Users Guide

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Introduction
The Dell Lifecycle Controller provides advanced embedded systems management to perform systems management
tasks such as deploy, configure, update, maintain, and diagnose through a graphical user interface. It is delivered as
part of iDRAC7 out-of-band solution and embedded Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) applications in the
latest Dell servers. The iDRAC7 works with the UEFI firmware to access and manage every aspect of the hardware,
including component and subsystem management that is beyond the traditional Baseboard Management Controller
(BMC) capabilities.
NOTE: The UEFI environment provides the local console interface and the infrastructure for locally managed
system components.
The Lifecycle Controller has the following components:
• GUI-based Lifecycle Controller:
– Is an embedded configuration utility that reside on an embedded flash memory card.
– Is similar to the BIOS utility that is started during the boot sequence, and can function in a pre-operating
system environment.
– Enable systems and storage management tasks from an embedded environment throughout the
system’s life cycle.
• Remote Services (WS-Management) simplifies end-to-end server lifecycle management using the one-to-many
method. It interfaces for remote deployment integrated with Dell OpenManage Essentials and partner consoles.
For more information, see Dell Lifecycle Controller Remote Services User’s Guide .
Benefits of Using iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller
The benefits include:
• Increased Availability — Early notification of potential or actual failures that help prevent a server failure or
reduce recovery time after failure.
• Improved Productivity and Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — Extending the reach of administrators to
larger numbers of distant servers can make IT staff more productive while driving down operational costs such
as travel.
• Secure Environment — By providing secure access to remote servers, administrators can perform critical
management functions while maintaining server and network security.
• Enhanced Embedded Management through Lifecycle Controller – Lifecycle Controller provides deployment and
simplified serviceability through Lifecycle Controller GUI for local deployment and Remote Services (WS-
Management) interfaces for remote deployment integrated with Dell OpenManage Essentials and partner
consoles.
For more information on iDRAC7, see Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller User’s Guide available at
support.dell.com/manuals.
Key Features
The key features in Lifecycle Controller include:
• Easy-to-use GUI with logical grouping of features.
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