Owner's Manual

Using the CMC Web Interface 215
Filtering Mechanisms
Information for all the components and devices across all servers is retrieved
at one time. To manage this large amount of information, the Lifecycle
Controller provides various filtering mechanisms. These filters enable you to:
• Select one or more categories of components or devices for easy viewing.
• Compare firmware versions of components and devices across the server.
• Filter the selected components and devices automatically, to narrow the
category of a particular component or device based on types or models.
NOTE: Automatic filtering feature is important while using the Dell Update
Package (DUP). The update programming of a DUP can be based on the type
or model of a component or device. The automatic filtering behavior is
designed to minimize the subsequent selection decisions after an initial
selection is made.
Examples
Following are some examples where the filtering mechanisms are applied:
• If the BIOS filter is selected, only the BIOS inventory for all servers is
presented. If the set of servers consists of a number of server models, and a
server is selected for BIOS update, the automatic filtering logic
automatically removes all the other servers that do not match with the
model of the selected server. This ensures that the selection of the BIOS
firmware update image (DUP) is compatible with the correct model of the
server.
Sometimes, a BIOS firmware update image may be compatible across a
number of server models. Such optimizations are ignored just in case this
compatibility is no longer true in the future.
• Automatic filtering is important for firmware updates of Network Interface
Controllers (NIC) and RAID Controllers. These device categories have
different types and models. Similarly, the firmware update images (DUP)
may be available in optimized forms where a single DUP may be
programmed to update multiple types or models of devices of a given
category.