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ADellTechnicalWhitePaper

Unified Server Configurator: IT and Systems Management Overview

UnifiedServerConfigurator:ITandSystemsManagementOverview
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Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................................... 2 UnifiedServerConfiguratorComponentsandArchitecture..................................................................................... 2 Figure1:UnifiedServerConfiguratorNetworkSettingsScreen.......................................................................... 3 Figure2UnifiedServerConfiguratorUpdateRepositorySelectionScreen.......................................................... 4 UnifiedServerConfiguratorFeatures........................................................................................................................ 4 Figure3:UnifiedServerConfiguratorMainMenu................................................................................................ 5 IntelligentandEfficientUpdatingProcess ................................................................................................................ . 5 Figure4:PlatformUpdateprocess........................................................................................................................ 6 Figure5:Theavailableupdatesareautodetected............................................................................................... 7 OperatingSystemDeployment.................................................................................................................................. 8 Figure6:FlowchartdisplayingUnifiedServerConfiguratorsOSinstallprocess.................................................. 9 RAIDConfiguration.................................................................................................................................................. 0 1 Figure7:FlowchartofUnifiedServerConfiguratorsRAIDconfigurationprocess ............................................. 1 . 1 EmbeddedandEasytoUpdateDiagnostics............................................................................................................ 1 1 Figure8:UnifiedServerConfiguratorDiagnosticfunction.................................................................................. 2 1 UnifiedServerConfiguratorRepairandRecovery................................................................................................... 2 1 Summary.................................................................................................................................................................. 3 1

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Introduction
SystemsmanagementhastypicallybeenakeypartoftheITadministratorsjob.Beingabletoinstallanoperating system,updatingfirmwaretosatisfyfunctionandpoliciesrequirements,configuringdevicesandgettingthemost outofanITnetworkareintegralaspectsofthisrole.Overtheyears,Dellhasprovidedmanytoolstoassistthe administrator.StartingwithtoolssuchasDSA,SystemsBuildandUpdateUtility,andDTKthatshippedonmultiple CDs,DellthendevelopedasinglesoftwaretoolDVD,SystemsBuildandUpdateUtility.Storing,retrieving,and usingthesemultipledisksintheirmanyversionshas,however,hadanincreasinglynegativeimpactonCustomer Experience. Asaclearresponsetotheseproblems,DellnowprovidestheLifecycleController,aflashchipembeddedonthe systemitselfwiththeDellUnifiedServerConfiguratorapplication(USC).TheLifecycleControllerallowstheIT administratortodispensewithmediaaltogether,allowingoperatingsystemdeploymentwithlocalembedded driverrepositories,firmwareupdates,hardwareconfiguration,andplatformspecificdiagnosticroutines.Sincethe USCisavailableevenwhentheoperatingsystemisnotfunctionaloreveninstalled,itallowsaddedflexibilityin provisioningthesystemandcustomizingittosuitthecustomersrequirements.Additionally,sincethetoolis integratedandembedded,formattingorareinstallingtheoperatingsystemdoesnotremovethetool,thussaving theadministratorsignificanttimeandmoney.

UnifiedServerConfiguratorComponentsandArchitecture
WiththeintroductionofthelatestPowerEdgeServers,DellnowoffersEmbeddedManagement,which dramaticallyreducesthetimeittakestoperformseveralcommonmanagementtasks.EmbeddedManagementis comprisedofseveralinterdependentcomponents,includingLifecycleControllerandtheUnifiedServer Configuratorinterface. TheLifecycleControllerisaflashchipembeddedinthesystemitselfprovidingpersistent,tamperproofstoragefor systemsmanagementcomponents.Thesecomponentsinclude,butarenotlimitedto:systemBIOS,firmware, drivers,OpenManageTools.UserscanaccessthesecomponentsthroughtheUnifiedServerConfigurator interface,alsostoredontheLifecycleController. TheUnifiedServerConfigurators(USC)mainfeaturesincludeoperatingsystemdeployment,firmwareupdates, hardwareconfiguration,anddiagnostics.Thetoolssuiteallowstheadministratortoperformacompletesetof provisioningfunctionsfromasingleinterface.Thispaperwillprovideinformationonthefunctionalityavailable throughtheUnifiedServerConfiguratorinterface. AtanarchitecturallevelUSCrunsintheUnifiedExtensibleFirmwareInterface(UEFI)environment.TheUEFI specificationwascreatedtoallowforreplacementofanagingsystemBIOS,buthascometoprovidecreate frameworkformanypowerfulapplicationsthatrunwithoutanoperatingsystem.TheUEFIspecificationincludes theTrustedComputingTroup(TCG)protocolthatallowsforTrustedPlatformModule(TPM)measurementsand secureupdateswhichUSCleveragestoitsfullestextent.AdditionallyUEFI,andasaconsequenceUSC,hasawell evolvednetworkstackandastrongerpointandclickgraphicalenvironmentthatmakesuserinteractionmuch easier.USCisthusmuchmorepowerfulandeasiertousecomparedtootherpreoperatingsystemtoolsavailable inthemarket. NetworksupportwithintheUSCapplicationallowstheusertoconfiguretheembeddednetworkinterfaceeither toobtainanIPaddressthroughDHCP,ortoconfigurethesettingsstatically.BuiltinsupportforDNSandDHCP Page2

