Owner's Manual

Planning Your Dell OpenManage IT Assistant Installation 59
IPMI
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) operates independently of
the operating system and allows administrators to manage a system remotely
even in the absence of the operating system or the systems management
software, or even if the monitored system is not powered on. IPMI can also
function when the operating system has started, and offers enhanced features
when used with the systems management software.
In order to successfully discover systems through IPMI, you must have a
Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) running IPMI version 1.5 or later
on your systems.
NOTE: The BMC does not monitor the storage subsystem on your network. To monitor
these devices, you must install Server Administrator on your managed systems.
Factors That Affect Protocol Choice
Two factors affect protocol choice:
• The systems that you want to monitor
• Agents on the systems that you want to monitor
Systems That You Want to Monitor
Your network may consist of a combination of client and server systems,
Dell|EMC storage arrays or Dell PowerVault Modular Disks, printers,
and tape libraries. When planning for IT Assistant installation, you will be
surveying these systems, as well as any systems you plan to add to your
network, and determining which of these you want to monitor. During this
assessment, you will be looking not only at the number of client and server
systems, but also at any systems management agents and operating systems
installed on these systems. The following section discusses the agents and
corresponding protocols that you may need to configure in IT Assistant.
Correctly configuring these protocols within IT Assistant is required to
successfully manage your network.
Agents on the Systems That You Want to Monitor
The agents that you run on your managed systems may support a specific
systems management protocol. If you want to retain the agents that are
already installed on these systems, you must continue to manage them with
their respective protocols. If the protocols used by certain agents are older,