Concept Guide

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Systems Management Product Overview
This section provides product overviews for the Dell systems management suite of products.
Dell Hardware Management Tools
The following table lists the hardware management tools and the operating systems they are supported on.
Table 1. Dell Hardware Management Tools
Product Windows Linux ESXi
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Yes Yes Yes
Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation Yes Yes No
Basic Management Utilities with IPMI Yes Yes No
Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller With Lifecycle Controller
The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 7 (iDRAC7) is designed to enhance the productivity of server
administrators and improve the overall availability of Dell servers. iDRAC7 achieves this by alerting administrators about
the server problems, enabling remote server management, and reducing the need for an administrator to physically visit
the server.
iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller allows administrators to deploy, update, monitor and manage Dell servers from any
location without the use of agents in a one-to-one or one-to-many method. This out-of-band management allows the
updates to be sent from Dell or appropriate third-party consoles directly to iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller on a Dell
PowerEdge server, regardless of the operating system that may or may not be running.
• The Lifecycle Controller console provides local one-to-one deployment for operating system installation,
updates, configuration, and for performing diagnostics on single local servers. This eliminates the need for
multiple option ROMs for hardware configuration.
• Remote Services are standards-based Web services, APIs that enable applications and scripts to integrate; for
example, bare-metal provisioning and one-to-many operating system deployments, for servers that are remotely
located.
iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller helps to:
• Increase Availability — Early notification of potential or actual failures can help prevent a server failure or
reduce recovery time in the case of a failure.
• Improve Productivity and Lower Total Cost of Ownership — Extending the reach of administrators to larger
numbers of distant servers can make IT staff more productive while reducing the operational costs such as
travel.
• Secure Environment — By providing secure access to remote servers, administrators can carry out business-
critical functions, while maintaining server and network security.
• Enhance Embedded Management through Lifecycle Controller — Lifecycle Controller provides local deployment
and simplified serviceability through Lifecycle Controller GUI and WS-Management interfaces for remote
deployment, integrated with Dell OpenManage Essentials and partner consoles.
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