Dell 1855 User Manual

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

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pdating the

Dell PowerEdge 1855 Blade Server

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hassis and Server Blade

Many hardware components in the Dell™ PowerEdge™ 1855 blade server have been

designed with a firmware upgrade option—including the Dell Remote Access Controller/

Modular Chassis (DRAC/MC) management module; server baseboard management

controllers; I/O modules; and keyboard, video, mouse modules. This article discusses

standards-based frameworks for updating individual server blades and available

software utilities as well as recommended methods and best practices for updating

chassis component firmware.

BY NARAYAN DEVIREDDY AND RUOTING HUAN

uipped with 10 server blades and several I/O mod

ules and management modules, the Dell PowerEdge

855 blade server contains numerous system software

components to update durin

rocess. Although best practices dictate careful planning

and methodical implementation when deployin

software updates for the PowerEdge 1855 blade server,

such chan

e case with other PowerEdge servers, administrators

can mana

blade server using standards-based Dell OpenManag

ools, third-party enterprise change-management

ools, or both.

e management need not be difficult. As is

e software updates for the PowerEdge 1855

the change-management

system

ating server blade

he process for updating system software components on

PowerEdge 1855 server blades is designed to be the same

as on ot

administrators to levera

er PowerEdge servers. This similarity allows

e existing change-management

rocesses in their IT organization to manage updates to

owerEdge 1855 server blades. On PowerEdge 1855 server

lades, administrators can typically update firmware on

the

ollowing system software components

•

erver system BIO

•

Baseboard management controller (BMC

•

PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 4,

Integrated Mirroring

•

Adaptec SCSI Card 3916

•

CSI hard disk drives

•

-level driver

As part of the change-management planning

rocess, administrators must decide which update

ethod best fits their environment. System software

components on a PowerEdge 1855 server blade can be

updated using one o

online updates.

PERC 4/IM

two methods: offline updates or

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re

ugust 2005

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

dell

Note:

)

2003 and Red Hat

Note:

ffline updates

o perform an offline update, administrators must schedule server

downtime. Most offline update utilities boot into a pre-OS environ

ment such as DOS to perform the update. These update utilities may

also require multiple system reboots to complete the update process.

Although the offline update

rocess is time-consumin

and requires several manua

steps, this is a safe method

o update system software on

irtually any server because

e network is not involved.

In contrast, network traffic

rivial FTP (TFTP) server

esponse time, packet loss,

and link loss can affect firm

are updates that are per

rmed over a network

n a PowerEdge 1855

server blade, administrator

can update BIOS, BMC firmware, RAID firmware, SCSI hard disk

drive firmware, SCSI controller firmware, and OS-level drivers

sing DOS-based update utilities found on the Dell support Web

site (support.dell.com).

he PowerEdge 1855 server blade motherboard, so PERC 4/IM

irmware is included as part of the system BIOS update package.

Although the offline update

process is time-consuming

and requires several manual

steps, this is a safe method

to update system software on

virtually any server because

the network is not involved.

The PERC 4/IM is integrated into

nline update

nlike an offline update, the online update process minimizes server

owntime by allowing the process to run in a normal OS environ

ment. The greatest advantage of the online approach is its capability

o automate the update process. Online updates enable organiza

ions to update multiple server blades from a central console usin

Dell OpenManage change-management tools or third-party change

management frameworks.

ell OpenManage change-management tools for the PowerEdge

855 blade server comprise the following

•

ell Update Packages

•

ell OpenManage Server Update Utility (SUU

•

ell OpenManage IT Assistant (ITA) 7

Dell Update Packages.Dell Update Packages are self-contained,

easy-to-use programs; each package updates a single system software

component on the server on which it is executed. Each Dell Update

ackage contains the logic to verify that the update will work on a

iven system. Dell Update Packages support both a graphical user

interface (GUI) and a command-line interface (CLI). BIOS and BMC

irmware Dell Update Packages are available for PowerEdge 1855

server blades. Dell Update Packages are supported on Microso

Windows Serv

systems. In addition, Dell Update Packages can be integrated into

third-party or custom software distribution application frameworks

such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003, Altiri

eployment Solution, and others

ell OpenManage Server Update Utility. SUU is a comprehen-

sive system update utility that provides a mechanism to update several

system software components at once. It is a CD-based application that

can identify systems and apply the appropriate updates. For example,

on a PowerEdge 1855 blade server, administrators can use the SUU CD

to update all system software on a server blade. The SUU update pro-

cess requires administrators to update one server blade at a time.

ell OpenManage IT Assistant.ITA 7 provides centralized soft-

ware update capability for Dell servers. IT Assistant allows admin-

istrators to load Dell Update Packages and Dell System Update Sets

into a central repository and then compare the packages to the

software versions currently running on PowerEdge systems. Admin-

istrators can then decide whether to update systems that are not in

compliance, either immediately or according to an administrator-

defined schedule.

Enterprise Linux® operating

MC flash update

The BMC does not disable the power button on the front of an

individual PowerEdge 1855 server blade during a flash update. If

an administrator presses the power button during a flash update,

the server blade will power off and leave the BMC in an unknown

state. To recover the server blade, an administrator should remove

the server blade from the PowerEdge blade server chassis, wait five

seconds, reinsert the server blade, and allow the server blade to

oot. Then the flash update can be performed again

Keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) hot-key keyboard

sequences are not supported during a BMC flash update. If an

administrator attempts a hot-key sequence from a server blade

that is performing a BMC flash update, the flash update may fail.

To recover, the administrator must execute the flash update again

ating chassis components

Because individual server blades in the PowerEdge 1855 blade server

share common chassis infrastructure components, keeping the system

software of the chassis components up-to-date can play a critical role in

www.

For more information about how Dell Update Packages are designed to work in third-party software distribution applications, see “Scripting Dell Update Packages on Windows and Linux” by Manoj Gujarathi, Pritesh Prabhu, and

ubbu Ganesan in Dell Power Solutions, October 2004, www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps4q04-20040125-Gujarathi.pdf; and “Deploying Dell Update Packages Using Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003” by Sand

eep Karandikar and Manoj Gujarathi in Dell Power Solutions, February 2005, www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps1q05-20040111-Gujarathi.pdf.

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