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makethispreoperatingsystemapowerfulenvironment.Additionallytheapplicationenvironmentprovides supportfortextbasedandSOCKSVersion4proxiesthroughitsinterface,allowingcustomerstoconnecttothe networkthroughtheirproxyservers,andprovidingsecuredownloadstothesystem.SeeFigure1forascreen shotoftheNetworkSettingsscreenwithintheUnifiedServerConfigurator.
Figure1:UnifiedServerConfiguratorNetworkSettingsScreen

USCalsocomeswithaprepackagedtaskschedulertoallowforbatchingupofupdates.Thisbatchprocessor,the SystemServicesManager(SSM),isautomaticallyinvokedwhentheuserrequestsmultipleupdates.The intelligenceintheSSMallowsittodeferreboots,reducingthenumberofrebootsrequiredtoperformthe updates.Additionally,theSSMprovidesamethodforoperatingsystembasedDellupdatepackagestobeapplied inasynchronizedway;updatesarescheduledsecurelyontheSSMforexecutiononnextbootup.

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Figure2UnifiedServerConfiguratorUpdateRepositorySelectionScreen

Finally,theUSCcomeswithcontextsensitivehelp.Theusercanaccessimmediateandrelevanthelpforthe currentscreenbyclickingthe button.

UnifiedServerConfiguratorFeatures
TheUSCoffersasingleaccesspointforseveralcommonsystemmanagementfunctions.BecausetheUSCis managedbytheembeddediDRACflashsubsystemandrunundertheUEFIenvironment,itisnotnecessaryto boottotheOStoruntheUSC.Bootthesystemandpress<F10>tolaunchtheUSCtoaccessthemainmenuscreen inFigure3.

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Figure3:UnifiedServerConfiguratorMainMenu

MainMenuOption PlatformUpdate OSDeployment Diagnostics UserSettings Description UpdateandkeepsystemfirmwareorBIOSatthe currentlevel InstalltheOSwithallnecessarydevicedrivers Performhardwarespecificdiagnostictests Configurelanguageandnetworksettings

IntelligentandEfficientUpdatingProcess
PlatformUpdateenablestheusertomaintainsystemfirmware,Diagnostics,BIOSorsystemdriversatthemost currentlevel,thusmaximizingsystemperformanceandavoidingunnecessaryoutages.Itisamoresecureand convenientprocessbecauseitoperatesundertheUEFIenvironmentbeforetheoperatingsystemloadsoriseven installed.PlatformUpdateworksonallsupportedserversindependentoftheinstalledoperatingsystem. UnifiedServerConfiguratorsupdateprocessallowsthesystemtobeupdatedfromeitherplatformlocalUSBport oranetworkrepository.Thisflexibilityimprovestheefficiencyoftheupdateprocesswhenthereisnetwork congestion.Uponselectingtheupdaterepository,theUSCwillautomaticallydetectanynecessaryupdatesand allowstheusereithertomanuallyselectspecificcomponentstoupdateorperformsallthesystemupdates identified.SeeFigure4belowforthestepsinthePlatformUpdateprocess.

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Figure4:PlatformUpdateprocess

TheinventoryprocessstartsimmediatelyafterthesystembootstotheUSCoraftertheupdatingprocesshas completed.ItcollectsandrecordsthecurrentlevelofsystemandsubsystemfirmwaretothesystemLifeCycleLog (LCL).Theuserisnolongerrequiredmanuallytodetermineeitherwhathasbeenupdatedonthesystem,orthe currentlevelofthefirmwareorBIOSofthesystem. UsingthedatafromtheLCL,theupdateprocessautomaticallydetectstheavailableupdatesfromtheprovided repository.Theprocessdisplaysthedatainasidebysidetableformat,showingthecurrentlevelversusthe availablelevel(seeFigure5).Bydefaulttheupdateprocessautomaticallyupgradesallofthecomponents. Alternatively,theusercanmanuallyselectspecificcomponentsforupgrade.

