This is part rant and part request for assistance. Ok, so I'm sort of new to HP. I used to buy HP Netservers way back in the day before they merged with Compaq, but switched to IBM back in 2006, and haven't (seriously) touched any HP servers newer than the LC2000 series.
Enter a new job/new environment, where I'm now responsible for an HP Blade Center c7000, populated with BL460c G1 series servers, and a handful of various Proliant DL series (360, 380, etc). I started looking at BIOS and iLO versions only to discover that they are YEARS out of date (getting ready to install ESX or ESXi on the blades, so I was interested for compatibility reasons). I've successfully updated one blade with the latest BIOS, and the Onboard Administrator Firmware, and then started working on the iLO update for the first blade and started thinking....there has got to be a better way.... The HP site simply appears to be a mess. (Maybe it is simply lack of familiarity, but I was feel spoiled by IBM). If you search for a particular tool or firmware title, you might get half a dozen hits named the exact same thing, with the only difference being the version of the software being different once you scroll down the page. What's even more frustrating than that is that none of them seem to say, "Danger, Will Robinson, this is not the latest version. If you want the latest version, go here..." Am I blind, or is that really the case? Anyway, I found a Smart Firmware DVD page that has an ISO for all of the latest updates that are tested together for my blades, and I downloaded it. It gives instructions on how to create a bootable USB Thumb Drive using a tool called the "HP USB Key Utility for Windows" Terrific, I thought....until I realized that the tool wouldn't run under XP or Windows 7. I've searched high and low, and cannot find one that will run under Win7. Does anyone know where I can find such? Also, is there some sort of free HP management tool that can keep track of all of my HP servers so that I can ensure BIOS/iLO/Firmware consistency across my environment? Thanks, -- Jonathan, MCSE ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
