User's Manual

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 dell.com/support/manuals.
What's New in this Release?
The new features for this release are:
• Added support for R220, FC420, FC620, R920, and FM120 servers.
• Support for the new operating systems. For a list of supported operating systems, contact your service
provider.
• Support for the Emulex NICs: D6T93, RFPC9, YGW92, KYKT7, and JJPC0.
• Support for Samsung Solid State Drive (SSD).
Key Features
The key features of Lifecycle Controller are:
• Provisioning — Entire pre-operating system configuration from a unified interface.
• Deploying — Simplified operating system installation with embedded drivers on the Lifecycle
Controller. Installing an OS using the unattended installation mode for Windows-based OS.
• Download drivers for operating system installation from one of the following sources:
– Dell FTP website at ftp.dell.com
– Dell Lifecycle Controller OS Driver Packs DVD for Windows and Linux
• Patching or Updating — Operating system agnostic, and reduced maintenance downtime with direct
access to updates from ftp.dell.com. It simplifies firmware updates by maintaining a working version
for rollback.
• Servicing — Continuous availability of diagnostics without depending on a hard disk drive. Ability to
flash firmware automatically, while replacing field-replaceable components such as a Dell PowerEdge
storage controller, NIC, and power supply unit. Support for VLAN in network configuration.
• Reset the system to factory default — Deletes the current iDRAC settings and resets iDRAC to factory
default settings. It also deletes lifecycle logs, factory-shipped inventory, driver packs, and diagnostics
information on the managed node, and deletes all the user-settings and configurations.
• Security — Supports local key encryption.
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