Dell R510 Server FreeNAS Build + Remote Management w/iDrac Enterprise?

[TheSaint]

Hi LTT folks,

 

Thanks in advance for helping out a complete newbie to server architecture. I'm an experienced custom desktop PC builder for almost two decades, but I recently purchased a used R510 and have realized I have much to learn! This server is being used in my home, not a business setting.

 

Objectives: 

• Setup remote management, as this system will be headless once installed in a rack
• Install FreeNAS on mirrored 2.5" HDD's in the internal drive caddy
• Use all 12 front 3.5" drive bays for 8TB WD Reds, this will be my FreeNAS array

Background:
 

Here's an ongoing thread I have over at the FreeNAS forums, in case it is useful for reference, or anyone is trying to emulate what I'm attempting and find it useful reading.

Here's a link to my Dell Service Tag so you can see how the server was configured from Dell. 

The server currently is setup in a RAID configuration using the H700 with 10 drives combined into a single virtual drive. That drive has Windows Server 2016 Standard installed and activated on it. There's also an iDrac Enterprise card installed. 

Questions:

 

• My goal is to place this server in a rack, but still want to keep an eye on thermals, power consumption, software updates and so forth over my home network. Once configured, I want to make the system completely headless.
  • The system already has iDrac Enterprise card installed, but no vFlash SD card. I'd like to make a backup of the server's current system configuration before I make any changes to it.
    
    There are 10 Dell SAS HDD's (lower capacity than the WD Red's I want to use for FreeNAS) currently installed with the RAID config for Windows Server 2016.Is there any easy way to export this current hardware configuration via USB thumb drive before I remove all the Dell drives and swap them out with the WD Reds? I tried exporting the server configuration, but it gave me an error message about needing a licensed Dell vFlash card. I had just a standard SD card in the slot, but the only other option that seemed to be available was export to CDROM, of which there was none attached to the system. 
    
    How does one select USB thumb drives as an export destination for server configuration files? I'd like to save a copy of the current RAID config, plus Windows Server installation information in case I ever wanted to repurpose the server away from FreeNAS and swap out drives to go back to its original Windows Server 2016 configuration. 
     
• How do I setup the iDrac management to use OMSA (Dell's OpenManage Systems Management)  ?
  • Once FreeNAS (based upon FreeBSD) is installed, I won't have any Windows environment to install Windows-based utilities. Based on my reading (someone correct me if I'm wrong!) OMSA needs to be installed on both the management station (my primary Windows 10 desktop) and on the R510 too, inside of Windows.
  • Can one take full advantage of the remote management features without having an operating system installed? If so, how does one start to configure this?
  • I've read that iDrac Enterprise works in a pre-OS environment, which is exactly how I'd want to access it once FreeNAS is installed. What needs to be installed/configured on the R510 to make this happen? What needs to be installed/configured on my Windows 10 desktop to access it once configured, or can everything on the management desktop be done over a web-browser? 
  • Those are my main concerns right now, and if anyone can point a complete server beginner in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it. I realize I have much to learn. Thank you for your assistance!

[Windows7ge]

I have experience working with FreeNAS but not nearly as much with Dell servers.

 

@leadeater Maybe you could fill in the blanks?

[TheSaint]

Thanks for paging the Dell expert! I've cross-posted this to the Dell discussion boards on dell.com, but the thread is awaiting a moderator approval. Once it gets approved over there, I post the link to it here in case anyone else is trying a similar build. 

 

Windows7ge, once I get the hardware configured, I might have some FreeNAS questions for you. Just out of curiosity, what are you using hardware wise in your FreeNAS box?

 

Thanks!

[Windows7ge]

8 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Thanks for paging the Dell expert! I've cross-posted this to the Dell discussion boards on dell.com, but the thread is awaiting a moderator approval. Once it gets approved over there, I post the link to it here in case anyone else is trying a similar build. 

 

Windows7ge, once I get the hardware configured, I might have some FreeNAS questions for you. Just out of curiosity, what are you using hardware wise in your FreeNAS box?

 

Thanks!

I believe iDrac is Dells propriety version of IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) the iDrac card you mentioned should have its own processor, ram, and flash storage. It's effectively a computer inside of a computer so you can remote into the server even when it is off.

 

I can answer some questions related to freeNAS. As for my own build.