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Figure5:Theavailableupdatesareautodetected

AllupdatesareappliedtothesystemfromacentralprocessorknownastheSystemServiceManagement(SSM) batchprocessor.Onceselectedfromthecomparisonreporttable,theupdateisregisteredintotheSystemService InformationBlock(SSIB)tasklist.TheSSMprocessesandexecutesthetaskfromtheSSIBtasklist.UsingtheSSM andtheSSIB,theprocessprovidesgreaterstandardization,consistency,andsynchronizationthroughoutthe updateprocess. Thepurposeofthesystemupdateistokeepthesystemascurrentaspossible,preventingunnecessarydowntime duetosystemfailures.However,theupdateprocessitselfcancausesignificantdowntimeduetomostupdates requiringareboottotakeeffect.Asaresult,severalrebootsmaysometimesbenecessary,causingconsiderable disruption. Takingthisissueintoconsideration,theUSCupdateprocessisdesignedtominimizethenumberofrebootsby usingtheupdatecatalogcombinedwiththeparametersintheSSIBtasklist.Unlessanupdaterequiresan immediatereboot,allrebootsareaccrued,andthesystemrebootsonlyonceafterallupdatesarecompleted. Securityisanimportantconsiderationtoanyuser,andtheupdateprocessisdesignedtoensurebothsystemand dataarewellprotected.Theupdateprocessusesmultiplelayersofsecurityvalidation: Datafromtheoutsideisstoredtemporarilyinnonvolatilestorage.ThedataisthenvalidatedusingDells privatekeysignaturetopreventintrusionofcontaminateddatafromoutsidesources. AccesscontrolisrestrictedontheUSC,andUSCpartitionsareopenedasreadonly.Onlyauthorized programsareallowedtoopenthepartitionsasread/write. OnlyvalidateddataisstagedintheUSCforapplicationtotheappropriatecomponents. Page7

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ThelocalrepositorystoragecardcanbedisabledorremovedifthePlatformUpdatefeatureisnot required

Theupdateprocessprovidesseveralbenefitsbeyondthoseavailableusingcurrenttools: Simplifiedsystemmanagementexperienceandgreaterstandardization.Theupdateprocessoperates fromasinglepointinthepreOSandundertheUEFIenvironment,whichisindependentoftherunning OSandworksonallsupportedservers. Medialessoperation.Theupdatefunctionsareimmediatelyavailablebybootingthesystemandpressing onekeystroke;noexternalmediaisrequiredfortheupdateprocess,eliminatingentirelythetime requiredtofindtheCD,burntheCD,ordealwithfaultyopticaldrivesormedia. Securedprocess.Thesystemanddataareprotectedbymultiplelayersofsecurityvalidation. Increasedautomationandefficiency.Theinstallinventoryquicklyprovidesasnapshotofthecurrent updatesandlevelofthesystematanygiventime,eliminatinganymanualassessment.Availableupdates areautomaticallydetectedandupdatedwithoutrequiringspecificuserknowledge. Reduceddowntime.Thenumberofrebootsisminimizedduringtheupdateprocess.Furthermore,since theupdateprocessrunsintheUEFIenvironment,theboottimeonthesystemisreduced,eliminatingthe needtoloadafullyrunningoperatingsystem.

OperatingSystemDeployment
TheOperatingSystemDeploymentwizardassiststheuserininstallinganoperatingsystemonthecurrentsystem. WhenbootedintotheUSC,theusercanchoosetheDeployOStoplevelfeatureandheisthendirectedtoa wizardthatassistsininstallingtheoperatingsystem. IftheserverhasaRAIDcontroller,theusermaylaunchtheRAIDConfigurationwizardandconfigureavirtualdisk asthebootdevice.IftheserverdoesnothaveaRAIDcontroller,theOSDeploymentwizardbypassestheRAID configurationoption.Seethenextsectionformoreinformationonthisfeature. Oncetheuserchoosestheoperatingsystemtoinstall,theUSCassiststheinstallationofallsupportedoperating systems,andprovidesanydriversthatarerequiredforoperatingsysteminstallation.TheOSDeploymentwizard extractstheappropriatedriversandcopiesthemtostagingdirectory.ForsystemsrunningMicrosoftWindows, theseextracteddriversareinstalledduringoperatingsysteminstallation.ForsystemsrunningLinux,theusermust installtheextracteddriversmanuallyafteroperatingsysteminstallationiscomplete.Dellrecommendsthatthe systemisupdatedwiththeextracteddriversfollowingoperatingsysteminstallation. Afterthedriversareextracted,theUSCpromptstheusertoinserttheoperatingsysteminstallationmediaand thenverifiesthemediacontents,thenclicksFinishandrebootthesystem.Uponreboot,thesystembootstothe operatingsysteminstallationmedia.SeeFigure6foraflowchartoftheoperatingsysteminstallationprocess. NOTE:ItisrecommendedthatthePlatformUpdatewizardisrunbeforeoperatingsystemdeploymentto ensurethepresenceofthemostcurrentdrivers.Thisensuresthatthecustomerdoesnotinstallan outdateddriver,anddoesnothavetorunapostOSDUPtorefreshthedriversinstalledduringthe operatingsystemdeploymentprocess.

