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Introduction: Dell™ OptiPlex™ GX300 System User's Guide
Dell OptiPlex GX300 Managed PC systems are high-speed,
expandable personal computers designed around the Intel® Pentium® III microprocessor.
Each computer system uses a high-performance Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
design that allows you to configure the computer system to your initial requirements and
then add Dell-supported upgrades as necessary.
Your system offers the following features:
- Up to two Intel Pentium III microprocessors.
- System memory that can be increased up to 1
gigabyte (GB) by installing Rambus dynamic random-access memory (RDRAM) Rambus in-line
memory modules (RIMMs) in the RIMM sockets on the system board.
 |
NOTE: To reach the maximum 1-GB memory total, you
must install two 512-megabyte (MB) RIMMs (when available) that each have a maximum of 16
memory devices. The system supports no more than a total of 32 memory devices on all
installed RIMMs. See Figure 1 in
"System Memory" for the location of a label on the RIMM that identifies the
number of memory devices it contains. |
- A 4X accelerated graphics port (AGP) video card with up to 32 MB of
synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or synchronous graphics RAM (SGRAM) video memory. See your video
card documentation for further details.
- An integrated Analog Devices AD1881 AC97 Codec audio controller that
provides Sound Blaster emulation and 16-bit analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog stereo
conversion.
- Self-Monitoring and Analysis Reporting Technology II (SMART II)
support, which warns you at system start-up if your hard-disk drive has become unreliable.
Hard-disk drives shipped with OptiPlex GX300 systems are SMART
II-compliant.
- Ultra Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA)/66 support, which allows
enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) ATA-compatible fixed-disk storage devices to
transfer data at speeds up to 66 MB per second (MB/sec).
- Full compliance with PCI specification 2.2.
|
NOTE: To meet PC99 requirements, your Dell system
uses only PCI expansion slots. Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) expansion cards are
not supported. |
- Remote Wake Up capability for both
integrated network interface controllers (NICs) and optional NIC expansion cards. When the
Remote Wake Up option is enabled in embedded System
Setup, the system can be turned on from a server management console.
Remote Wake Up
capability also allows remote computer setup, software downloading and installation, file
updates, and asset tracking after business hours and on weekends when network traffic is
at a minimum.
- Managed boot agent (MBA), which allows the system to boot from one of
four network preboot environment protocols: Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE), Remote
Program Load (RPL), BootP, or Novell® NetWare® Remote Boot.
- Remote system alerts, which allow the system to transmit special
predetermined network messages regarding its operating condition.
- Universal Serial Bus (USB) capability, which can simplify connecting
peripheral devices such as mice, printers, and computer speakers. The system basic
input/output system (BIOS) supports USB keyboards and mice in MS-DOS® and other
non-Windows® operating system environments.
- Dell OptiFrame™ chassis for easy disassembly and improved
serviceability.
For additional hardware features,
see "Specifications."
The following software is included with your Dell computer system:
|
NOTE: Backup copies of all drivers for your system
are included on the Dell ResourceCD. If you need to reinstall any of these drivers, see
the documentation that accompanied the ResourceCD. |
- A BIOS that resides in flash memory and can be upgraded by diskette,
or remotely over a network, if required.
- Audio drivers for enabling the sound functions of the integrated
audio controller.
- Bus-mastering EIDE drivers to improve performance by off-loading
certain functions from the microprocessor during multithreaded operation (when several
applications are running simultaneously).
- Embedded System Setup for quickly viewing
and changing the system configuration. System Setup also provides several enhanced security features (a setup password, a system password, a
system-password lock option, a write-protect option for diskette drives, and display
of the system's service tag number).
- Network device drivers for several operating systems.
- Desktop Management Interface (DMI) support, which enables the remote
management of your computer system's software and hardware.
Your Dell OptiPlex GX300 Managed PC system is designed for
out-of-the-box manageability. To make managing your system as easy as possible, the system
is shipped with the DMI agent enabled and active, which allows a remote administrator to
access and change system settings. However, without the proper precautions, a system with
an active DMI agent is vulnerable to unauthorized changes. For this reason, Dell strongly
recommends that you enable and use the Setup
Password to prevent unauthorized changes to system settings.
The following subsections describe the hardware and software
manageability features available for your system:
The Dell OpenManage IT Assistant program (which is available as a
download from the Dell Web site at http:\\www.dell.com or as a
Dell-installed option on your hard-disk drive) is the Dell software-management application
interface for DMI. It allows you to manage system-level information, such as system
configuration information and MIF database values.
Fault management features of the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
include the following:
- Alerts to warn you about events generated by SMART drives on a local
or remote system
- An event log that stores events in a text file and reports the
following information about events: System Name, Component Name,
Date and Time, Event Type, Event Severity,
Event Class, and Event System
Configuration management features of the Dell OpenManage IT
Assistant program include the following:
- Remote Wake Up support, which allows network administrators to
remotely turn on Managed PC systems with Remote Wake Up capability in a Dell DMI network
- A System Properties window that enables network
administrators to view, set, or disable certain hardware configuration settings for the
local and remote systems in a Dell DMI network
- Support for the Microsoft® System Management Server (SMS), which
allows the exporting of one or more groups to an SMS directory that the SMS administrator
can access
- A monitor component for systems running Windows 98 or Windows 95 and
having a display data channel (DDC)-compliant video subsystem and monitor
- Automated inventory control of one or more groups for the remote
systems in a Dell DMI network
Network administrators can automate inventory to occur every day,
week, or month at a certain hour, on the hour; or they can enable inventory as needed. The
Dell OpenManage IT Assistant program creates a text file for the group(s) and saves it to
a user-defined directory.
