+blade+demos
steven_chin thanks
DELL-ToddM You can get caught up by if you select Action -> Recent Room History
DELL-ScottH The Wmv file is not posted on dell.com yet, but will be soon. Currently you can view the Youtube version on that page
DELL-ScottH ... unless you are behind the Dell firewall :-)
David_Ouellette but these links can be saved and re-used at any time??
DELL-ScottH Yes, this chat will have a transcript tomorrow morning for later viewing pleasure
DELL-ScottH http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/chat+topics+and+transcripts
DELL-ScottH So the Cmc gives a chassis level detail, for the individual blades in the chassis, each has an idrac (integrated Dell Remote Access Controller)
DELL-ScottH the idrac allows remote access and Gui console access to each blade .... I've got a demo of the idrac that should be posted tomorrow
DELL-ScottH look for it under the same page as the Cmc demo.
David_Ouellette does the Idracs in teh blades have their own Ip addresses like typical idracs?
DELL-ScottH yes
DELL-ScottH each idrac has its own Ip and can be launched from the Cmc gui, or just by pointing to the idrac Ip
flakrat do the idraqs and the cmc support snmp?
David_Ouellette same level of security either way, I'd guess
DELL-ScottH the idrac also "knows" which chassis it's in and allows launching of the Cmc console from within the idrac interface and vice-versa
DELL-ScottH yes, both support Snmp
DELL-ScottH I currently have their trap destinations set to the Ip address of our Ita machine in the lab
steven_chin will there be support for something other than Snmp i.e. Wsman?
DELL-ScottH @steven, not sure about the answer to that, I will send that question to the developers, I'll post the answer to the thread on the transcript, or send me a techcenter message to remind me as well
steven_chin good deal
DELL-ScottH The Cmc demo shows the Snmp configuration tab, so you can see it in action
David_Ouellette can u share a quick blurp about what "wsman" is?
DELL-ScottH two links
DELL-ScottH http://www.dmtf.org/standards/wsman
DELL-ScottH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ws-management
DELL-ScottH it's another standard, in a world of standards, so many to choose from
David_Ouellette does this replace the concept of "smash"? or augment it?
DELL-ScottH alright, so the Cmc allows chassis level control, and control of the components in the chassis, you can power cycle the whole chassis, or blades, or the switches
DELL-ScottH smash is geared toward Cli, webm and wsman are web services based ... so I would say augment
DELL-ScottH both those standards come out of Dmtf
DELL-ScottH Roger has heavy background in this stuff, I sense something good coming from him
Dell-RogerF Fyi, The supported Wsman profiles of the Cmc are listed on page 29 of the Cmc User Guide http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/cmc/en/ug/pdf/cmcug.pdf
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DELL-ScottH perfect, documentation
DELL-ScottH so using the Cmc and the idracs we can remotely manage the chassis and blades
DELL-ScottH We've been doing it in our lab for quite awhile, and I can tell you that it's much easier than walking to our lab which is a few blocks away and no shade, and we're about to hit the hot months here in Texas
DELL-ToddM Welcome Eric - You can click Action -> Recent Room History to get caught up on the conversation
eric_reed I remember Round Rock in June...and thanks, yeah I'll catch up.
DELL-ScottH If you scroll back through the chat, Philip from Israel joined early and he was able to install Vmware 3.5 using the virtual media connection of the idracs -- and installed all 16 blades, a chassis in the rack, and all connections in less than 4 hours
DELL-ScottH pretty impressive that you can show up in the am and be done by lunch
eric_reed Not bad at All.
DELL-ScottH there was also a good article today from infoworld (not sure if you like the trade pubs or not :-) -- http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/09/25tc-dell-mseries_1.html
DELL-ScottH but also tried to show some real world testing experience
DELL-ScottH From a managment perspective it is definitely nice to have everything integrated in the chassis, you stil have to do some configuration, but for the most part everything talks to each other out of the box
steven_chin do we have any examples of what systems managment tools our customers are using once the blades are up and running?
DELL-ScottH So I've got the Cmc Demo, the idrac demo is coming, planning on doing a power managment demo -- any other demos that would help ?
DELL-ScottH We plan on covering some of the other partner tools next week, but for the most part, customers use all the tools they are used to ....
David_Ouellette particularly as they relate around pwr mgt
DELL-ScottH the blades are just servers
steven_chin i guess I was wondering if we know how many folks use Dell Systems managment vs other apps i.e. Ms Mom, Bmc, etc
DELL-ScottH Altiris, Microsoft System Center, etc
steven_chin and do we have any feedback related
eric_reed yeah, my folks are going to want to know about overall systems management, how Landesk will play with it as opposed to the Dell|altiris tools, etc.
DELL-ScottH Well the Openmanage line is good as a hardware element manager, and has integration points for Scom, Bmc, etc ... but I'm not sure we have a pulse on that
David_Ouellette does the Altiris image capture the Vm if virtualized Os, or the entire physical contents - I'd assume it's only the Vm on the given blade...
steven_chin perhaps we can have a future discussion topic around systems management?
