Re: Remote server management

[Markus Oswald <moswald@iirc.at>]

Am Sa, den 07.02.2004 schrieb Micah Anderson um 00:26:
> Since we often have limited physical access to our machines, and our
> collective members are spread around the country, our holy grail is remote
> hardware administration.
> 
> This could mean a lot of things. Mostly, we just need to:
> 
> 1. power cycle computers remotely
> 2. access the bios and boot menu remotely

This and more can all be done with HP/Compaq's iLO (integrated Lights
Out) which is included in many newer ProLiant server. Take a look at
their website for a detailed listing of all available features...

We use a bunch of those machines (DL380G3 and DL360G3) for some months
now and never had a problem with the hardware or iLO itself.

Basically it's a controller which is powered by the standby-power of the
system and has a dedicated network interface. You can access a "virtual
console" either via an integrated webserver (which loads a java applet
to emulate the console output) or via telnet.

It's a little bit slower than the output on your normal screen but you
can setup the whole server (BIOS, RAID and OS) without connecting a
keyboard or screen at all.

best regards,
  Markus
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