Re: [Discuss] Dell Openmanage vs Supermicro IPMI?
From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org [mailto:discuss- bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org] On Behalf Of Scott Ehrlich We are looking at a more expensive quote for a Dell PowerEdge Server with the option of OpenManage software, and a quote at half the cost for a non OEM system from a VAR using a SuperMicro board and off-the-shelf parts. In addition to wanting a server with a lot of storage, we also want to remotely monitor the system's components, leading to OpenManage or a more generic IPMI option. I've had mostly exclusive experience with Dell OpenManage on Dell systems. What are your experiences with OM vs IPMI? Is it purely name and cost (Dell vs off-the-shelf), or is there more that I should know or be aware of? They're dramatically way different. That's not to say one is always hands-down better than the other - it's only to say they're dramatically different. Dell OMSA can be accessed directly via ssh, https, or other protocols, or you can centrally manage with the OMSA management station. It *does* provide you with some Dell-specific functionality such as reconfiguring the RAID card remotely (occasionally useful). But most of the value it provides could be done with IPMI and some monitoring software. Basic IPMI can be very difficult to secure - And only provides basic functionality such as power cycling. I have found that every manufacturer implements it differently; if you find a process that works for Dell servers (using IPMI instead of OMSA) that same process doesn't work on Sun servers, or HP, or SuperMicro. They're all different, but they all have *some* way of working. My advice is to only buy the big name brand server with super warranty and stuff, when you have an individual machine that is mission critical. My advice is to buy the generic hardware whenever you're going to use a compute cluster where you can plan for and afford 10%-20% of the machines to be down at any given time (although something like 5% is more typical.) By buying the generic hardware and either a basic warranty or no warranty, you can get 2x as much stuff for the same price, which is cool when you scale your environment, but not cool if any individual machine is mission critical. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
[Discuss] Dell Openmanage vs Supermicro IPMI?
We are looking at a more expensive quote for a Dell PowerEdge Server with the option of OpenManage software, and a quote at half the cost for a non OEM system from a VAR using a SuperMicro board and off-the-shelf parts. In addition to wanting a server with a lot of storage, we also want to remotely monitor the system's components, leading to OpenManage or a more generic IPMI option. I've had mostly exclusive experience with Dell OpenManage on Dell systems. What are your experiences with OM vs IPMI? Is it purely name and cost (Dell vs off-the-shelf), or is there more that I should know or be aware of? Thanks. Scott ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell docking and NVIDIA outputs
On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 8:23 AM, Edward Ned Harvey b...@nedharvey.com wrote: From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org [mailto:discuss- bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org] On Behalf Of Jay Burrill I have been trying to switch to Linux (openSUSE 12.1 Gnome 3) on a fairly good Dell Precision M4500 with NVIDIA FX880. But the driver does not seem to be very full featured. My expectations are:a. that if I dock, the driver will switch to use the external monitors (2); b. that if I undock, the driver will switch to use the internal LCD;c. that if I suspend while docked and outputting to the two externals, when I resume undocked, the driver will I am supporting many users on many different types of laptops using many different OSes. Everything works well, ONLY if your primary OS is either OSX or Windows, and you run your linux as a guest VM. I am sorry to say, I don't consider linux to be a well supported full featured client desktop system, especially for laptops. It has come a long way, but manufacturers just don't care enough right now to make all the little details work right - such as switching displays and sleep/wake. I'm using the nVidia driver with Xorg et. al. on a Dell laptop (Precision M6300 - nice machine!) with a dell docking station via its DVI port. All works great. I should say, this is on illumos, not linux, but I'm told nVidia provides this same (closed source) driver for sevaral OS flavors. So, if you're not religious about running 100% open source code, this is a very usable solution. (In this case, I'm willing to settle for 99% open source code, at least for now:) Gordon ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell docking and NVIDIA outputs