ASRock Rack EP2C602-4L/D16 motherboard

2x LGA2011 E5 2670 8C/16T processors 

128GB of Kingston 1600MHz ECC

10GBit SFP+ x8 card w/ 850nm LC fiber optic transceiver

An old Dell mini-SAS 6GBit breakout raid controller (8 drive controller) with its firmware flashed to a HBA controller (for FreeNAS software RAID)

A very inappropriate Corsair RM1000W PSU (I am using a UPS though since their is no write protection due to software RAID and could not find a mini redundant PSU in the ATX form factor rated for 2x EPS connectors.)

8x WD Gold 7200RPM 2TB drives in raidz2 (12TB usable)

3x WD Red 5400RPM 3TB drives in raidz1 (6TB usable)

 

I get a sustained link of around 500~550MB/s on the 10Gbit link to my desktop hard drive RAID0. Set up Public/Private key authentication, SSH, remote access, built a local proxy so I can manage the IPMI without risking a security breach. Locked root, each user has their own account, permissions, file shares, and public/private key. I set port forwarding up without using port 22 due to network bots and with static addressing I can connect directly without the need for a domain name or DDNS like noip.

[leadeater]

40 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

There are 10 Dell SAS HDD's (lower capacity than the WD Red's I want to use for FreeNAS) currently installed with the RAID config for Windows Server 2016.Is there any easy way to export this current hardware configuration via USB thumb drive before I remove all the Dell drives and swap them out with the WD Reds?

No need to export, all RAID configuration is saved on the header of every disk in the array. Just take the disks out and label them all, order doesn't matter just make sure you know the 10 that were being used in the same array.

 

42 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

How does one select USB thumb drives as an export destination for server configuration files? I'd like to save a copy of the current RAID config, plus Windows Server installation information in case I ever wanted to repurpose the server away from FreeNAS and swap out drives to go back to its original Windows Server 2016 configuration.

As above just put the disks back in the server and import the array, it'll boot straight back in to Windows as if nothing ever changed.

 

44 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

How do I setup the iDrac management to use OMSA (Dell's OpenManage Systems Management)  ?

• Once FreeNAS (based upon FreeBSD) is installed, I won't have any Windows environment to install Windows-based utilities. Based on my reading (someone correct me if I'm wrong!) OMSA needs to be installed on both the management station (my primary Windows 10 desktop) and on the R510 too, inside of Windows.

 

Do you actually need this? iDRAC can be used directly using the iDRAC IP address and it's own web interface.

 

50 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

I've read that iDrac Enterprise works in a pre-OS environment, which is exactly how I'd want to access it once FreeNAS is installed. What needs to be installed/configured on the R510 to make this happen? What needs to be installed/configured on my Windows 10 desktop to access it once configured, or can everything on the management desktop be done over a web-browser?

You'll only need iDRAC access for hardware monitoring and health checking, all remote management of FreeNAS should be done using the FreeNAS web interface or SSH access to the command shell of the OS. iDRAC does allow you to open up a remote console session but that is normally used as a fall back when the standard tools are not working.

[TheSaint]

1 minute ago, Windows7ge said:

I believe iDrac is Dells propriety version of IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) the iDrac card you mentioned should have its own processor, ram, and flash storage. It's effectively a computer inside of a computer so you can remote into the server even when it is off.[/quote]

2

That's my understanding of it also. I read elsewhere (not on LTT) that you have to install OpenManage (Dell's Server Manager) on both the server and the desktop that you will use to manage the server. Elsewhere, I've read that you can access most if not all of the pre-OS functions of your Dell server via just a web browser. I'd like to install the minimum amount of software on any given machine, but also want to make sure everything is configured properly.

1 minute ago, Windows7ge said:

 

I can answer some questions related to freeNAS. As for my own build.

ASRock Rack EP2C602-4L/D16 motherboard

2x LGA2011 E5 2670 8C/16T processors 

128GB of Kingston 1600MHz ECC

10GBit SFP+ x8 card w/ 850nm LC fiber optic transceiver

An old Dell mini-SAS 6GBit breakout raid controller (8 drive controller) with its firmware flashed to a HBA controller (for FreeNAS software RAID)

A very inappropriate Corsair RM1000W PSU (I am using a UPS though since their is no write protection due to software RAID and could not find a mini redundant PSU in the ATX form factor rated for 2x EPS connectors.)