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Figure6:FlowchartdisplayingUnifiedServerConfiguratorsOSinstallprocess

Benefitsinclude:

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NomediarequirementTheUSCismedialess.CustomersdonotneedanadditionalCDorDVDinorder tocompleteoperatingsystemdeployment. OSinstallationisnativeandflexibleTheUSCusesthenativeinstallersprovidedbyoperatingsystem installationmediamakingtheinstallationprocedureflexibleandextensibletofutureversionsofnative installationwizardsreleasedforsupportedoperatingsystems. LeveragingtheiDRAC6VirtualMediaredirectionfeature,a.ISOimageorphysicaldiskcanberemotely mountedandpresentedasaoperationSysteminstallCDfurtherenablingflexible,remotedisklesssystem management DriversareupdatableThedriverscarriedbytheUSCareupdatableusingthePlatformUpdateFeature (seeprevioussection).Nomanualprocessrequiredtofindoutthecurrentversionofthedrivers. Driverscanbeusedforthe1:nOSprovisioningenvironmentThedriverscarriedbytheUSCare exposedonaUSBdriveandcanbesharedacrossanetworksothattheycanbeusedtoprovisionmultiple servers.Thisfeaturegreatlyreducestheoverheadofsettingupmultipleserversandenables1:nOS deployment. Driverscanbecopiedeasilyandpluggedintotheoperatingsystemprovisioningframework.

RAIDConfiguration
AsmentionedintheOSDeploymentsection,iftheserverhasaRAIDcontroller,theusermaychoosetolaunchthe RAIDConfigurationwizardandconfigureavirtualdiskasthebootdevice.SeeFigure7foraflowchartoftheRAID configurationprocess IftheuserchoosestoconfigureRAID,theRAIDConfigurationWizardguidesthevirtualdiskcreationprocess.The firstscreenofthewizard,ViewCurrentConfiguration,showstheuseralistofcurrentcontrollersandvirtualdisks residentinthesystem.Theusermaydeterminethatthevirtualdisk(s)alreadyexistandexitthewizardto continuewithoperatingsysteminstallation,orchoosetocontinuewithnewvirtualdiskcreationprocess. Thenextscreen,SelectRAIDController,allowstheusertoselectthecontrolleronwhichtoconfigureavirtual disk. FollowingtheSelectRAIDControllerscreen,theuserisdirectedtotheForeignConfigurationDetectedscreenif theselectedcontrollercontainsaforeignconfiguration. Aforeignconfigurationisasetofdisksthatcontaindata fromanothercomputerorpreviousconfiguration.Dependingonconfiguration,theuserwillhavetheoptionto eitherClearorignoretheforeignconfiguration.SelectingClearForeignConfigurationwillresultintheerasureof alldataonthedrivescontainingtheforeignconfiguration,therebyallowingthedrivestobeusedinanew configuration.ChoosingIgnoreForeignConfigurationleavesthedrivesintheircurrentstateandusesfreedrives tocreateanewconfiguration. NexttheuserisdirectedtotheSelectaConfigurationOptionscreen.HeretheusercanchooseeithertheExpress orAdvancedWizard.

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Figure7:FlowchartofUnifiedServerConfiguratorsRAIDconfigurationprocess

TheExpresswizardselectstheappropriatedisksdependingupontheRAIDtypeselectedforvirtualdiskcreation, andtakestheusertothefinal,Summaryscreen.TheusercanthenreviewthechoicesselectedduringtheExpress wizardandclickFinishtocreatethevirtualdisktobeusedforoperatingsysteminstallation. TheAdvancedwizardtakestheusertoaseriesofadditionalscreens.FirsttheuserselectstheRAIDtypeonthe BasicSettingsscreen,andisthendirectedtotheSelectPhysicalDisksscreentochoosethephysicaldisksthatwill beapartofthevirtualdisk.Afterdiskselection,theuseristakentotheAdditionalSettingsscreentodefine additionalparametersforthevirtualdisk,suchasstripeelementsize,readandwritepolicy,andwhetherornotto assignahotsparedisk.SimilartotheExpresswizard,theuserisfinallytakentotheSummaryscreentoreviewthe selectionsmadeduringtheExpresswizardprocess,andclickFinishtocreatethevirtualdisktobeusedfor operatingsysteminstallation.

