Dell certification notes

These are notes that i made to help me with passing the online Dell test for servers and desktops.  It's gibberish to most people but helped me with passing the tests.  Everything in red is referencing a question that I had to answer in the actual test.

SERVERS

Solution that provides consolidated consistent way to monitor, configure, update and manage servers = OMSA Open Manage Server Assistant

SAS = NOT Leverages SCSI command set, supports multiple drives on channel, shares throughput bandwidth

View logs related to DRAM failure = DSET, OpenManage Server Administrator

Drives that are complete and consistent = Controller guide, Header guide, Time-stamp, Sequence number

Items detected and communicated using DRAC = Temp, Voltage, Fan Speeds

Hot spare = used to replace failed drive in redundant array

Clear non-BIOS errors from LCD = clear SEL

LCD display during POST = NOT BIOS version, date/time

Components in RAID that can contain firmware = PERC, backplane, HD

32 bit diagnostics CD can create = USB, Disk, HDD image

Valid color coded message displayed on LCD = alert state – amber

Perform global re-scan of storage drives = OpenManage Server Administrator

Perform HD self tests while server running = NOT OpenManage, 32 bit diag

Dell diagnostics operating within the OS = NOT DSET, 32 bit, MpMemory tests

If RAID drive goes offline, 1^st step = Attempt to rebuild the drive

Available in PERC BIOS = NOT modify auto-rebuilding, modify background operation rates

Import and clear foreign disk configs = PERC using ctrl R, OpenManage Server Admin

First digit of PE 2900 LCD message code = E = Error

Virtual media support = remotely boot managed systems from virtual media, install apps from vm, update drivers from vm, install os from vm

Running 32 bit diag be helpful = computer can’t access hard drive

OMSA PERC battery learning cycle delayed = NOT 72 hours

Check firmware compatible with drivers in use = OMSA

Test can be run from 32 bit = MpMemory

PE 2900 LCD Messages = written to SEL, listed during POST, displayed with color coded background

Displays on LCD if multiple errors = NOT all messages in sequence; only the most recent message

DRAC supports use of virtual media

Test run from 32 bit = MpMemory

Hot-plug drive replace = automatically rebuild

Modify auto rebuild rate = OMSA

BMC’s available = NOT host in-band, LAN in-band, LAN out-of-band

Management station perform when using virtual media = provides physical media

Run 32 bit = f10

Watch diagnostics run = NOT test selected tab

OMSA = solution for PE systems that provides consolidated and consistent way to monitor, config, update, manage servers

Clear NVRAM = power off server and change NVRAM jumper

Baseboard Management Controller = BMC = proactively forecasting the possible failure of hardware

-          Failovers: monitored and managed by PSU controller and detect a failure and utilize backup.  Controller will perform load balancing to reduce the load on any single PSU which extends mean-time-to-failure (MTTF)

-          Fans are controlled by BIOS and hot swappable

-          Memory redundancy:

o   Spare bank

o   Mirroring

o   RAID

Types: Tower, Rack, SC, Blade

-          Tower = 6800 + 2900

-          Rack = 1-2U in size.  1U = 1.75 inches

-          SC = Cheaper, 2 CPU’s max, 1 PSU

-          BLADE = “server on a motherboard”; large server farm

PE 2950 = Model 2, Gen 9, Rack optimized (5 for rack, 0 for tower), server (0 for server, 5 for blade)

Racks and rails work together in server environment = Rack systems ensure proper closure of servers, rail systems provide easy access

PERC = Poweredge Expandable RAID Controllers; Dell proprietary RAID controller; E = EXPANDABLE and not Edge

Components:

-          Side-plane connector = connecting SAS controller to board

-          DRAC-5 = Dell Remote Access Card 5 = remote manage; dedicated Ethernet port

-          PSPB/PDB = Power Supply Paralleling Board or Distribution Board

PCI

-          PCI = 133mbs

-          PCIX = 1gbs; extended, parallel based

-          PCIE = +2gbs; express, serial based

-          Hot Plug PCI: not supported for Dell RAID and SCSI controllers

o   Off - off

o   Green – On

o   Green blinking fast – slot being identified by app, program, or driver

o   Amber blinking slow – card is faulty or improperly installed

o   Amber blink twice, pause, then repeat – hot plugged expansion card is slower than other cards on same bus

CPU’s

-          AMD Opt 8200, 2200

-          Intel Xeon 7100,5300,5100,5000,3000,Pentium d915, Celeron d336

Power

-          LED:

o   Red or amber = failure

o   Green = ok

-          PSPB:

o   Distributes load across multiple PSUs

o   Larger systems with n+1

-          PDB:

o   Hot plug logic; power distribution

o   Smaller systems with 1+1

o   No load balancing

o   Provides redundancy and hot swapping

BIOS

-          BIOS Sequence:

o   Power supply board turns on and initializes; chipset receives the signal from power supply board; BIOS POSTs; BIOS looks for Video and runs it; memory count up; system inventory; summary screen displayed; search for boot drive; start the process of booting OS

