Hp INTEGRITY RX5670 Headless Windows

Headless Windows

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................ 2

Why Headless?........................................................................................................................................2

What is a Headless System?................................................................................................................2

Benefits of Headless Systems..............................................................................................................2

How Do I Access a Headless System?................................................................................................3

Console Definitions................................................................................................................................. 3

In-band vs. Out-of-band..................................................................................................................... 3

Remote Desktop................................................................................................................................. 3

Physical Aspects of Integrity Consoles............................................................................................... 4

Management Processor..................................................................................................................... 4

Emergency Management Services.................................................................................................... 4

Firmware Redirection.......................................................................................................................... 4

Special Administration Console..........................................................................................................4

Configuring Consoles ............................................................................................................................. 5

Management Processor Settings........................................................................................................5

Cellular Systems...............................................................................................................................5

Non-Cellular Systems ........................................................................................................................ 6

EFI Console Settings ............................................................................................................................ 6

Windows Installation Methods................................................................................................................ 6

HP Re-Install Media............................................................................................................................. 6

Smart Setup and Microsoft RTM Media..............................................................................................6

Remote Installation Services...............................................................................................................6

For more information.............................................................................................................................. 7

Executive Summary

Users of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 are very familiar with the setup, installation, and
operation of systems using a keyboard, video, and mouse. These users may not be familiar
with the robust set of headless functionality that is provided by HP Integrity servers running
Windows Server 2003.

Integrity servers provide a complete set of tools to setup, install, manage, and use the
system in a true headless fashion. The benefits of headless servers are many.

• Elimination of the last remnant of legacy hardware

• Simpler to reconfigure partitions

• Easier to deploy and maintain

• Prepare for future fine-grained partitioning

Windows on Integrity can be installed using several flexible headless installation methods
that match a full range of user scenarios. Once the system is installed, all interaction is
through the Remote Desktop. Remote Desktop provides the best user interface experience
to a Windows system without the complexities related to a full Terminal Services
deployment. The GUI resolution, color depth, and mouse interaction outperformsany other
remote GUI method.

Why Headless?

Integrity servers are built on an inherently legacy-free architecture. By building on this
legacy–free foundation, systems are more stable in addition to being easier to configure
and maintain.

What is a Headless System?

Headless systems are those that do not have legacy VGA or legacy PS/2 keyboard/mouse
hardware. A system with these hardware devices is not strictly headless since these
devices will be detected by Windows and drivers will be loaded for them. A system with
the A6869A Graphics USB card is not headless even if there is no monitor, keyboard, or
mouse connected. This means that the advantages of a completely legacy-free system
will not be fully available. For example, a PCI card with hardware related to the head,
such as the A6869A, cannot be hot-plugged. However, users can still take advantage of
some of the benefits of interacting with a system using headless methods.

Benefits of Headless Systems

VGA hardware is the last legacy piece of hardware in Integrity systems. By eliminating this
device, a system is much easier to setup, maintain, and operate.

The presence of VGA hardware restricts the ease of repartitioning of cellular systems.
Because of the legacy hardware requirements of VGA, there are very specific rules for the
IO slot location of the graphics card. As partitions are changed or created, the presence
of this card in an IO chassis can create configurations that are invalid. This causes
customer confusion and can require that the graphics card and other cards be moved. If
an IO card connected to the boot drive has to be moved, this can cause the currently
installed OS to fail to boot.

As the system is powering on, much of the hardware must be initialized and configured
before the IO path to the graphics card can be used. This delays the display of the
firmware forward progress messages. All of these messages are immediately visible through
the headless port giving more visibility into the state of the system.

Customers can simplify their data center by avoiding the deployment or expansion of their
console switch environment. The cabling and rack mount monitors complicate the

installation of servers in racks. Console switches with remote viewing capabilities do not
present the same high resolution GUI that is available through Remote Desktop. Remote
desktop also provides a more responsive mouse input experience. These remote view
console switches also require user authentication management which further complicates
systems that are being installed or repartitioned.

For future systems there may be many fine-grained partitions which require careful
allocation of IO slots. Avoiding the consumption of slots for non-critical use such as
graphics will ease the deployment of future systems. Customers should start to deploy and
operate systems using headless methods.

How Do I Access a Headless System?

Users have full access to the GUI of a system through the use of Remote Desktop. From any
client PC on the network, running the Terminal Services Client (mstsc.exe) will present a
complete, high performance GUI of the system’s graphical console. All GUI based
interaction is exactly the same as if the user was seated at a physical keyboard, monitor,
and mouse directly attached to the system.

The user has full access to the system’s EFI command prompt, boot loader, and OS
command prompt by connecting to its service processor via telnet. On mid-range systems,
a terminal emulator can be launched from any web browser connected to the service
processor. On entry level systems, the user can also connect directly to the service
processor via the Integrity iLo web interface, or, if the Integrated Lights-Out Advanced
Pack is installed, through SSH.

Console Definitions

When you see a document use the name ‘console’, it can refer to many different things
and that can lead to confusion. It can mean anything from a serial port connection into a
management processor’s command line interface, to the default GUI interface to a
Windows system, or many possibilities in between.

In-band vs. Out-of-band

Connections to a system are referred to as either in-band or out-of-band. An in-band
connection is one that is under the control of the OS and the port is visible in the Windows
Device Manager. Examples of this are a telnet connection to a network interface, a
remote desktop GUI session, or a terminal connected to a serial port that is assigned a
COMx name in device manager.

An out-of-band connection is one that is not visible to the user of the OS. An example is a
connection to the network port or serial port of the management processor. These ports
do not appear in the Windows device manager and are not controlled by a Windows
device driver.

Remote Desktop

Windows provides complete remote GUI access through the Remote Desktop. Remote
Desktop uses the same tools and software as Terminal Services but without the requirement
of setting up a complete license server. Alicense for two connections to the Administrator
account is included. When a system is running and healthy, this is the primary and
preferred method for interaction with a system.

Remote Desktop provides access to all of the familiar GUI tools. It is also very high
performance and gives a very good user experience compared to other remote GUI
access methods.