I think your problem is reflected in the terminology you are using. "ILOM" is a Sun-ism, and when you're looking a Intel/Dell servers, they just don't work the same way, so it seems you are evaluating the Dells with invalid criteria. Stop calling it an ILOM to help change your perception.
The fact is that Intel servers are mostly built to run Windows, and Linux just happens to work on them. You still can't get an Intel server to boot without a VGA adapter (though they are all cheap and integrated these days). Here's what you are looking at when coming to the PC server world: - Serial access: I am running both Dell PE2950 and R710s. They all have acceptable serial redirection built into the BIOS, though you need to configure it. This is only enough to get you into the BIOS screens though. You need to configure GRUB, the Linux kernel, and a getty to run on the serial line. That's just the way it is. In reality you will almost never be using this method of access (use ssh + sudo). - Remote console access: This is handled on PC Servers by using integrated remote console cards like a DRAC, and/or an external IP-based KVM. I have both of these. As you probably know, once you get Linux up and running you don't need console access very often, so you'll only need these in an emergency. They perform acceptably when you need them, but you won't want to (or need to) use them every day. DRACs are quite reliable and I have not really seen issues with them. I have seen serial redirection/SSH listed in the features for the DRAC, but have not set it up myself. I think that will still only get you to the BIOS though. - Remote power switch: You need this in case you need to forcefully power cycle the machine. Most remote access cards (like DRAC) have the ability to power the server built-in, but you never know if the DRAC itself will need a power-cycle. This happens rarely and I've only seen it once when we were testing, but it's a possibility. Also useful for other equipment that doesn't have built-in power controls. - For firmware versions, checking that just needs to be part of your build/test process. Assume that whatever BIOS/firmware versions you get shipped are out of date anyway, so you'll need to download the updates and install. - IPMI: Most servers have a BMC built-in, so you should be able to get some level of function from it. You will also want to look into the vendor-specific software for monitoring your systems, as it will provide better access to things like RAID status, etc... The Dell OMSA tools for Linux provide a very high degree of control and reporting. There's no question that the areas you highlighted are a deficiency in the Intel server area, but the solutions that exist work well enough and things are slowly getting better. As you come into the Intel server world, you will find that the servers are quite fast for the price, but you also need to accept that you're coming into a world that is different than what you are used to in the Sun world. Obviously I'm talking Dell here, as that's what I know. The only other vendor I've used is HP, but they got on my nerves when they started charging piecemeal license fees for each feature you wanted to use in the iLO (such as access to a graphical console window is an extra fee on top of access to a text console window). As for the price, well, you already know that these servers are much less expensive than Sun, and to pay for that we need to put up with some of these things. On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 7:22 PM, Hugh Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi everyone -- with all the fun that Sun/Oracle is having these days, > I'm starting to reconsider favourite hardware vendors. ("I only have > one rose to give away...") I'm looking for advice on ILOMs, and in > particular console access/Serial-Over-LAN. > > Background: I work at a small university department, with our server > room across the street. Almost everything we run is Linux or some > BSD. Mama raised me right, so remote consoles are very, very > important to me. > > I've had very good experience with Sun hardware. The ILOMs work out > of the box, getting a serial console on the machine is very easy (SSH > in, run "start /SP/console"), and they work nearly flawlessly. The > few times I've had problems with them, I've been able to reset the > ILOMs just fine. > > By contrast, my experience with Dell ILOMs has been irritating: > > * Console redirection depends on having eight different settings just > right > > * The ILOMs sometimes drop off the network and stop responding for no > apparent reason; I haven't figured out a way to reset the ILOM w/o > actually pulling out all the power to the server > > * Identical servers purchased at the same time have different ILOM > firmware revisions, causing console redirection to work on only some > of them > > I'm hoping someone can point me to another vendor (HP, IBM...anyone > else?) for x86 servers with ILOMs that: > > * are available by SSH > > * are reliable > > * allow console redirection either over SSH or by Serial-over-LAN/IPMI > command-line tools, including BIOS screens. > > * plus the usual IPMI stuff (check FRUs, SNMP, power cycle, etc) > > Bonus points for being less expensive than Sun and having > offices/resellers in Canada. > > Anyone? > > Thanks, > Hugh > > > -- > Hugh Brown > http://saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com > Because the plural of Anecdote is Myth. > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) > > iEYEARECAAYFAkvgrDsACgkQcljl8kcFycdBKwCZAQ0+DEtH7PiXNrqsuWRG4S6g > ZpsAnijKWClivBOp4DjVlV9HkwZ/F/iV > =80wl > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > _______________________________________________ > Tech mailing list > [email protected] > http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech > This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators > http://lopsa.org/ > > _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list [email protected] http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
