Classification of Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers using iDRAC7 in HP Operations Manager for Windows

 This post was written by Kalai MS of the Dell OpenManage Connections team 

This post provides details on the Classification of Dell PowerEdge 12^th Generation Servers, which helps in the agent-free monitoring of Dell servers. Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers are equipped with integrated Dell Remote Access Controller, version 7 (iDRAC7) with Lifecycle Controller, an innovative agent-free systems management solution, which automates day-to-day IT management functions.  With iDRAC7, you can monitor, troubleshoot and remediate servers, receive server issue alerts with improved error messaging, and remove any dependency on operating systems or in-band management agents such as that provided by Dell’s legacy OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA). The iDRAC7 with its built-in agent-free, embedded management makes OMSA unnecessary.

 Agent-Free monitoring provides these benefits:

• Monitoring servers even if an operating system is not installed.
• Monitoring servers even when the operating system is down.
• Monitoring servers without the need for OMSA or any other software agents.
• Viewing server health status using iDRAC7.
• Support for Dell PowerEdge 12th generation server traps through iDRAC7.
• iDRAC7 console launch support to launch the appropriate console to further troubleshoot a particular server.
• iDRAC7 console launch support to remotely install an operating system.

 Agent-Free monitoring of Dell servers is a licensed feature in Dell Smart Plug-in (SPI) version 3.0 which offers out-of-band monitoring of 12th generation Dell PowerEdge servers via their embedded server management component, the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC), version 7 with Lifecycle Controller.

            Refer to the wiki article on Setting up HP Operations Manager for agent free monitoring of Dell PowerEdge 12^th generation servers.

 Classification of Dell PowerEdge 12^th Generation Servers:

          The Dell Smart Plug In uses the feature called “Agent-Free Server Monitoring v3” for classifying the iDRAC7 devices in the HP Operations Manager (HPOM) console. Licenses are required to use the Agent-free monitoring feature of Dell SPI for HP OM.  After the Dell SPI license for monitoring iDRAC7 is procured, you can classify and monitor Dell server through iDRAC7.  

            iDRAC7 devices are classified in both Node Hierarchy and Service Hierarchy based on the availability of licenses. With a single license per iDRAC7 device, the iDRAC7 device can be classified in both Node and Service hierarchy.

Bare Metal Servers:

            Dell servers without an operating system installed are listed as “Bare Metal Servers”.  Using this classification, Dell SPI provides the capability of monitoring bare metal servers, and servers which are down.

You can monitor these servers using their respective iDRAC7 IP addresses. In Node Hierarchy, these iDRAC7 devices will be classified under “Dell Managed Systems” -> “Dell DRAC” and also under “Dell Managed Systems” -> “Dell Servers”.

Once the iDRAC7 node is classified, you can view the server traps and the server health status from these hierarchies.

Monolithic Servers:

            Dell Rack/Tower based servers are referred as “Monolithic Servers”. You can monitor these servers using its iDRAC7 IP address.

            In Node Hierarchy, these iDRAC7 devices are classified under “Dell Managed Systems” -> “Dell DRAC”. And also the servers are associated with their respective iDRACs under

 “Dell Managed Systems->Dell Servers->Monolithic Servers”.

Server representative object is created in the format:

“System Fully Qualified Domain Name (hostname) (serviceTag)“ to associate/group the iDRAC7 device and corresponding server managed nodes.

Server hostname and iDRAC7 are created and associated with the server representative object.

            So from Node and Service hierarchies, once the iDRAC7 node is classified, you can view the server traps and the server health status.

Modular Servers:

            Dell Blade servers are referred as “Modular Servers”. You can monitor these servers using their iDRAC7 IP address.

            In Node Hierarchy, these iDRAC devices are classified under “Dell Managed Systems” -> “Dell DRAC”.  The servers are also associated with their respective iDRACs under “Dell Managed Systems” -> “Dell Servers” -> “Modular Servers”.

            Once the iDRAC7 node is classified, you can view the server traps and the server health status from Node and Service hierarchies.

Chassis Server iDRAC7 Association

You can also monitor modular servers using iDRAC7 from the Dell Chassis hierarchy. In Dell Chassis view, iDRAC7 node will be associated with its corresponding server Managed Node along with slot and service tag details under the corresponding Chassis Management controller(CMC) Managed Node as in the below screenshot.

            You can monitor the health of all the modular servers through iDRAC7 from this hierarchy.

 Dell servers may also be monitored through iDRAC7 from Service hierarchy. Bare Metal servers are classified through iDRAC7 under “Dell Hardware” -> “Dell Servers” hierarchy.

 “Global system status” service is created under each iDRAC7 node and this node represents the health status of the server. Thus this “Global system status” service of the iDRAC7 node helps to identify the status of server even when it is not installed with OS or when it is down.

Windows and Linux Servers:

                        In a Physical Datacenter environment, most Servers are installed with Windows and Linux Operating Systems. You can monitor the Windows and Linux Dell Servers via the iDRAC7 IP address. They are classified and associated with their server hostname under “Dell Hardware” -> “Dell Servers” -> “Windows Servers (or) Linux Servers”. “Global system status” service is created under each iDRAC7 node and this node represents the overall health status of the server.

ESXi Servers:

                        Servers installed with ESXi Operating Systemmay also be monitored via the iDRAC7 IP address. They are classified and associated with their server hostname under “Dell Hardware” -> “Dell Servers” -> “ESXi Servers”. “Global system status” service is created under each iDRAC7 node; this node represents the overall health status of the server.

Appendix

Refer to the following links:

• Dell OpenManage Connection for HP Operations Manager
• Taking Advantage of Agent-Free Monitoring of Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers using HP Operations Manager for Windows
• OpenManage Connections for 3rd Party Console Integration Forum