EmbeddedandEasytoUpdateDiagnostics
Diagnosticenablestheusertodetecttheproblemonthesystemhardwareandmemoryproblemstoreducethe expensesassociatedwiththerepairandbuildingofsystems.Untilnow,theuserhashadtoboottothefixeddisk utilitypartition;ordownloadautilityandcreateabootabledisktorundiagnostics.WiththeUSC,however

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diagnosticsarestoredandrundirectlyfromtheembeddedUSCpartition.Evensystemsinadisklessconfiguration cantakeadvantageoftheembeddeddiagnostics.SeeFigure8forascreenshotoftheDiagnosticfunctionwithin theUnifiedServerConfigurator.
Figure8:UnifiedServerConfiguratorDiagnosticfunction

AnotheradvantageofhavingthediagnosticsembeddedintheUSCpartitionisthatthelattercanbeeasilyupdated fromthePlatformUpdatefunction.ThePlatformUpdateprocessautomaticallyperformstheinventoryand displaysthecomparisonreporttableifthereisanewversionofthediagnosticssoftwareavailable.Theupdate processissecure,andthereisnoneedtoreinstallthefixeddiskutilitypartitioneachtimethediagnosticssoftware isupdated.

UnifiedServerConfiguratorRepairandRecovery
TheUSCrepairandrecoveryprocessrestoresembeddedtoolsandutilitiesintheeventofahardwarefailureor flashmemorycorruption.Suchfailurescanoccurformanyreasons,includingapowerlossorinterruptionofthe USCupdateprocessbeforeithascompleted.Additionally,thisprocessisusedwhereafaultymotherboardisbeing replaced.Ifcorruptionoccurs,thentheuserwillbeunabletobootintotheUSCthrough<F10>atboottime. Ifthemessage"Systemserviceupdaterequired"appearsuponbootingtheserver,theremaybecorruptdataon theembeddedflashstorage,andaUSCrepairneedstobeperformedinordertorestoreUSCfunctionality. Thestepstoperformarepairinclude: 1. Accesssupport.dell.comanddownloadtheUSCRepairPackageappropriatetotheplatform. 2. ConnecttotheiDRACusingtheiDRACwebinterface,andlogin. 3. ClicktheRemoteAccesstabontheleft. 4. ClicktheUpdatetabintherightpane. 5. Usingthebrowsemenu,selectthedownloadedUSCRepairPackageandapplyit.TheiDRACwill downloadanddeploytheUSCRepairPackageandrestoreUSCfunctionality. 6. Rebootthesystem,entertheUSC,andthencompleteallthemandatory(prechecked)updatesusingthe Updatefeature. Oncetheprocessiscomplete,allUSCfunctionalityisrestored. Page12

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Summary
TheUSCisanewgenerationtoolthatallowsquickandeasyaccesstoallsystemlifecyclemanagementcapabilities fromapreoperatingsystemenvironment.Embeddedandintegratedintothesystem,theUSCprovidescustomers aquickandpersistentwaytoaccessthisfunctionalitywhileprovidinggreaterflexibilityandcapabilities.An intuitiveuserinterface,andapointandclickenvironmentloadedwithfeaturesallowstheITadministratorto completehistasksmorequickly,thusallowingforgreaterproductivity. Authors: 1. ShelliAllgoodisaleadsoftwareengineerinDellSystemsManagementSoftwareGroupinAustin,Texas. ShellihasaB.S.inComputerSciencefromBaylorUniversity. AnandNarayananisthesoftwareleadforUSCandworksinthePGsoftwaredivisionatDell.Hegraduated withamastersincomputersciencefromTexasA&MUniversityandiscurrentlyworkingonhisMBAfrom theUniversityofTexas,Austin.Hisinterestsincludeplayingmusic,soccerandsportsofanykind. HaiPhungisasoftwareengineerinDellSystemManagementSoftwareGroupinAustin,Texas.Hai graduatedfromUniversityofMinnesotainComputerScience PriteshPrabhuisasoftwareengineerconsultantintheDellSystemsManagementSoftwareGroupin Austin,Texas.PriteshhasanM.S.inElectricalandComputerEngineeringfromtheUniversityofTexasat Austin GaneshViswanathanisasoftwareengineerintheDellSystemsManagementSoftwareGroupinAustin, Texas.GaneshhasanM.S.inSoftwareEngineeringfromtheUniversityofTexasatAustin.

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