Server Administrator provides a comprehensive, one-to-one systems management solution in two ways: from an integrated, Web browser-based GUI (the Server Administrator home page) and from a command line interface (CLI) through the operating system. Server Administrator is designed for system administrators to both locally and remotely manage systems on a network. Server Administrator allows system administrators to focus on managing their entire network by providing comprehensive one-to-one systems management.
NOTE: For the purposes of Server Administrator, a system can be a stand-alone system, a server with
attached network storage units in separate chassis, or a modular system consisting of one or more server
modules in a chassis.
Server Administrator provides information about:
Systems that are operating properly and systems that have problems
Systems that require updates
Systems that require remote recovery operations
Integrated Features
Server Administrator provides easy-to-use management and administration of local and remote systems through a comprehensive set of integrated management services. Server Administrator resides solely on the system being managed and is accessible both locally and remotely from the Server Administrator home page. Remotely monitored systems may be accessed by dial-in, LAN, or wireless connections. Server Administrator ensures the security of its management connections through role-based access control (RBAC), authentication, and industry-standard secure socket layer (SSL) encryption.
Installation
You can install Server Administrator by using several methods. The Dell™ PowerEdge™ Installation and Server Management CD provides a setup program to install, upgrade, and uninstall Server Administrator and other managed system software components on your managed system. The Dell Systems Management Consoles CD provides a setup program to install, upgrade, and uninstall management station software components on your management station. Additionally, you can install Server Administrator on multiple systems through an unattended installation across a network. Lastly, if you have a modular system, or if your Microsoft® Windows® operating system was preinstalled, you already have the Server Administrator installed on your system.
NOTE: If you have a modular system, you must install Server Administrator on each server module that is installed
in the chassis.
To update individual Server Administrator components, use component specific Dell Update Packages. Use the Dell Server Update Utility application CD to view the complete version report and to update an entire system. The Server Update Utility is a CD-ROM based application for identifying and applying updates to your server. The Server Update Utility can be downloaded from support.dell.com.
See the Server Update Utility User's Guide for more information about obtaining and using the Server Update Utility (SUU) to update your Dell PowerEdge server or to view the updates available for any server listed in the Repository.
Server Administrator Home Page
The Server Administrator home page provides easy to set up and easy-to-use Web browser-based system management from the managed system or from a remote host through a LAN, dial-up service, or wireless network. When the Server Administrator secure port server is installed and configured on the managed system, you can perform remote management functions from any system that has a supported Web browser and connection. Additionally, the Server Administrator home page provides extensive, context-sensitive online help.
Instrumentation Service
The Instrumentation Service provides rapid access to detailed fault and performance information gathered by industry-standard systems management agents and allows remote administration of monitored systems, including shutdown, startup, and security.
Remote Access Service
NOTE: The Remote Access Service is not available on modular systems. You must directly connect to the Dell
Remote Access Controller (DRAC) on a modular system. See the Dell Embedded Remote Access/MC User's Guide
for more information.
The Remote Access Service provides a complete, remote system management solution for systems equipped with a DRAC solution. The Remote Access Service provides remote access to an inoperable system, allowing you to get the system up and running as quickly as possible. The Remote Access Service also provides alert notification when a system is down and allows you to remotely restart a system. Additionally, the Remote Access Service logs the probable cause of system crashes and saves the most recent crash screen.
Storage Management Service
The Storage Management Service provides storage management information in an integrated graphical view. The current release of Server Administrator provides two staggered versions of the Storage Management Service:
Basic Storage Management Service
The basic Storage Management Service is similar to the Storage Management Service provided in earlier releases of Server Administrator.
The basic Storage Management Service of Server Administrator:
Enables you to view the status of local and remote storage attached to a monitored system.
Supports SATA and ATA. Does not support Fibre Channel.
NOTE: Array Manager is not available if no previous Dell OpenManage™ systems management software (with
Array Manager installed) is detected. It is only available for upgrade. Support for Array Manager will be
discontinued in a future release. It is recommended that you switch to use Storage Management Service where
applicable.
Enhanced Storage Management Service
The enhanced Storage Management Service provides additional features for configuring storage. On Windows and Linux, the enhanced Storage Management Service is installed using Express Setup providing that the system does not have an existing Array Manager installation.
In addition to the tasks that you can perform using basic Storage Management Service, enhanced Storage Management Service of Server Administrator:
Allows you to perform controller and enclosure functions for all supported RAID and non-RAID controllers and enclosures from a single graphical or command line interface without the use of the controller BIOS utilities.