DELL-ScottH I'll have to ask an Altiris expert on that, I would assume just the Vm since it looks like a real box
DELL-ScottH @steven, I'm going to point our internal partner relationship person at your query, see if she has some insight, current docs, or feedback on your question
abendorg joined.
DELL-ToddM Welcome abendorg - Click on Action -> Recent Room History to get caught up on the conversation
steven_chin thanks
DELL-ToddM And jump in when ready!
David_Ouellette btw - the demo did lanuch for me - but comes up quite blurry
DELL-ScottH so some resources around partner managment tools for the blade would be helpful ?
DELL-ScottH @david, yeah Youtube compression, full Wmv will be available as soon as they post it on Dell.com, better resolution
DELL-ScottH When I talk to the partner person, I'll link everything she gives me on the blades managment page -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/blades+management
steven_chin can a link be placed ine transcript for where on dell.com the wmv will eventually be placed?
DELL-ScottH if you need more, start a thread on that page and we'll see what we can provide.
DELL-ScottH sure, one sec
DELL-ScottH I've got a placeholder here -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/poweredge+blade+demos
DELL-ScottH but the real link will be -- http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/blade-cmc-demo.wmv ... should be, cross your fingers, if you're reading the transcript and the link doens't work, go to the blade demo page
DELL-ScottH yeah, still not there
steven_chin thanks
DELL-ScottH usually takes 2-3 days, submitted yesterday
eric_reed [jeopardy Theme...]
DELL-ScottH :-)
DELL-ScottH other demos that would help ?
David_Ouellette blades in conjunction with Vmware site mgt
DELL-ScottH fyi, I've got a challenge out -- take a look -- you could earn a shirt -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/6-10-08+techcenter+shirt+anyone+%3f+-+comments
DELL-ScottH check
Stuart left.
flakrat It might be useful to have a list of Oid's (is that right) for the Cmc and irdacs that can be used by monitoring agents like Nagios
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DELL-ScottH ahh good idea, I started down that track when I talked about managing Hp servers -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/managing+non-dell+servers+with+ita
DELL-ScottH @flakrat - post that as a thread on a page and I'll follow up
DELL-ScottH coming up on the hour, I would like to yield the time for any open discussion ... next week we will talk about a new feature on the blades that is yet to be announced
DELL-ScottH so we can't announce it, but if you've seen Hp's virtual connect, you might have an idea of what it is
DELL-ScottH This chat will be available tomorrow in transcript format ... any other questions before we close it out ?
DELL-ScottH stuart, your servers get converted succesfully ?
DELL-KentS fkarat - This information is in the Omsa Snmp Reference guide here - http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/svradmin/5.4/en/snmp/html/index.htm
Stuart The conversion went fine... but the application had licnece issues.... I have logged a call...
flakrat Kent, thanks
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DELL-ScottH Thanks Kent, that is a massive list of Object ids
Kristoffer flakrat: I think you can download the mibs for the cmc on the support site...
DELL-KentS There will be a quiz later ;)
Kristoffer under m1000e
DELL-ScottH try this link on for size -- http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&deviceid=1108&libid=36&releaseid=r179793&vercnt=2&formatcnt=0&systemid=pwe_m1000e&servicetag=&os=wnet&osl=en&catid=-1&impid=-1
flakrat very cool
DELL-ScottH should get you in the right direction
flakrat yeah, much easier than using snmpwalk to find the right one
DELL-ScottH Thanks again for everyone joining, tell your friends we are here !
steven_chin thanks
Stuart Thanks heaps Scott, and thanks to everyone that contributes to the site... Have a great day!
flakrat thanks
DELL-ScottH see you next week, and thanks to all
DELL-ScottH get some sleep stuart
Kristoffer thanks and see you
eric_reed thanks, gents!
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Stuart Hehe...going home at 12:30opm today... so that will be nice :)
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DELL-ToddM Thanks everybody!
DELL-ScottH hah todd, big chief tablet :-)
DELL-ScottH http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/06-10-2008+storage+choices+for+virtualiation+can+be+easy+-+comments
DELL-ToddM Somebody follows the links!
Stuart Hey Scott, We will be implementing altiris in our environment soon... I was wondering if a web chat could be setup in a few weeks to talk about this? (unless it has been done??)
DELL-ScottH Todd owns the roadmap, you have to bribe him
DELL-ScottH have you seen their juice community ?
Stuart I will need some time to get my head around it.... hehehe I can pay him in Wow gold?? hoiw is that?? :)
DELL-ScottH Lol
Stuart No... but I will have a look thismorning...
DELL-ScottH we're Team Fortress 2 players
DELL-ScottH :-)
DELL-ToddM Altiris Chat - We can work on that. Will need to get our Altiris friends to participate
Stuart Thanks, that would be great : )
DELL-ScottH yeah, we need to build out an altiris side, but the juice community will be a quicker jump start for you
DELL-ScottH http://juice.altiris.com/dell
Stuart Okies, thanks again... have a great day!!
DELL-ScottH u2
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