8x WD Gold 7200RPM 2TB drives in raidz2 (12TB usable)

3x WD Red 5400RPM 3TB drives in raidz1 (6TB usable)

 

I get a sustained link of around 500~550MB/s on the 10Gbit link to my desktop hard drive RAID0. Set up Public/Private key authentication, SSH, remote access, built a local proxy so I can manage the IPMI without risking a security breach. Locked root, each user has their own account, permissions, file shares, and public/private key. I set port forwarding up without using port 22 due to network bots and with static addressing I can connect directly without the need for a domain name or DDNS like noip.

6

Do you have your SFP+ connection going straight into your workstation, or do you have a switch somewhere in between? My desktop PC will be about 100 feet away from my FreeNAS box and I was thinking about wiring them both with 10gbe NIC using RJ45. I looked at SFP, but at the Direct Attach Copper and read that maximum distances are much less than 100'. How does the fiber optic card work in terms of length of cable run? Did you buy another fiber NIC for your workstation, or is this going into a switch?

 

I'm trying to juggle reliability, speed, compatibility, distance, and cost when it comes to building out a 10gbe network. As I only have one workstation and one FreeNAS server, I'm trying to see if it is possible to bridge 10gbe (regardless of RJ45 or fiber) connections together to cut down the cost of buying a pricey 10gbe switch. What's the rest of your connected network like, and why did you go that route?

 

Thanks!

[leadeater]

41 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Thanks for paging the Dell expert!

Well if you mean me I'm no Dell expert, I use HPE servers but they're all the same anyway. iDRAC vs iLO all the same . There are a few Dell server users on the forum so they might see this and comment.

 

Once you get used to servers like these you'll notice how every brand is exactly the same thing with different names for things and different skins but are all doing the same stuff in the same way.

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, leadeater said:

Well if you mean me I'm no Dell expert, I use HPE servers but they're all the same anyway. iDRAC vs iLO all the same . There are a few Dell server users on the forum so they might see this and comment.

 

Once you get used to servers like these you'll notice how every brand is exactly the same thing with different names for things and different skins but are all doing the same stuff in the same way.

Thanks for responding to my request to help him. From past discussions we've had I thought you'd be much better suited to answer his specific server related questions than myself.

[TheSaint]

15 minutes ago, leadeater said:

No need to export, all RAID configuration is saved on the header of every disk in the array. Just take the disks out and label them all, order doesn't matter just make sure you know the 10 that were being used in the same array.[/quote]

 

As above just put the disks back in the server and import the array, it'll boot straight back in to Windows as if nothing ever changed.

 

 

Do you actually need this? iDRAC can be used directly using the iDRAC IP address and it's own web interface.

 

You'll only need iDRAC access for hardware monitoring and health checking, all remote management of FreeNAS should be done using the FreeNAS web interface or SSH access to the command shell of the OS. iDRAC does allow you to open up a remote console session but that is normally used as a fall back when the standard tools are not working.

3

Thanks for the heads up on the RAID config. I'll just pull out the drives out of their trays. I've already marked them as part of a single RAID so they won't get mixed in with other HDD's I have laying around.  They are the only SAS drives I have in the house, so they won't get jumbled.

 

I am switching from the Dell H700 SAS controller that came with the server to an IBM M1015 LSI-based controller, as the latter is easy to crossflash to a true I.T. mode for bare-drive access as a Host Bus Adapter, to ensure proper SMART readings on the drives. The H700 that came with the server is highly NOT RECOMMENDED by the FreeNAS folks, so I'm taking their word for it to switch out controllers instead of risking my data. That was one of the reasons why I was trying to see if I should backup my server config first before pulling out the H700 and putting in the M1015. Thoughts?

 

Regarding the iDRAC versus the OMSA, I wasn't sure if you could just access the iDRAC via web browser only or if you had to have management software installed on either the server or the management desktop machine, or both? I'll watch the video you linked to above in case it covers all of that. I was looking at some of the more advanced features of OMSA, and I couldn't help but thinking that maybe it was more intended for a large cluster of servers in a datacenter, not for just basic functions that could be handled via iDRAC.

 

Time to watch the video, thanks!

[leadeater]

7 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

That was one of the reasons why I was trying to see if I should backup my server config first before pulling out the H700 and putting in the M1015. Thoughts?

Just pull the H700 out and the disks and set them aside, not much you really need to do other than that.

[Windows7ge]

24 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Do you have your SFP+ connection going straight into your workstation, or do you have a switch somewhere in between?

