Managing Dell Servers with non-Dell

Utilizing the common language of industry standard protocols, non-Dell Systems Management products can be frequently configured to recognize Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers. The most popular protocol to use is SNMP with the particulars of the Dell implementation documented in the SNMP Reference Guide.

Basically four steps involved in setting this up:

• Install the OpenManage™ Server Administrator (OMSA) on the servers to be monitored. This agent maps the specifics of the Dell hardware and makes it available over the network via SNMP.
• Configure the SNMP settings on OMSA (which is actually in the OS) as well as the Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC) and Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) if you have them and want to use them as well. Typical configuration includes setting the community name, trap destination, and security for limiting SNMP traffic to the station doing the monitoring and Read Only access.
• Configure the monitoring product to discover or recognize the PowerEdge server by compiling or importing the SNMP the Dell-specific information or MIM. Success in this step is
• Configure the monitoring product to recognize the SNMP traps from the PowerEdge server.

And a reminder that additions and questions are always welcome. Just start or add to a thread at the bottom of this (and every) page!

Open Source Tools

Integrating OpenManage Server Administrator with Nagios and Ganglia has been written up in Dell Power Solutions and in another article, Managing with OpenNMS was also covered.

Systems Insight Manager

Another frequently used application is HP's Systems Insight Manager (SIM). While the latest versions recognize Dell servers, the SNMP information (MIB) in the application may need to be updated to reflect the latest PowerEdge features as listed in the What's New section of the SNMP reference guide for that release.

A good paper titled Integrating Dell PowerEdge Servers into an Environment Managed by HP Systems Insight Manager 5.0 goes into the details.