I too find the Precision M4500 to be a good machine. But our IT is short 64-bit licenses and If I don't run Linux, I have to put up with the limitations of 32-bit XP. I have used the nVIDIA driver with no issues when my Precision M4500 configuration does not change. But this IS a laptop. And I cannot require that everyone meet at my desk. So docking and undocking changes are the real issue for me. The nVIDIA (and Nouveau) drivers do not seem to behave well when I change from docked/closed with two external monitors at my desk, to undocked and opened to the laptop LGD in meetings. I am left with no output to the LGD, and have to reboot to use the machine in the meeting. And the trip back to the desk is no better. The only solution that some have tried si scripts to toggle the X configuration before suspending to undock or dock. Or the more manual process of using the nVIDIA driver applet to enable/disable outputs before suspending. I am now looking at Fedora. I belie ve that Dell can, in fact, ship with Redhat Enterprise as an option, so I hope the lesser sibling has inherited some of those genes. And I see that Fedora has yet another default driver, not Nouveau. So I hope that the behavior is more as expected. After all, I spend most of my time in Eclipse and other IDEs and not full screen in some game, so 3D performance is not my primary goal. Jay Burrill Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:26:45 -0500 From: gordon.w.r...@gmail.com To: b...@nedharvey.com CC: discuss@blu.org Subject: Re: [Discuss] Dell docking and NVIDIA outputs On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 8:23 AM, Edward Ned Harvey b...@nedharvey.com wrote: From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org [mailto:discuss- bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org] On Behalf Of Jay Burrill I have been trying to switch to Linux (openSUSE 12.1 Gnome 3) on a fairly good Dell Precision M4500 with NVIDIA FX880. But the driver does not seem to be very full featured. My expectations are:a. that if I dock, the driver will switch to use the external monitors (2); b. that if I undock, the driver will switch to use the internal LCD;c. that if I suspend while docked and outputting to the two externals, when I resume undocked, the driver will I am supporting many users on many different types of laptops using many different OSes. Everything works well, ONLY if your primary OS is either OSX or Windows, and you run your linux as a guest VM. I am sorry to say, I don't consider linux to be a well supported full featured client desktop system, especially for laptops. It has come a long way, but manufacturers just don't care enough right now to make all the little details work right - such as switching displays and sleep/wake. I'm using the nVidia driver with Xorg et. al. on a Dell laptop (Precision M6300 - nice machine!) with a dell docking station via its DVI port. All works great. I should say, this is on illumos, not linux, but I'm told nVidia provides this same (closed source) driver for sevaral OS flavors. So, if you're not religious about running 100% open source code, this is a very usable solution. (In this case, I'm willing to settle for 99% open source code, at least for now:) Gordon ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
On 07/17/2011 08:48 PM, Chris O'Connell wrote: For those Windows users among us, there is a neato application called Dell OpenManage that allows full bios control, error reporting and configuration that can be accessed via the desktop. I'm not sure if these features are unique or somewhat standard for servers? Most servers today have this remote feature. For instance, HP has Integrated Lights Out (ILO) that allows you to manage the server remotely.. ILO has been around for a long time. But, the bottom line on a lot of this is familiarity and personal experience. It's comical that in our computer room at work I have 8 servers, and the only one with ILO is our vSphere system that I don't have root access to :-). Dan Stolts, President of Boston User Groups owns Baystate Integrrated Technologies, and he has had a lot of success with Dell servers. -- Jerry Feldman g...@blu.org Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id: 537C5846 PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 08:48:14PM -0400, Chris O'Connell wrote: 3. For those Windows users among us, there is a neato application called Dell OpenManage that allows full bios control, error reporting and configuration that can be accessed via the desktop. There is a Linux version of OpenManage as well. In fact, Dell has excellent Linux support--I know the guy who heads up their Linux development, Matt Domsch. He started the Linux support mailing list, linux-poweredge: https://lists.us.dell.com/mailman/listinfo/linux-poweredge/ and also contributes to Red Hat and Fedora. I would recommend Dell servers without a hesitation, but it's largely due to familiarity. Agreed. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