I'm using a PtP topology since I didn't find it in my budget to locate a switch with multiple 10Gbit SFP+ ports, buy 4 transceivers, multiple fiber optic cables. So it's just a point-to-point on a 10.0.0.0/30 network. I'll tell ya, took me a while to get windows to cooperate ignoring the server on the 1Gbit home network for SSH/SFTP purposes and use the 10Gbit link for local file transfer only.

 

24 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

How does the fiber optic card work in terms of length of cable run? Did you buy another fiber NIC for your workstation, or is this going into a switch?

The fiber optic cable claims to be OM4 which is rated for up-to 100Gbit and up-to a distance of 400 meters (1312.33 feet) but the cable was quite cheap for the length it is so I question its quality. It has no issue pushing 10Gbit being I believe 30meters long but pushing speed and length I'd expect its possible lack of quality would start to show. As for your other question. It's another pci_ex8 SFP+ card with equivalent transceiver installed in my desktop.

 

30 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

What's the rest of your connected network like, and why did you go that route?

The rest of the network consists of a 1Gbit link to every host and the IPMI for the servers ipmi really like any other home. The only special part is the point to point fiber optic link which I do plan to replace with a switch at some point. The primary reason I went this route was because we already had the 1Gbit switch and this was the cheapest alternative.

[TheSaint]

How much did all the 10 gig hardware run you? Cable, the two cards, transceivers, etc? Trying to get a comparative price together against going for a RJ45 dual NIC + Cat 6a build out for my home office.

 

I've heard that Windows needs a lot of manual configuration like you were saying when using 10 gig, but what fun would it be to go that fast if it were too easy?

[leadeater]

2 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

How much did all the 10 gig hardware run you? Cable, the two cards, transceivers, etc? Trying to get a comparative price together against going for a RJ45 dual NIC + Cat 6a build out for my home office.

 

I've heard that Windows needs a lot of manual configuration like you were saying when using 10 gig, but what fun would it be to go that fast if it were too easy?

Used 10Gb SFP+ Mellanox are cheap on ebay and if you're going a short ish distance, 7m-10m, you can use DAC copper cables. 10GbE Cat6a is the easiest to use for up to 90m.

 

10Gb on Windows isn't complex to setup unless you're using split networking and the 10Gb network is not switched and is isolated. The solution isn't really that hard for that type of setup though, use separate IP ranges/subnets for the 10Gb and 1Gb network and set the 1Gb NIC as the preferred network adapter.

 

https://www.ghacks.net/2016/12/02/change-network-adapter-priorities-in-windows-10/

[Falconevo]

10 hours ago, TheSaint said:

I am switching from the Dell H700 SAS controller that came with the server to an IBM M1015 LSI-based controller, as the latter is easy to crossflash to a true I.T. mode for bare-drive access as a Host Bus Adapter, to ensure proper SMART readings on the drives. The H700 that came with the server is highly NOT RECOMMENDED by the FreeNAS folks, so I'm taking their word for it to switch out controllers instead of risking my data. That was one of the reasons why I was trying to see if I should backup my server config first before pulling out the H700 and putting in the M1015. Thoughts?

If you are moving to an 'IT' controller to access the disks in ATA mode, you will be moving away from RAID and the RAID configuration you had on the disks would not be usable once you move to the IT based controller, it would need to be HWRAID/IR to import that foreign config and keep the data.  Bare in mind that by default the I.T firmware will still disable the local cache on the physical disks, this can be changed but you will have to faff with LSI SAS as the MegaRAID utilities won't work for HBA pass-through (IT mode).  IT mode would allow you to have a JBOD style configuration or use software raid solution for redundancy with FreeNAS and provide usable S.M.A.R.T information..

 

The H700 will give proper S.M.A.R.T functionality but only via the MegaRAID CLI or via Drac/OpenManage utility access, keep in mind that the FreeNAS doesn't have a native Dell OpenManage install.

 

As for Drac access, you can simply access the web portal for Drac, add a network interface which has a DHCP service running and the default config will grab an IP.  Go on to the https://*DHCPIP* and configure the Drac config how ever you want it.  Setup remote access etc, the R510 is quite an old unit so make sure you update the Drac firmware to get the latest HTML5 based remote console as the Java one in the old versions is just utter toss.

[Windows7ge]

7 hours ago, TheSaint said:

How much did all the 10 gig hardware run you? Cable, the two cards, transceivers, etc? Trying to get a comparative price together against going for a RJ45 dual NIC + Cat 6a build out for my home office.

