HP ProLiant DL360 G5 success stories?

[Jeremy Chadwick]

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 12:16:10PM +0100, Johan Ström wrote:
>> The advantage to iLO is that it's the equivalent of KVM-over-IP,
>> supporting virtual media too (read: an ISO image on your laptop/local
>> client machine being used as a CD on the server itself, thus you can
>> install whatever OS you want, etc.).  You get NATIVE VGA CONSOLE
>> remotely on the machine -- there is no "serial console", and that's
>> always best.  I've seen it in action, and it's *awesome*.
>
> For advanced license yes. Thats another $400 or so (which might not be very 
> much money for big corps but for me and my one server installation its 
> more..)

AFAIK, Advanced License will get you support for graphical/VESA/VGA
modes, and provide virtual media.  The standard iLO2 shipped with
existing ProLiants should give you full VGA console (80x25) access,
power-cycle capability, yadda yadda.  Do you really need video support?
The virtual media stuff is *really* cool, but it shouldn't be a problem
to live without it.

>> Said iLO capability usually works over a series of TCP or UDP ports,
>> somtimes even supporting HTTP (on the iLO module itself!) which means if
>> its on a private network, you can tunnel to it using SSH or similar
>> utilities via another box in the co-lo.  Then simply access
>> 127.0.0.1:whatever in the ActiveX, Java, or native Win32/Linux client
>> and voila -- you have the machines' native VGA console in front of you,
>> with no issues relating to serial console.  No more "ohhh, the bootup
>> configuration uses 9600bps, but our serial console servers are
>> configured to use 115200bps... but the disk isn't booting so it's still
>> using 9600bps at that stage, now I HAVE to go to the datacenter"
>> scenarios.
>
> Yep, there are some downsides with serial console. But if it works, i'd 
> rather use a normal ssh client in my terminal together with the virtual 
> serial port than sitting in a web browser. But i'll guess I'm going to 
> evaluate the serial port option when I get the box, and if it isnt working 
> to good i'll just have to throw up the money and get the advanced license 
> (even if i'd rather use that money on more "fun" things..)

Okay, I understand.  iLO2 provides serial-over-Ethernet, if I remember
correctly.  I forget how this works from a networking standpoint (if
it's a TCP port you connect to, or if it's some custom protocol), but
safe to say someone out there knows.  :-)

>> I do not trust IPMI based on stories I have heard from Yahoo! SAs,
>> talking about how every implementation is different (so much for a
>> "standard"), and how the number of bugs in Supermicro's IPMI
>> implementation are absurd.  Supposedly Intel and others have done a
>> better job with it, but I lost all interest in it once I found that
>> there was no real "standard".  Besides, anything that "piggybacks" on
>> top of an existing LAN port (even some iLO implementations do this!) is
>> worth avoiding.  I do not want to deal with a single NIC emitting two
>> separate MAC addresses -- and that's what happens.  It's sometimes
>> referred to as "ASF" as well.
>
> I've got a supermicro ipmi card now and.. I'm afraid I cannot describe it 
> with better words than "crappy toy".. Constant IPMI card restarts/crashes, 
> the serial consol java browser applet stopping responding, firmware 
> upgrades that b0rks the card totally etc...

I'm hearing you on FM!  :-)  You're the 4th or 5th person I've seen who
has reported the exact same behaviour with Supermicro's IPMI cards.  It
makes me VERY glad that I did not shell out the extra cash for the IPMI
add-on modules for our Supermicro boxes in our rack.

IPMI is one of those things that's presented as a great idea (and it but
the actual implementations done by vendors (or at least Supermicro)
appears to be a complete mess.  Very disappointing.

Anyways, once you figure out the iLO2 stuff, be sure to send a mail
describing how its working out for you.  I've been very curious about it
myself, since the last time I saw a ProLiant box, it was one which had
an iLO add-on module (e.g. not integrated), and it was first-gen iLO.
It was still VERY impressive, but I'm curious to know how things have
matured.

-- 
| Jeremy Chadwick                                    jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking                           http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator                      Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977.                  PGP: 4BD6C0CB |