Simplify Datacenter Management
with Centralized Control of Service Processors
Preventing datacenter downtime is
a top priority for datacenter managers, and for good reason.
Across every industry, lost hourly revenue due to downtime
is very expensive. Recent studies estimate that downtime
costs as much as $2.8M per hour in lost revenue for firms
in the energy industry, more than $2M per hour for firms
in telecommunications, and $1M -$1.6M per hour for companies
in other sectors, including manufacturing, finance, and
information technology.(1)
Even on good days, datacenter infrastructure management
is a challenge, as administrators often have to control
computer systems, serial devices, and power from multiple
individual interfaces.
Centralized server management platforms
simplify access to IT assets by aggregating access and providing
a single management portal, thus eliminating the need to
manage devices individually.
When downtime occurs, centralized server management platforms
provide a unified point of entry that allows administrators
to access, troubleshoot, power cycle, and bring servers
and appliances back online quickly. In addition, on a day-to-day
basis, centralized management allows administrators to more
easily and efficiently do their jobs.
Integrated Onboard Technologies
Integrated onboard technologies, or service processors,
are microcontrollers embedded in a motherboard of a server,
a PCI card, or on the chassis of a server. They are independent
from the main CPU and the system OS and are accessible through
an Ethernet interface; dedicated (Out-of-Band) or
shared with the data Ethernet (Sideband).(2)
Service processor
features vary by manufacturer and include remote power-cycling
of devices, monitoring of a server’s on-board instrumentation
(temperature, CPU status, fan speed, and voltage), remote
console access via Serial over LAN (SoL), and the ability
to set event traps and perform OS-level shutdown.
Some service
processors also allow for data logging, KVM control, and
virtual media.
There are several different types of integrated onboard
technologies made by various manufacturers. Details about
specific service processors can be found in
Table 1 at the end of this article.
Centralized Management
There are currently two centralized management platforms
on the market, Avocent’s
DSView
and Raritan’s
Command
Center, which can be used to manage devices made by
multiple vendors. Avocent also makes two service processor
aggregation appliances that can be used to manage devices
with integrated onboard technologies: the
Cyclades OnBoard Service Processor Manager and the
MergePoint
5200 Management Gateway Appliance. Both integrate with
the DSView software and can also be managed by CLI. The
Cyclades OnBoard provides out-of-band physical consolidation,
power control, and monitoring, and requires only one external
IP address for all connected devices. The MergePoint provides
service processor “auto discovery”; hardware monitoring,
group execution of commands; integrated support for Remote
Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Virtual Network Computing (VNC),
and Serial over LAN (SoL) power control.
Raritan, whose embedded solutions include PCI cards,
industry-standard “daughter” cards, and a single-chip
solution, currently supports generic devices through its
Command Center Secure Gateway appliance and is expected to further expand this
support to include IPMI in Q1.
Minicom, whose
KVM.net
product currently provides out-of-band KVM over IP management
for mixed server environments, is expected to add support
for integrated onboard technologies in Q2.
Bringing Together A Total Solution
Both Avocent
and Raritan
provide complete integrated management solutions that allow
administrators to manage devices with embedded onboard technologies
such as IPMI, iLO, and DRAC, as well as allowing them to
manage equipment currently controlled through secure console
servers or KVM over IP. In addition, some devices can integrate
support for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Virtual Network
Computing (VNC), so that full server management coverage
(in-band and out-of-band) can take place from one user interface.
42U’s knowledgeable sales engineers can provide you with
a customized business-specific solution that will help you
accomplish your goals.
Table 1: Integrated
Onboard Technologies/Service Processors
| |
|
Hewlett-Packard
|
iLO (integrated
Lights-Out)
|
An intelligent
management processor integrated on most
ProLiant servers. Available in iLO Standard
and iLO Advanced. iLO Standard provides
basic system board management functions,
diagnostics and essential “Lights-Out” functionality.
iLO Advanced provides enhanced remote administration
functionality with a license, including
graphic remote console and virtual media.
