[lug] remote management hardware?

[Dan Ferris]

I 2nd the Startech.  We use one in combination with some Supermicro IPMI
cards and Dell Drac and it's pretty nice.

At my previous employer, we used serial consoles and APC remote power
strips.  Serial consoles are probably the worst way to go imo because
you have to typically go out of your way to set servers up for them. 

On 04/10/2011 06:51 PM, Sean Reifschneider wrote:
> On 04/09/2011 12:00 PM, Calvin Dodge wrote:
> > An upcoming move means I will no longer be able to show up onsite to
> > deal with OS failures, so I'm trying to research remote management
>
> There are quite a lot of options...
>
>    IPMI: Some motherboards will have a card slot that an IPMI card can be
>    added to.  I only use the ones that have dedicated Ethernet ports, I've
>    had various problems with the "shared ethernet" ones (where IPMI
> runs on
>    the same ethernet interface as the host traffic).  I also only use IPMI
>    for power control, I have not found the "Serial over LAN" console to be
>    reliable with the Supermicro.  These are usually $50-ish, but require
>    the motherboard to support them.  Usually only low-end server
>    motherboards support them.
>
>    APC "control" power strips (note that they sell many models, the
>    "metered" ones you can't control the outlets on).  These work
> great, but
>    are around $200 for the 8-port model (APCs smallest).  BUT, you can
>    often find things like this on ebay for dramatically less, with varying
>    quality...  We have every piece of equipment at our hosting facility
>    hooked up to one of these.  These you can SSH into, HTTP, SNMP, etc...
>
>    HOWEVER, these *REQUIRE* that the server have a BIOS setting
>    for "power on when power is lost".  And it must be enabled.  And it
> must
>    not be buggy...  And many of them won't turn on a computer that you
> have
>    powered off remotely via the OS ("shutdown -hy now" instead of
> "shutdown
>    -ry now").
>
>    There are smaller devices such as the "IPC-1" from cpscom.com which are
>    a 1-port power control like the above, but they cost north of $100 for
>    that single port, and tend to be RS-232 controlled rather than
>    Ethernet.  Problematic if you have only one server to control.  I wrote
>    Python code for controlling one of these, I used to have my DSL modem
>    connected to one, and the firewall would reset it if it couldn't reach
>    the Internet.  These *DO* have options to connect to a POTS line
> and use
>    the ringing to control them, etc...  They're pretty slick boxes.
>
>    There's the "PC Weasel" at realweasel.com, which is an ISA or PCI VGA
>    card that can talk RS-232 for access to the text-mode display and power
>    control.  Like the IPC-1, they require something else at the location
>    that can do RS-232 to talk to.  They can't do graphics.
>
>    Most modern PCs, particularly "server class" have BIOS options for
> doing
>    BIOS over serial.  Coupled with setting up a getty and configuring the
>    kernel for the serial port, this can be an effective means of console
>    access.  *BUT*, these are definitely second-class citizens,
> particularly
>    in the BIOS.  And if you think VGA KVMs are expensive, for some reason
>    serial "terminal servers" for this application are quite expensive as
>    well...
>
>    There are a variety of KVM over IP solutions, but I really wanted one
>    that did VNC, so we didn't need special client software.  I ended up
>    choosing the StarTech 1115IP-EXT.  It works well, but I have had some
>    weirdness with some versions.  The newest hardware seems likely to
> work.
>    This is a single port KVM that you can plug VGA and PS-2 or USB into a
>    server, and shows it's console, including graphics, doing mouse, etc...
>    It's around $600, and I've been pretty happy with the one we have
> at our
>    hosting facility.  But at $600 for one server may be a bit much. 
> It can
>    also connect via USB to the server and emulate a CD or floppy.  It can
>    do SSH, web, and more...  The mouse can be a bit funky to use in GUI
>    installers and the like though.
>
>    StarTech also have 1U 16-port KVMs either with the above included
> in it,
>    or that can attach to the above.  You can cascade these to handle
>    something like 130 ports.  All of our older machines at our hosting
>    facility are connected to one of these.  The nice thing about these is
>    that, unlike much of their competition, the cables for each port are
>    relatively inexpensive, around $5.  It's not unusual to have
> cabling for
>    KVMs cost $30 or more, per port.
>
>    StarTech also makes serial controlled power strips, like the APC, but
>    that integrate with the IP controllers so you can go to a console and
>    then say "power cycle this guy".  I haven't used these, but they sure
>    sound convenient.
>
>    Then there are enhanced management cards like the Dell DRAC ($350-ish),
>    HP iLO (built-in), and the Supermicro "+" IPMI cards ($100-ish).  The
>    DRACs are great, but obviously only work with Dell equipment.  They
> tend
>    to very well integrate including monitoring of chassis and other
>    add-ons.  We use mostly Supermicro gear, and I really like the "+"
>    cards, which give you remote KVM, remote media, power on and off,
>    monitoring of fans and more.  All these options tend to require Java
>    applets for consoles, but they do work great.  But, they only work in
>    specific hardware.
>
> That's what I know.
>
> Sean
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