- Support for the application program used to create user-definable
attributes (UDAs)
Asset management features of the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
include the following:
- Support that enables network administrators to remotely view, enter,
and modify an asset tag for a remote system in a Dell DMI network
- Automated and manual mapping of one or more groups to a user-defined
directory
Security management features of the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
include password security that enables network administrators to maintain standard
attribute values for the local and remote systems in a Dell DMI network.
For more information about the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant, see the
online Dell OpenManage IT Assistant documentation that accompanied the software.
The 3Com® MBA supports multiple preboot environments and allows
network administrators to boot the system from a network server.
See "Network Interface Controller"
for more information about MBA.
Remote Wake Up allows you to remotely turn on a
Managed PC system that is either in a sleep state or turned off. The ability to turn on
Managed PC systems remotely allows you to perform remote computer setup, software
downloading and installation, file updates, and asset tracking at any time.
To use the Remote Wake Up feature, each Managed PC system must
contain a NIC that supports Remote Wake Up. You must also enable the Remote Wake
Up option in System Setup.
|
NOTE: This feature does not work if the system is
shut off using a power strip or surge protector. |
Remote System Alert
Remote System Alert allows the system to send to a remote
management console certain predetermined messages about its operating condition
prior to system start-up (system boot). For example, the system can transmit an
alert if the computer cover is removed.
To use the Remote System Alert feature, each Managed PC system must
contain an integrated NIC that supports Remote System Alert.
|
NOTE: This feature does not work if the system is
shut off using a power strip or surge protector. |
Auto Power On enables you to turn on the computer
system automatically on certain days of the week at a preset time. You can set Auto
Power On to turn on the system either every day or every Monday through Friday.
|
NOTE: This feature does not work if the system is
shut off using a power strip or surge protector. |
Chassis intrusion alerts notify you if a local or remote system's
chassis has been opened.
Your system includes temperature and voltage probes to sense when
the system becomes overheated or the power supply voltage is out of range. In either case,
a message appears on the screen when Dell OpenManage IT Assistant is running or at the
next system start-up notifying you of the problem.
CIM Support
CIM allows you to access system management information if your
system is running Microsoft Windows 98 or any other Windows operating system that includes
the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) core components. For information about the WBEM
core components and how to install them, see the Microsoft World Wide Web site
at http:\\www.microsoft.com.
For more information about CIM support, see the Dell OpenManage
Client Instrumentation Version 5.0 User's Guide installed in the Dell
Documents folder on your hard-disk drive.
Configuration change alerts generate warning messages if a local or
remote system has a change in hardware configuration.
The Asset Info feature uses the nonproprietary DMI standard to allow
you to record and track costs related to your system. The cost-related information is
stored in the cost of ownership Management Information Format (coo.mif)
file on your system's hard-disk drive. For more information about Asset Info and the COO
MIF standard, see the online Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation Version 5.0 User's
Guide.
Remote BIOS flash allows a network administrator to perform remote
BIOS upgrades to systems on a network.
Remote system configuration features allow remote changes to the
system asset tag, boot sequence, property ownership tag, and System Setup settings and
remote updates to the system BIOS.
Prefailure alerts generate warning messages about potential failures
by SMART II hard-disk drives.
Certain configurations of Dell computer systems comply with the
requirements set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for energy-efficient
computers. If the front panel of your computer bears the ENERGY STAR® Emblem (see Figure
1), your original configuration complies with these requirements and all ENERGY STAR® power management features of the computer are enabled.
|
NOTES: As an ENERGY STAR® Partner, Dell Computer
Corporation has determined that this product meets the ENERGY STAR® guidelines for energy
efficiency. Any Dell computer bearing the ENERGY
STAR® Emblem is certified to comply with EPA ENERGY STAR® requirements as
configured when shipped by Dell. Any changes you make to this configuration (such
as installing additional expansion cards or drives) may increase the system's power
consumption beyond the limits set by the EPA's ENERGY STAR® Computers program. |
Figure 1. ENERGY STAR® Emblem
The EPA's ENERGY STAR® Computers program is a joint effort between
the EPA and computer manufacturers to reduce air pollution by promoting energy-efficient
computer products. The EPA estimates that use of ENERGY STAR® computer products can save
computer users up to two billion dollars annually in electricity costs. In turn, this
reduction in electricity usage can reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the gas primarily
responsible for the greenhouse effect, and sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are
the two primary causes of acid rain.
Computer users can also help to reduce electricity usage and its
side effects by turning off their computer systems when they are not in use for extended
periods of time—particularly at night and on weekends.
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