I paid $48 for two used HP 10GbE Mellanox ConnectX-2 PCIe 2.0 x8 cards which I bought off newegg.com

I bought the SFP-10GSR-85 10G SFP+ 850nm 300m transceivers for $16/piece off www.fs.com

The 30m LC to LC OM4 UPC to UPC fiber optic cable was $40

 

So give or take: $120 + ~$10 S&H I thought it was well worth it to x10 my network bandwidth because file transfers managed to saturate the link under specific types of transfers.

8 hours ago, TheSaint said:

I've heard that Windows needs a lot of manual configuration like you were saying when using 10 gig, but what fun would it be to go that fast if it were too easy?

"A lot" is an overstatement. If I was using a switch things would have been even easier but the amount of configuring wasn't too bad. The primary things I had to take care of were assigning the file share protocol to the 10.0.0.0/30 network (the 10Gbit network). Then I had to enable jumbo packets on both the server and client end. Then I had to adjust network adapter priority in the GUI to tell the computer which adapter is preferred based on metric which is a measurement the computer uses to determine preferred adapters over others. A lower metric means the computer will use that link before another. Same operation can apply to Routers with multiple links within their routing table. Beyond this I assigned the data-set to my account, enabled password protection for local access, and assigned the array a drive letter in windows mapped network drives and boom, a username & password protected network drive. I kept the 1Gbit link so I can SSH & SFTP into the server along with utilize IPMI. Each user has their own Public/Private Key and password. That's about as much configuration is needed on windows end if you have multiple networks plugged into the server and the end user.

[TheSaint]

7 hours ago, Falconevo said:

If you are moving to an 'IT' controller to access the disks in ATA mode, you will be moving away from RAID and the RAID configuration you had on the disks would not be usable once you move to the IT based controller, it would need to be HWRAID/IR to import that foreign config and keep the data.  Bare in mind that by default the I.T firmware will still disable the local cache on the physical disks, this can be changed but you will have to faff with LSI SAS as the MegaRAID utilities won't work for HBA pass-through (IT mode).  IT mode would allow you to have a JBOD style configuration or use software raid solution for redundancy with FreeNAS and provide usable S.M.A.R.T information..

 

The H700 will give proper S.M.A.R.T functionality but only via the MegaRAID CLI or via Drac/OpenManage utility access, keep in mind that the FreeNAS doesn't have a native Dell OpenManage install.

 

As for Drac access, you can simply access the web portal for Drac, add a network interface which has a DHCP service running and the default config will grab an IP.  Go on to the https://*DHCPIP* and configure the Drac config how ever you want it.  Setup remote access etc, the R510 is quite an old unit so make sure you update the Drac firmware to get the latest HTML5 based remote console as the Java one in the old versions is just utter toss.

 

@Falconevo Correct. I need to move away from RAID mode, as FreeNAS needs to access the disks directly. For lack of a better term, FreeNAS is a software RAID of sorts. I don't think it is likely that I will switch my machine back to being a Windows 2016 Server (its current configuration), but in case I do, that's why I wanted to export any configuration before pulling the 10 existing SAS HDD's configured in RAID with the Dell H700 and setting them aside, before installing my IBM M1015 and putting in 10 x 8TB WD Reds.

 

My intuition (until leadeater said to just set them aside) said that I should try to use the Dell Export tool to save the configuration to the SD card in the iDRAC, but it didn't recognize my generic (Non-Dell branded, not official vFlash) SD card. There's no data on the existing RAID array other than Windows 2016 Server Standard, a fresh install that the seller put on there before he sold it to me. I have the serial key, so I guess I could always install it again if I had issues reinstalling the RAID array. Once again, I don't think it will likely, I just wanted to learn how Dell Servers handle backing up of configuration files so once I have my FreeNAS configured, I could snapshot that too.

 

Understood regarding FreeNAS having no native OpenManage install. I flashed the iDRAC enterprise to the latest available firmware, and then after hassling with some Java security warnings and whitelisting, plus disabling encrypted video console, I was able to get it working. It was a bit of a pain, but now remote access is available, which is fantastic. I really didn't wanto to mess around with a KVM, plus being able to manage the server off-site is a huge plus for when I'm traveling. Leadeater's video was quite helpful. Dell's support website seems to have lots of great information, but much of it is buried and poorly organized. All is well that ends well!

