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, 1st
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 9th 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
