White Papers

4 Dell EMC | Using USB NIC to Manage OEM Appliances
Executive summary
This white paper is intended to provide information on OS-to-BMC passthrough functionality using the USB
NIC interface on the 13
th
and 14
th
generation of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. You can access OS-to-BMC
feature by two channels—shared LOM and USB NIC. In this document, we discuss the USB NIC channel.
USB NIC feature provides a unique functionality to access the iDRAC web interface and command-line
interface through host operating system without knowing the IP address of the iDRAC. Network connectivity is
not required between iDRAC and host OS.
In the later sections of this document we discuss how to access server configurations, iDRAC features, and
perform firmware updates using USB NIC IP address. The firmware update process is discussed in detail.
The OS-to-BMC BMC passthrough functionality using the USB NIC Interface is relevant for OEM customers
who buy customized Dell EMC servers and have limited access to BMC or iDRAC through external network
connection.
This document is relevant for system management when server NIC is disabled or has no external network
connection, or when a management station is not present to manage servers remotely.