David Dean wrote:
As I understand it, the DRAC has a seperate IP, which you can connect
to and issue commands through some kind of web interface - is that
entirely wrong?
I'm wondering if you can shed some light on what you actually GET out
of a DRAC card in terms of functionality on FreeBSD?
It seems like your post suggets it binds as the main terminal on the
machine - if so, I'll get one on the next box we order!
I help run two Dell 2850s, both several hundred miles from me, both with
DRACs.
The DRACs do indeed have a separate IP and you can connect to them
either through a Web interface or via SSH (but you might need to upgrade
the firmware - for whatever reason Dell doesn't necessarily do this when
they build your machine).
The main thing we get out of it, is that the DRAC is capable of being a
virtual "serial console". There's a java app on the Web interface that
allows a console window to pop up. This works all the time - whether
the machine is running FreeBSD, booting, in the BIOS, or even powered
down (but not unplugged!). It's pretty much like being sat at a console
without actually having to b anywhere near the machine.
The DRAC also has a "virtual CD" which allows you to use the CD drive on
your (Windows) PC as if it were on the Dell. Just for the heck of it, I
actually installed FreeBSD on one of these machines from the virtual CD
-- I had the CD in my local PC and was able to install 5.4 on the Dell
just as if the CD were in the Dell. (I'll admit that at the time the
machines were three feet apart and connected by a Gigabit network, but
in principle they could have been hundreds or thousands of miles apart).
The DRAC does have other features. In theory it can do notifications of
various events, and can be used to check the state of the machine and
reboot it or power it off. But for the latter to work you need to be
running Dell's OpenManage software, which isn't open at all and doesn't,
as far as I can find out, stand a hope of running on FreeBSD.
However, just for the remote console, it is great. The only gotcha we
have found, is that if the Dell (and the DRAC) are hidden on a NATed
network, then you have to VNC or PPP in to the local network before the
console app will work. I.e. you need your web browser to be able to
connect directly to the DRAC -- we have had no success trying to tunnel
through a firewall to it for reasons whose exact details now escape me.
Hope that helps,
--Alex
PS CCed to freebsd-questions, since the message which spawned this
question appeared there, and it's the kind of info I was looking for
when we were thinking of getting Dells.
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