 

6 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

I paid $48 for two used HP 10GbE Mellanox ConnectX-2 PCIe 2.0 x8 cards which I bought off newegg.com

I bought the SFP-10GSR-85 10G SFP+ 850nm 300m transceivers for $16/piece off www.fs.com

The 30m LC to LC OM4 UPC to UPC fiber optic cable was $40

 

So give or take: $120 + ~$10 S&H I thought it was well worth it to x10 my network bandwidth because file transfers managed to saturate the link under specific types of transfers.

"A lot" is an overstatement. If I was using a switch things would have been even easier but the amount of configuring wasn't too bad. The primary things I had to take care of were assigning the file share protocol to the 10.0.0.0/30 network (the 10Gbit network). Then I had to enable jumbo packets on both the server and client end. Then I had to adjust network adapter priority in the GUI to tell the computer which adapter is preferred based on metric which is a measurement the computer uses to determine preferred adapters over others. A lower metric means the computer will use that link before another. Same operation can apply to Routers with multiple links within their routing table. Beyond this I assigned the data-set to my account, enabled password protection for local access, and assigned the array a drive letter in windows mapped network drives and boom, a username & password protected network drive. I kept the 1Gbit link so I can SSH & SFTP into the server along with utilize IPMI. Each user has their own Public/Private Key and password. That's about as much configuration is needed on windows end if you have multiple networks plugged into the server and the end user.

 

Just over $100 for a 10x speed increase certainly is a bargain. Thanks for your pointers in setting up the networking config. I'm still waiting for my dual 2.5" boot drives to arrive. Once they do, I already have a FreeNAS 11.0 ISO loaded on USB for install. Now if I can just find some cheap adapters on ebay or Newegg! My original goal was go to all RJ45 including a 10gbe switch, but that seems to add a minimum of $200 x2 for Intel NICs with FreeBSD support, plus easily $500+ for a 10gbe RJ45 switch. If done via that method, the cost to network my server would be double the cost of the server itself! Instead, I'm going to keep the R510 near my desktop, get SFP+ and just deal with the noise when it is turned on, earmuffs here we go!  

[Falconevo]

The R510 is a solid unit, we still have a very large number of them in production and have had 1 chassis fail out of over 300+ both due to a mainboard failure which occurred very shortly after a PDU failure covering that rack so not sure it was even the mainboard at fault.

 

Dell have an ISO which will update all the Firmware across the unit, this is something I would recommend before you start the build as it will update all hardware inventory detected to the latest available firmware versions.

 

You can grab it here;

https://dell.app.box.com/v/BootableR510/folder/32719654138

 

Either burn it to a bootable USB using something like rufus or if you are really old school burn it to a dvd if your 510 chassis even has a dvd drive.

[leadeater]

41 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

The R510 is a solid unit, we still have a very large number of them in production and have had 1 chassis fail out of over 300+ both due to a mainboard failure which occurred very shortly after a PDU failure covering that rack so not sure it was even the mainboard at fault.

 

Dell have an ISO which will update all the Firmware across the unit, this is something I would recommend before you start the build as it will update all hardware inventory detected to the latest available firmware versions.

 

You can grab it here;

https://dell.app.box.com/v/BootableR510/folder/32719654138

 

Either burn it to a bootable USB using something like rufus or if you are really old school burn it to a dvd if your 510 chassis even has a dvd drive.

You can even get the server to pull the latest firmware from the internet itself during provisioning 

[Falconevo]

Just now, leadeater said:

You can even get the server to pull the latest firmware from the internet itself during provisioning 

We do internally, don't think he has the capacity requirements for that just yet lol

[leadeater]

1 minute ago, Falconevo said:

We do internally, don't think he has the capacity requirements for that just yet lol

Tbh I've never done it myself since I'm an HPE person but at least with HPE Intelligent Provisioning you don't need any extras just boot the server and get it internet access while in the Intelligent Provisioning setup process and select update firmware from internet. I don't actually do it though since we use OneView with server profiles with managed firmware so everything is the same. OneView is rather awesome but Dell has there own product that does the same thing as well far as I'm aware.

[Falconevo]

40 minutes ago, leadeater said:

Tbh I've never done it myself since I'm an HPE person but at least with HPE Intelligent Provisioning you don't need any extras just boot the server and get it internet access while in the Intelligent Provisioning setup process and select update firmware from internet. I don't actually do it though since we use OneView with server profiles with managed firmware so everything is the same. OneView is rather awesome but Dell has there own product that does the same thing as well far as I'm aware.

