Dell DRAC

In computing, the Dell Remote Access Controller or DRAC, an interface card from Dell Inc, provides out-of-band management facilities. The controller has its own processor, memory, network connection, and access to the system bus. Key features include power management, virtual media access and remote console capabilities, all available through a supported web browser or command line interface. This gives system administrators the ability to configure a machine as if they were sitting at the local console (terminal).

The DRAC interfaces with baseboard management controller (BMC) chips based on the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0 standard, which allows use of IPMI out-of-band interfaces such as IPMI Over LAN ^[1].

Versions

• DRAC II - Dell Remote Assistant Card
• DRAC III - Dell Remote Access Card
• DRAC 4 - Dell Remote Access Card
• DRAC 5 - Dell Remote Access Card
• iDRAC 6 embedded BMC - Integrated in all enterprise class servers
• iDRAC 6 express - Integrated Dell Remote Access Card (free from mid range (R610) with very limited functions)
• iDRAC 6 enterprise - Integrated Dell Remote Access Card

Power management

With the DRAC enabled and using its own separate network connection, a user may login and reboot the system even if the core operating system has crashed. If the operating system has loaded the correct drivers, the DRAC will attempt to shutdown the system gracefully. Without this feature and with the system running, administrators can use the remote console to access the operating system to shut down the machine....

Remote console

The remote console features of the DRAC allow an administrator to interface with the computer as if sitting in front of it, and one can share the local inputs from keyboard and mouse as well as video output (DRAC does not support remote sound). Remote-console capability relies on an Active X or Java plug-in (depending on the model), which displays a window showing the video output on the local terminal and which takes mouse and keyboard input. This behavior closely resembles that of other remote access solutions such as VNC or RDP. It is used to take the server console remotely.

Virtual media

The DRAC enables a user to mount remotely-shared disk-images as if they were connected to the system. In combination with the remote console, this gives administrators the ability to completely re-install an operating system, a task which traditionally required local console access to the physical machine. Administrators can control virtual media through the browser or through the OpenManage tools provided by Dell, though specific versions of browsers restrict some functionality. ^[2]

Access

The main DRAC management takes place via a web interface. All generations of the DRAC use the default user name root and the default password calvin. Starting with the DRAC 3, Microsoft Active Directory can also provide authentication either with Dell AD Schema Extensions or Standard Schema. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Implementation

The DRAC5 and iDRAC6 are embedded platforms running Linux and Busybox. The firmware source code is available on the Dell website^[8] however it is not possible to compile the source into a replacement firmware as Dell does not include a build environment.^[9]

The DRAC provides remote access to the system console (keyboard and screen) allowing the system BIOS to be accessed over the Internet when the server is rebooted. This is done by configuring the system BIOS to send its output to a serial port (as a stream of text using VT100-compatible control codes.) The chosen serial port is then redirected to the DRAC's serial port. Users can then log in to the DRAC via SSH and run a command to connect the SSH session to the serial port, thus allowing the console to be accessed over the Internet.

Earlier versions of the DRAC used ActiveX to provide a remote-console interface in a web browser, however this was unpopular with non-Windows users who could not install the software. The latest revision of the DRAC6 uses a Java application instead (launched from within the browser), however both the DRAC5 and iDRAC6 also provided the aforementioned platform-independent SSH access.

iDRAC6 Details

iDRAC6 is available in two levels: iDRAC6 Express and iDRAC6 Enterprise.
• iDRAC6 offers three upgrades: iDRAC6 Express, iDRAC6 Enterprise, and VFlash Media
• iDRAC6 offers power budgeting
• iDRAC6 Enterprise’s virtual console and virtual media features are now integrated into a single plug-in
• iDRAC6 Enterprise’s virtual console now allows two users to collaborate on the same server
• iDRAC6 now allows customers to view what is on the server LCD without a server-side visit
• iDRAC6 Express (which integrates a host of features previously charged for in DRAC5) is now a standard offering on Dell’s enterprise-class servers. Certain features are not available for the Express version, including the Remote Console functionality.
• As with iDRAC, iDRAC6 Enterprise is a standard offering on blade servers
• iDRAC6 supports IPv6

Limitations

To take advantage of storage greater than 256 MB on the iDRAC6 enterprise, Dell requires that a vFlash SD card be procured through Dell channels. While there is no functional difference between a Dell-branded vFlash SD and a class 2 or greater SDHC card, the use of non-Dell media prevents the use of extended capacities and functions.

On a Linux client system the arrow and print screen keys can't be used in the iDRAC6 Java virtual console application because of some incompatible key event IDs.^[10]

See also

• Out-of-band management

References

1. ^ "Exploring the DRAC 5". Dell Power Solutions, August 2006. Dell. p. 27. http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps3q06-20060118-McGary.pdf. 
2. ^ "Supported Web Browsers". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/drac5/OM53/en/ug/racugc1.htm#34352. 
3. ^ "Accessing the DRAC 5 Through a Network". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/drac5/OM53/en/ug/racugc2.htm#49673. 
4. ^ "Accessing the DRAC 4 Through a Network". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/drac4/160/en/ug/racugc2.htm#49673. 
5. ^ "Accessing the DRAC III Web-Based Interface". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/drac3/ug/drac3c40.htm#30869. 
6. ^ "Accessing the CMC Through a Network". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/cmc/ug/html/install.htm#wp1199495. 
7. ^ "iDRAC, Configuring Networking Using the CMC Web Interface". Users Guide. Dell. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/idrac/en/ug/html/chap02.htm#wp86375. 
8. ^ Dell Open Source repository
9. ^ Post on Dell Linux-PowerEdge mailing list, Dec 2010
10. ^ Post on Dell Linux-PowerEdge mailing list, Jun 2011

External links

• Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC 6)
• Dell Remote Access Controller 5 (DRAC 5) Version 1.20
• DRAC II/III product info from Dell
• Dell Remote Access Controller User Guides
• Managing out-of-band management in Infoworld
• Dell DRAC 5 Remote SSH Console Redirection
• Dell DRAC Password Management Software by Lieberman Software Corporation