That is a fundamental step in data center automation.īeyond simple on/ off functionality, Dell is able to showcase the power consumption over time. When using OpenStack as an example, the provisioning services can powered on/ off servers via software. In addition, this can be accomplished via standard IPMI interfaces and server management tools. Dell iDRAC 8 – Server – Power Thermal Control This can be accomplished via the web intervase. For individual servers, one may manually power cycle servers. One of the most basic is monitoring and power control. There are a few basic features that every server management solution requires. Since we were using multiple OSes for our server review, we were able to note when a new OS was installed.Īs one familiar with remote server management solutions may already be able to tell, this dashboard is a harbinger of the functionality it summarizes. Dell iDRAC 8 Enterprise – DashboardĪ small feature that was a standout was the “Work Notes” feature. One can also access key tasks such as launching the virtual console or power cycling the server. From there, one can see basic system health data, server information and log information. The iDRAC 8 dashboard is both informative and functional. One will note that the “Domain” option is available so that one can have either local or Active Directory/ LDAP authentication.

There we were greeted with a standard login page. We saw the Dell iDRAC 8 controller obtain an IP address via DHCP and then connected to the IP address using a web browser. In our lab this is connected to a dedicated out-of-band management network. The Dell PowerEdge T630 we reviewed has a dedicated management Ethernet port. We are not going to look at OpenManage at this time, but hope to do so in a follow-up piece. While the iDRAC 8 is a server-level technology which can be used to manage an individual machine, the purpose is to work well with data center management applications like Dell OpenManage. Within a minute or two it is apparent Dell has a team keen on innovating with their server management interface. Using the Dell iDRAC 8 Enterprise is an experience far from the spartan management interfaces we have seen on some servers. At STH we test servers from vendors playing primarily as bare bones ODMs up to traditional enterprise IT equipment purveyors. This is the top of the line Dell iDRAC 8 implementation. Dell has a number of license levels for iDRAC 8 and we were able to test the iDRAC 8 Enterprise version. The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 8 (or iDRAC 8) is a primary method for low level Dell server administration.

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