Supports SCSI, SATA, ATA, and SAS; however; Fibre Channel is not supported.
Protects your data by configuring data redundancy, assigning hot spares, or rebuilding failed drives.
Diagnostic Service
NOTE: The Diagnostic Service is not available on modular systems.
The Diagnostic Service provides a suite of diagnostic programs that run locally on your system or remotely on a system connected to the network. The Diagnostic Service is engineered to diagnose problems on individual systems and to run concurrently with all other applications running on the system under test.
Logs
Server Administrator displays logs of commands issued to or by the system, monitored hardware events, POST events, and system alerts. You can view logs on the home page, print or save them as reports, and send them by e-mail to a designated service contact.
Other Documents You Might Need
Besides this User's Guide, you can find the following guides either on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the documentation CD:
The Dell OpenManage™ Installation and Security User's Guide provides complete information on installation procedures and step-by-step instructions for installing, upgrading, and uninstalling Server Administrator for each supported operating system.
The Dell OpenManage Software Quick Installation Guide provides an overview of applications that you can install on your management station (console) and on your managed systems and procedures for installing your console and managed system applications on systems running supported operating systems.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Compatibility Guide provides compatibility information about Server Administrator installation and operation on various hardware platforms (or systems) running supported Microsoft Windows, and Red Hat® Enterprise Linux operating systems.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator SNMP Reference Guide documents the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management information base (MIB). The SNMP MIB defines variables that extend the standard MIB to cover the capabilities of systems management agents.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator CIM Reference Guide documents the Common Information Model (CIM) provider, an extension of the standard management object format (MOF) file. The CIM provider MOF documents supported classes of management objects.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide lists the messages that are displayed in your Server Administrator home page Alert log or on your operating system's event viewer. This guide explains the text, severity, and cause of each Instrumentation Service Alert message that Server Administrator issues.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line Interface User's Guide documents the complete command line interface for Server Administrator, including an explanation of CLI commands to view system status, access logs, create reports, configure various component parameters, and set critical thresholds.
The Dell OpenManage Array Manager User's Guide is a comprehensive reference guide for configuring and managing local and remote storage attached to a system. This document is also available in HTML and PDF formats on the Dell PowerEdge Installation and Server Management CD, as well as from the Array Manager console as online help.
The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management User's Guide is a comprehensive reference guide for configuring and managing local and remote storage attached to a system. This document is also available in HTML and PDF formats on the Installation and Server Management CD, as well as from the Storage Management console as online help.
The Dell Remote Access Controller Installation and Setup Guide provides complete information about installing and configuring a DRAC III, DRAC III/XT, and an ERA/O controller, configuring an ERA controller, and using a RAC to remotely access an inoperable system.
The Dell Remote Access Controller Racadm User's Guide provides information about using the racadm command-line utility.
The Dell Embedded Remote Access/MC Controller User's Guide provides complete information about configuring and using an ERA/MC controller to remotely manage and monitor your modular system and its shared resources through a network.
The Dell PowerEdge 830 Systems — Configuration Guide provides an overview of initially setting up a PowerEdge 830 system.
The Dell PowerEdge 850 Systems — Configuration Guide provides an overview of initially setting up a PowerEdge 850 system.
The Dell PowerEdge 1655MC Systems — System Configuration Guide provides an overview of initially setting up a PowerEdge 1655MC system.
The Dell PowerEdge 1855 Systems — Configuration Guide provides an overview of initially setting up a PowerEdge 1855 system.
The Dell OpenManage Remote Install User's Guide provides information about unattended, simultaneous provisioning and configuration solutions over the network by leveraging image based technology.
The Dell Update Packages User's Guide provides information about obtaining and using Dell Update Packages as part of your system update strategy.
The Server Update Utility User's Guide provides information about obtaining and using the Server Update Utility (SUU) to update your Dell PowerEdge server or to view the updates available for any server listed in the Repository.
The Installation and Server Management CD contains a readme file for Server Administrator and additional readme files for most applications found on the CD.
Obtaining Technical Assistance
If at any time you do not understand a procedure described in this guide or if your product does not perform as expected, help tools are available to assist you. For more information about these help tools, see "Getting Help" in your system's Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.
Additionally, Dell Enterprise Training and Certification is available; see www.dell.com/training for more information. This service may not be offered in all locations.