My experience with HP (aside from 3PAR storage) has been pretty poor, we haven't gone back to HP for a long time due to problems in the G5-G7 ranges which was the last time we delved.  Maybe things have got better but our internal systems are now all geared around DRAC so moving to ILO would be pain.

[leadeater]

2 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

My experience with HP (aside from 3PAR storage) has been pretty poor, we haven't gone back to HP for a long time due to problems in the G5-G7 ranges which was the last time we delved.  Maybe things have got better but our internal systems are now all geared around DRAC so moving to ILO would be pain.

I don't think it really makes any difference who you go with really, which ever one has the best local support and you're happy with.

[Falconevo]

4 minutes ago, leadeater said:

I don't think it really makes any difference who you go with really, which ever one has the best local support and you're happy with.

That is very true, we just had some poor experiences with hardware replacements etc which has left a bad taste

[Mikensan]

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Regarding the iDRAC versus the OMSA, I wasn't sure if you could just access the iDRAC via web browser only or if you had to have management software installed on either the server or the management desktop machine, or both? I'll watch the video you linked to above in case it covers all of that. I was looking at some of the more advanced features of OMSA, and I couldn't help but thinking that maybe it was more intended for a large cluster of servers in a datacenter, not for just basic functions that could be handled via iDRAC.

Just to note that the iDRAC is optional so verify it's physically installed (simple as checking the rear for the extra ethernet port). If so then all you need is a web browser and java to access it. While the server boots up, it should tell you to hit a series of keys to configure the iDRAC - just either configure a static IP and let it pull from DHCP (Static is preferred in case your DHCP takes a nose dive).. I'd also reset the password while in there because the previous owner might've forgotten to clear the iDRAC settings before shipping (my issue).

 

I have a R610 if there's anything you want to compare against or ask questions. At work we're using R720s. The last thing I worked with besides Dells were Compaq Proliants lol. Those things were tanks.

[TheSaint]

@Falconevo,

 

Wouldn't the Platform Update do the same thing as burning an ISO DVD/USB Thumbdrive?

 

 

I hooked my R510 up to the internet via one of the dedicated ethernet ports, plus hooked up another cable to the iDRAC for remote management. I ran firmware updates on all installed hardware from there. What would the advantage of an ISO DVD/USB be? Maybe if you had to deploy it to a bunch of servers? Or if you were in an offline environment without access to download firmware? I was able to download all the latest Dell Update Package (DUP) without any issue.

 

@Mikensan,

 

The iDRAC is physically installed. It is an iDRAC 6 Enterprise edition. I specifically ordered this R510 and made sure it came with one, as I wanted the remote management functionality. I may be a server newb, but I've done a little homework.

 

Good point on static versus dynamic IP addresses. I've assigned it a static one on my home network to make life easier to remote connect from my other desktop. Just took a bit of reading up on server manuals, but nothing too wild. It is all a learning process for sure.

 

I do have one question as it relates to iDRAC: 

 

(Repating my question from my original post):

 

The system already has iDrac Enterprise card installed, but no vFlash SD card. I'd like to make a backup of the server's current system configuration before I make any changes to it.

There are 10 Dell SAS HDD's (lower capacity than the WD Red's I want to use for FreeNAS) currently installed with the RAID config for Windows Server 2016.Is there any easy way to export this current hardware configuration via USB thumb drive before I remove all the Dell drives and swap them out with the WD Reds? I tried exporting the server configuration, but it gave me an error message about needing a licensed Dell vFlash card. I had just a standard SD card in the slot, but the only other option that seemed to be available was export to CDROM, of which there was none attached to the system. 

How does one select USB thumb drives as an export destination for server configuration files? I'd like to save a copy of the current RAID config, plus Windows Server installation information in case I ever wanted to repurpose the server away from FreeNAS and swap out drives to go back to its original Windows Server 2016 configuration. 

 

With your R610 and R720's (assuming they use the exact same iDRAC system, or something very similar), when and how do you backup the server configuration? When you change out to different hardware? When you change or reinstall OS'es? Do you use the Dell-branded vFlash card to backup the server configs, or some other method? I'm trying to establish a Best Practices for how to use Server Config backups, and right now, I'm not sure what that is.

 

Everyone, thanks for the continued insight folks.