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Tasks

Managing the Virtual Input-Output Identities of a Server—Stateless

Deployment

The I/O interfaces of a server, such as NICs or HBAs, have unique identity attributes that are assigned by the manufacturer of the

interfaces. These unique identity attributes are collectively known as the I/O identity of a server. The I/O identities uniquely identify a

server on a network and also determine how the server communicates with a network resource using a specic protocol. Using

OpenManage Essentials, you can automatically generate and assign virtual identity attributes to the I/O interfaces of a server.

Servers deployed using a device conguration template that contains virtual I/O identities are known to be stateless. Stateless

deployments allow you to create a server environment that is dynamic and exible. For example, deploying a server with virtual I/O

identities in a boot-from-SAN environment allows you to quickly perform the following:

• Replace a failing or failed server by moving the I/O identity of the server to another spare server.

• Deploy additional servers to increase the computing capability during high workload.

The Deployment portal allows you to perform the following tasks that are required to manage the virtual I/O identity of a server:

• Create virtual I/O pools

• Create compute pools

• Deploy a server

• Reclaim the virtual I/O identity of a server

• Replace a server

Overview of Stateless Deployment

The steps that you must perform to deploy a device conguration template with virtual I/O attributes on target devices are as

follows:

1. Create a device conguration template — Use the Create Template task in the Common Tasks pane to create a device

conguration template. You can choose to create the template from either a conguration le or a reference device.

2. Edit the device conguration template — Select the template from the Templates pane, and edit the desired conguration

attributes displayed in the right pane.

3. Create Virtual I/O Pool — Use the Create Virtual I/O Pool task in the Common Tasks pane to create a pool of one or more

virtual I/O identity types. The virtual I/O identity pool is used to assign virtual I/O identities to the target devices.

4. Create Compute Pool — Use the Create Compute Pool task in the Common Tasks pane to create a group of servers that

you want to use for a specic purpose. You can associate a device conguration template and virtual I/O pool to the compute

pool.

5. Deploy the device conguration template on target devices — Use the Deploy Template task in the Common Tasks pane to

deploy the device conguration template and virtual I/O identities on the target devices.