On 07/16/2011 03:29 PM, Tom Metro wrote: Jerry Feldman wrote: While Dell does make decent consumer grade PCs, I still question their servers. I thought the general consensus was that the reverse was true. I've had limited dealings with Dell, and they haven't left me with a positive impression. I've known people who have had multiple failures with business-grade Dell laptops. I attempted to repair a consumer-grade Dell laptop (fairly current model at the time), and wasn't able to obtain a driver needed to reload Windows, nor get any support without paying a fee. (I avoided the issue by loading Ubuntu.) At the last BLU meeting the speaker conveyed an interesting point about how Dell successively outsourced more and more of its computer production to ASUS, who then eventually took the final step of selling their products directly to BestBuy under their own brand. A win for ASUS' business skill, though if they've been the OEM for Dell for a while, that makes me rethink the quality reputation of ASUS. -Tom Recently one of my coworkers was complaining that his Dell Laptop temps were running very high. He also wanted to adjust the fan speed, but there was no BIOS setting. Brought it to work, and one of my coworkers took it apart, sprayed a bit of air on it to clear then vents and just get the dust out of the fan. The system is working again. In contrast, my Lenovo T60 runs 24x5 with no glitches. -- Jerry Feldman g...@blu.org Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id: 537C5846 PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org [mailto:discuss- bounces+blu=nedharvey@blu.org] On Behalf Of Jerry Feldman Recently one of my coworkers was complaining that his Dell Laptop temps were running very high. He also wanted to adjust the fan speed, but there was no BIOS setting. Brought it to work, and one of my coworkers took it apart, sprayed a bit of air on it to clear then vents and just get the dust out of the fan. The system is working again. I have three dells that I run 24/7 (two laptops and a desktop which is provisioned as a server) and I reboot them less frequently than my mac. Point is to say... These are just individual data points, not really valid to use as the basis for generalizations. We apparently all have different experiences. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Edward Ned Harvey b...@nedharvey.com wrote: Point is to say... These are just individual data points, not really valid to use as the basis for generalizations. We apparently all have different experiences. The plural of anecdotes is not data*. Gordon *for small values of n, of course. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
Hey Guys, I have one old Compaq Proliant server, I think it's a ML280 G3 or something. It's been working for many years with NO trouble. I also have 3 Dell servers. Most of our critical applications work off from these Dells. As a result I'm a little more familiar with the Dell servers than any other brands. There are a number of things I like about the servers: 1. There is a blue LED light on the back of each server that is solid blue when the server is running well. The light turns orange if the server detects a hardware failure. 2. There is an LCD display that is back lit using the same color scheme on the front of each server. This display gives a readout of any hardware failures that are detected. 3. For those Windows users among us, there is a neato application called Dell OpenManage that allows full bios control, error reporting and configuration that can be accessed via the desktop. I'm not sure if these features are unique or somewhat standard for servers? This is my first job where I've been the only administrator of modern servers. In the year and a half that I've been working at my current job I've had only one problem: A single hard disk went off-line and needed to be reseated. I would recommend Dell servers without a hesitation, but it's largely due to familiarity. --Chriso On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Gordon Marx gcm...@gmail.com wrote: On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Edward Ned Harvey b...@nedharvey.com wrote: Point is to say... These are just individual data points, not really valid to use as the basis for generalizations. We apparently all have different experiences. The plural of anecdotes is not data*. Gordon *for small values of n, of course. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Dell
Jerry Feldman wrote: While Dell does make decent consumer grade PCs, I still question their servers. I thought the general consensus was that the reverse was true. I've had limited dealings with Dell, and they haven't left me with a positive impression. I've known people who have had multiple failures with business-grade Dell laptops. I attempted to repair a consumer-grade Dell laptop (fairly current model at the time), and wasn't able to obtain a driver needed to reload Windows, nor get any support without paying a fee. (I avoided the issue by loading Ubuntu.) At the last BLU meeting the speaker conveyed an interesting point about how Dell successively outsourced more and more of its computer production to ASUS, who then eventually took the final step of selling their products directly to BestBuy under their own brand. A win for ASUS' business skill, though if they've been the OEM for Dell for a while, that makes me rethink the quality reputation of ASUS. -Tom -- Tom Metro Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA Enterprise solutions through open source. Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/ ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