-          Factory default:

o   Alt + f = factory default for entire BIOS

o   Alt + d = single fields in BIOS

o   SCSI enabled will be default

Drives that come with 9^th gen servers = SAS and SATA

Networking

NIC Teaming = create a VLAN, load balancing, failover

-          Fault tolerance = Smart Load Balancing (SLB); Adaptive Fault Tolerance (AFT)

o   If one fails, the other will be used

-          Load Balancing = SLB; Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB)

o   Share large data loads preventing one from being overwhelmed

-          Generic Trunking = FEC and GEC/802.3ad; FEC and GEC/802.3ad

o   Link aggregation.  Multiple cables/ports in parallel to increase link speed beyond the limits of any single cable/port

-          Teamed using Adapter Config Utilities

o   Broadcom = BASP; Intel = PROSet

o   Broadcom utility is preferred whenever possible

TOE

-          Removes processor bottlenecks; reduce excessive traffic across internal memory; traffic on internal PCI; Key required

-          Does not support iSCSI.

-          NIC is online before POST.  Must install the TOE key before AC power is applied

-          Layer 4 ethernet

-          BACS2 = Broadcom Advanced Control Suite v2

o   Basic diagnostics on Broadcom

o   Visibility in network stats

o   Teaming wizard

o   Netstat –nt to check for offloaded connections

Management

In-band = agents going through the OS

Out-of-band = through the DRAC and independent of the OS

-          Check for line voltage, verify BIOS, view logs, power on/off, force boot from floppy

-          Once DRAC is plugged in, direct interface with BMC is disabled and can’t use IMPI to talk to BMC

To talk to BMC, use OMSA or RAC. 

DRAC 5 is hardware and software that talks to BMC and takes over once installed on x9xx servers

-          Additional security, ipmi/bmc config capabilities, enable.disable access points and features, SM-CLP (new CLI for RAC), RAC users are same domain as BMC users, Virtual Media is USB  not IDE, hardware chipset and faster processor

-          RACADM = CLI for DRAC 5

o   Both hex and decimal numeric values, displays numeric values as decimal, IPMI config groups

-          DRAC 5 GUI

o   Consistency with RACADM and manageability features; target based rather than functional based navigation; consistency with OMSA gui; enhance server sensor display; ssh, serial, telnet;

-          DRAC 5 Configuration

o   Web based interface; RACADM CLI “cfgLanNetworking”; BIOS BMC Binary (BBB) (Ctrl E setup)

o   Network settings configured by web; RACADM CLI; BIOS BMC Binary (BBB)

-          Virtual Media = USB, floppy, CD, DVD

-          Can’t configure a console redirection session on the local system

System Event Logs (SEL)

-          Ways to view logs:

o   Baseboard Management Controller (BMC)

§  AKA Remote Access Config Utility

§  Ctrl E during POST to view logs

o   Dell System E-Support Tool (DSET)

§  Does not come standard

§  Extracts all event logs for offline viewing (1MB)

o   Dell OpenManage Server Administrator

§  Nice pretty GUI that you can drill down and do lots of things

-          RAC = Remote Access Control

-          DRAC 5 = Dell Remote Access Control

-          SEL = System Event Logs

OpenManage

-          Deployment tools = DSA (Dell Server Assist), DTK (Deployment Tool Kit)

-          Monitoring Tools = OMSA (Open manage server admin), ITA (IT Assitant), RAC, BMC (Baseboard Management Controller Management Utility)

o   OMSA, RAC, and BMC = management solution that provides a consolidated way to monitor, configure, update and manage servers

o   OMSA = does not support SC servers!

-          Maintenance Tools = SUU (Server Update Utility), PED (PowerEdge Diagnostics)

o   SUU = update BIOS, RAC, RAID firmware

-          IPMI = “discover” capabilities of manageable devices

-          DRAC has virtual floppy, CD support and physical drive or image support

-          Remote Management Hardware = DRAC; works out of band, no OS interaction, can work when system is powered down

Storage

SATA

-          Point to point, no master/slave

SCSI

-          Timing errors at higher bus speeds; EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference); Serial bytes converted to parallal data bits, parallel move down bus system, re-serialized at receiving end

SAS

-          Uses proven SCSI functionality

-          SCSI command delivered via a serial topology; 16,387 SAS devices in SAS domain; enhanced SATA while adding support for a second drive port; point to point, switched architecture

-          Point to point, full duplex, dual port, hot plug

-          PHY

o   Like a telephone conversation, source and destination PHY; OPEN -> OPEN_ACCEPT… CLOSE

o   Two narrow links can be combined to become a wide link where each PHY has a unique identifier but share a common SAS address

-          Expanders = port multiplier; similar to an Ethernet switch in that it’s not an end point

