Dell Power Solutions

NEW-GENERATION SERVER TECHNOLOGYManagingDell PowerEdge Server AlertsUsing Dell OpenManage Server AdministratorEighth-generation Dell PowerEdge servers are enabled by Dell OpenManage systemsmanagement tools to provide a set of alerting mechanisms that proactively notifysystem administrators of abnormalities before failures occur. This article introducesand explains the three different alerting mechanisms provided by Dell OpenManageServer Administrator.BY HAIHONG ZHUO, MICHAEL O’HARA, AND JIANWEN YIN, PH.D.Enterprise servers that run mission-critical applicationsshould be designed to run error-free to help maximizeperformance and minimize downtime. It is critical thatsystem administrators be notified of any system abnormalitiesbefore hardware failures occur if feasible—otherwise,as soon as possible. Eighth-generation Dell servers suchas the PowerEdge 1850, PowerEdge 2800, and PowerEdge2850 help achieve this goal by providing a set of threedifferent alerting mechanisms that can be viewed or configuredthrough the Dell OpenManage systems managementsuite.Dell PowerEdge servers managed through DellOpenManage tools can be configured to generate and sendSimple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps, triggerlocal alert actions (such as beeping the speakers on asystem that needs attention), or generate and send PlatformEvent Traps (PETs) when they detect system errorevents or status changes. Configuration of these alertingmechanisms is done using Dell OpenManage ServerAdministrator (OMSA), a software tool that allows administratorsto manage individual servers locally or remotelyusing a graphical user interface (GUI), or locally using theOMSA command-line interface (CLI). 1Local alert actionsDell PowerEdge servers that are managed by OMSA canbe configured to trigger certain local actions on the occurrenceof specified events—for instance, when a system’stemperature probe or voltage probe detects a warningor failure. OMSA alerts the administrator by beepingthe speaker on the affected system, popping up an alertmessage on the system, invoking an application on thesystem, or broadcasting an alert message through a messengerservice to other systems that are on the same networkand have drives mapped to the affected system.The OMSA Web-based GUI lists all system eventsfor which local alert actions can be configured (seeFigure 1). Administrators can also view a list of events1For online documentation that provides detailed instructions on how to use Dell OpenManage Server Administrator, visit docs.us.dell.com/docs/software/svradmin/index.htm.46POWER SOLUTIONS Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, February 2005. Copyright © 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. February 2005