It also has increased security features
such as integration with Microsoft Active
Directory and Novell eDirectory and two-factor
authentication.
(3)
|
|
RILOE (Remote
Insight Lights-Out Edition)
|
PCI
cards that provide front-of-the-server remote
management for ProLiant servers that do
not have embedded Integrated Lights-Out
technology. (4)
|
|
Dell
|
DRAC (Dell
Remote Access Card)
|
A systems
management solution designed to provide
remote management capabilities for Dell
PowerEdge systems.
(5)
|
|
IBM
|
RSA (Remote
Supervisor Adapter)
|
Service
processor on a PCI card that manages the
Baseboard Management Controller (BMC). The
SlimLine, a version of the RSA II, is an
internal card that includes the BMC and
uses a dedicated Ethernet connector on the
server for communication. It also allows
web-based management.
(6)
|
|
Sun Microsystems
|
ALOM (Advanced
Lights-Out Manager)
|
The
standard system controller for remote out-of-band
management for many current Sun servers.
ALOM allows for monitoring, logging, alerting,
and basic system control. It replaces the
Remote System Control (RSC) used on VSP
servers and Lights Out Management used on
Sun Netra servers.(7)
|
|
ILOM (Integrated
Lights-Out Manager)
|
A built-in
system management tool that enables monitoring
and management of the components installed
in the Sun Blade 8000 Modular System Chassis.
It is accessible through both web browser
and command-line interfaces and supports
the SNMP and IPMI management protocols.
(8)
|
|
RSC (Remote
System Control)
|
Remote
management and administration software for
Sun Fire V480, Sun Fire V490, Sun Fire V880,
and Sun Fire V890 servers that provides
a graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line
interface (CLI).
(9)
|
|
Multi-Vendor
|
IPMI (Intelligent
Platform Management Interface)
|
An open
standard service processor technology that
provides a single service processor protocol
for servers manufactured by different vendors.
IPMI has been adopted by every major server
platform vendor.
(10)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
42U provides turnkey
datacenter solutions, including
KVM over IP,
intelligent power, environmental monitoring, rack cooling,
and rackmount solutions. The team at 42U specializes in
assessing needs, creating solutions, and supporting clients, to
ensure that IT professionals maximize their use of current
technologies to improve overall business performance.
References:
(1) IT Performance Engineering & Measurement Strategies: Quantifying
Performance Loss, Meta Group, October 2000, cited in “The Hidden
Cost of Computer Downtime,"
http://www.creativedata.net/index.cfm?webid=207
(2) Service Processor Management
http://www.global.avocent.com/us/learnmore/serviceprocessor.asp
and Centralized Management
http://www.avocent.com/web/en.nsf/Content/learnmoreDSV3
(3) HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) Standard
http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/iloadv/index.html
(4) Remote Insight Lights-Out Edition II
http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/riloe2/index.html
(5) Dell PowerEdge Remote Access Controller (DRAC)
http://lists.us.dell.com/fom-serve/cache/75.html
(6) Service Processor Management
http://www.global.avocent.com/us/learnmore/serviceprocessor.asp
(7) Sun Advanced Lights Out Manager 1.6 (ALOM)
http://www.sun.com/servers/alom.html
(8) What Is ILOM?
http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/html/819-5846-11/819-5846-11/c~config_ilom.html
(9) Sun Remote System Control (RSC) for Sun Fire V480, Sun Fire
V490, Sun Fire V880, and Sun Fire V890 Servers
http://www.sun.com/servers/rsc.html
(10) Service Processor Management
http://www.global.avocent.com/us/learnmore/serviceprocessor.asp
This article was written by Lauren Nowenstein, Technical Writer, with guidance and
input from DirectNET’s team of Solutions Sales Engineers. If you
would like to send us feedback about this article, or have any
questions, please
write to us.

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