-          Connection rate = +3gps; rate matching if connection rate is slower than physical link rate

-          Protocols= SSP (Serial SCSI Protocol) supports SCSI disk, tape, etc, STP (Serial ATA Tunneling Protocol)  supports SATA drives, SMP (Serial Management Protocol) supports SAS expanders

-          SAS domain = SAS devices + 1 or more expander

-          SAS controller online = goes out through each of its phys, Registers every device it comes across, Notes the device WWN, maintains the list of physical disks by WWN

-          If RAID supported, examine RAID info and build map of virtual disks to physical disks

-          Backplanes, slots, enclosures obtained by discovered SEPS

-          Basic SAS controller = SAS 5i = daughter card, I denotes internal cables only, ctrl C BIOS setup

-          Added RAID hardware = PERC5i = daughter card, ctrl R BIOS setup

PERC 5 = PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller = DDF is stored twice at the end of each physical disk

-          Uses 512mb on each disk for DDF

-          Config data cached during normal operation and NOT on the controller.  Removal of member disks = virtual disk deleted

-          Provides logic that interacts with CPU and memory  or CPU and storage devices to read/write

RAID

-          Stripe order info stored on PERC and each disk, adapters know where disks are

-          Move a disk or replace the PERC = mismatch

-          RAID types = 0, 1, 5, 10, 50

PERC = PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller

-          PERC 5/i  5 = generation, I = integrated vs controller card

-          Hot spare =  RAID configured with drive already in place; drive roaming = identify drives that have been moved and re-associates the drives SCSI ID with the new slot

-           

BIOS does NOT control initial part of boot process

BIOS checks and configures memory in post process

AC Adapter = power cord + brick

Symptoms of no post = no OS messages, no response from keyboard, no startup sounds, locks up at Dell splash screen

Successful post = keyboard status LED’s flash, OS messages

AC adapter LED changes from solid green to blinking = board

NVRAM = ESCD

HD’s that are replacement will contain diagnostic partition = FALSE

BIOS copied from ROM to RAM during boot = SHADOW MEMORY

POST related fault = Check state of power LED, check diagnostic LEDs, Check AC adapter LED, Refer to online doc

Power up but no video on LCD = check num lock, connect external display, wait for BIST to load

Ink spots on LCD is not covered by support

Wireless unable to connect = NOT confirm card is on, confirm enabled in BIOS, run PSA

LCD distorted = Dell diagnostics and OBD, Update driver

BIOS = Basic Input/Output System

Chassis:  Latitude D, E, Precision, Vostro

Portability, Design, Materials, Tech, Access to hardware

FRU = Field Replaceable Units

-          System board, Video, Audio, NIC, touchpad, LCD + internal memory

CRU = Customer Replaceable Units

-          Keyboard, HD, memory modules, mini-OC cards, Bluetooth cards, modem daughter card, coin-cell battery, main battery, modular drives, external dries, AC Power

Components:

-          Front View

o   Ambient light sensor, keyboard LEDs, Status LEDS, internal microphone, touchpad

-          Bottom View

o   HD, Memory, Battery, Dock connector

Can be removed:

-          AC Power, battery, coin cell battery, memory, keyboard, Bluetooth daughter, expansion card, HD, Modular bays

Keyboard Bexel:

-          Diagnostic lights

-          “lock lights”

Chassis:  XT,XT2

Tablet, integrated pen support, multiple gesture touch screen, digital ink, handwriting recognition

Screen swivels 360

Size/weight, dual mode (pen and touch), structural integrity, usability, performance

On the LCD:

-          Power, Diagnostic LED, Battery LED, Status indicators

-          Wireless switch = FN F2

CRU

-          AC Power, Battery, Bluetooth, pen, express cards, wireless antenna

FRU

-          Ambient light sensor, audio card, bio reader, LCD, processor, board, touch pad, video

BIOS

SSU = System Setup Utility – F2 OR F12 -> system setup

                Detected, enabled/disabled, settings for: power, processor performance, video, etc

Stored in PROM on CMOS chip.  PROM BIOS

Code that allows a computer to boot

BIOS Security Policies

-          BIOS Password

BIOS Level Security

-          Passwords set by user: primary, admin, hard drive

-          Primary = prevents booting any media

-          Admin = boot the OS but prevents BIOS changes

-          HD = HD specific password that will prompt on any machine

POST process:

Power button -> signal through board to processor -> cpu signals soft switched power supply to power up system -> power supply sends current out

Initialize core chipsets, checks and configs memory, enables L1 L2 cache and check cpu, copy into memory

Latitude LED error codes for no post

Flash-off-off = no sodimms present (memory)

Flash-on-on = cpu error

Flash-on-flash = LCD

Off-flash-off = memory compatibility error

On-flash-on = memory detected but has errors

Off-flash-flash = modem

Flash-flash-flash = board

Flash-flash-off = option rom

Off-on-off = HD/storage