Back to Contents Page

DRAC 4 Overview

Dell™ Remote Access Controller 4 Firmware Version 1.50 User's Guide

  What's New In This DRAC 4 Release?

  DRAC 4 Hardware Features

  Hardware Specifications

  Supported Remote Access Connections

  DRAC 4 Security Features

  Supported Platforms

  Supported Operating Systems

  Supported Web Browsers

  Features

  Other Documents You May Need

The Dell™ Remote Access Controller 4 (DRAC 4) is a systems management hardware and software solution designed to provide remote management capabilities, crashed system recovery, and power control functions for Dell PowerEdge™ systems.

By communicating with the system's baseboard management controller (BMC), the DRAC 4 can be configured to send you email alerts for warnings or errors related to voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. The DRAC 4 also logs event data and the most recent crash screen (for systems running the Microsoft® Windows® operating system only) to help you diagnose the probable cause of a system crash.

Depending on your system, the DRAC 4 hardware is either a daughter card (DRAC 4/I) or a half-length PCI card (DRAC 4/P). The DRAC 4/I and DRAC 4/P are identical except for the hardware differences (see "DRAC 4 Hardware Features").

The DRAC 4 has its own microprocessor and memory, and is powered by the system in which it is installed. The DRAC 4 may be preinstalled on your system, or available separately in a kit.

To get started with the DRAC 4, see "Installing and Setting Up the DRAC 4."

What's New In This DRAC 4 Release?

For this release, DRAC 4 firmware version 1.50 supports the following:

• Standard Schema with Microsoft Active Directory® — Provides standard Active Directory objects for use in managing DRAC 4 users and user privileges. See "Standard Schema Active Directory Overview."
  
  
• Single Forest, Multiple Trees Support for Active Directory — Provides support for user authentication across multiple trees in a single forest in Active Directory.
  
  

DRAC 4 Hardware Features

Figure 1-1 shows the DRAC 4/I hardware features and Figure 1-2 shows the DRAC 4/P hardware features.

Figure 1-1. DRAC 4/I Hardware Features

Figure 1-2. DRAC 4/P Hardware Features

Hardware Specifications

Power Requirements

Table 1-1 lists the power requirements for the DRAC 4.

Table 1-1. DRAC 4 Power Requirements

Connectors

NOTE: The DRAC 4 hardware installation instructions are located in the Installing a Remote Access Card document or the Installation and Troubleshooting Guide included with your system. Ensure that you connect the management cable and the local video monitor (if present) to the DRAC 4/P in PCI slot 4.

The DRAC 4 provides a dedicated 10/100 Mbps RJ-45 NIC and a connector for mounting the card to the system board. The DRAC 4/P also provides a video connector, and a 30-pin Management Connector.

DRAC 4 Ports

Table 1-2 identifies the ports used by the DRAC 4. This information is required when opening firewalls for remote access to a DRAC 4.

Table 1-2. DRAC 4 Port Numbers 

Supported Remote Access Connections

Table 1-3 lists the features of each type of connection.

Table 1-3. Supported Remote Access Connections 

DRAC 4 Security Features

The DRAC 4 provides the following security features:

• User authentication through Microsoft® Active Directory® (optional) or hardware-stored user IDs and passwords
  
  
• Role-based authority, which provides each user with specific privileges
  
  
• User ID and password configuration through the Web-based interface or racadm CLI
  
  
• racadm CLI and Web-based interface operation, which supports 40-bit SSL encryption and 128-bit SSL encryption (for countries where 40- bit is not acceptable).
  
  

NOTE: Telnet does not support SSL encryption.

• Session time-out configuration (in minutes) through the Web-based interface or racadm CLI
  
  
• Configurable IP ports (where applicable)
  
  
• Secure Shell (SSH), which uses an encrypted transport layer for higher security. SSH is available on DRAC 4 firmware 1.40 and later.
  
  

Supported Platforms

The DRAC 4/I is supported on the following systems:

• PowerEdge 1850
  
  
• PowerEdge 2800
  
  
• PowerEdge 2850
  
  

The DRAC 4/P is supported on the following systems:

• PowerEdge 800
  
  
• PowerEdge 830
  
  
• PowerEdge 840
  
  
• PowerEdge 850
  
  
• PowerEdge 860
  
  
• PowerEdge 1800
  
  
• PowerEdge 6800
  
  
• PowerEdge 6850
  
  

Supported Operating Systems

Table 1-4 lists the operating systems that support the DRAC 4.

See the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Compatibility Guide located on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com for the latest information.

See the Dell PowerEdge Software Support Matrix located at support.dell.com for specific operating system support for each platform listed in "Supported Platforms."

Table 1-4. Supported Operating Systems 

Supported Web Browsers

Table 1-5 lists the Web browsers that support the DRAC 4.

See the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Compatibility Guide located on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com for the latest information.

NOTE: The Console Redirection feature requires that you have installed a supported Java Virtual Machine (JVM). For a list of the supported JVM plug-ins, see the DRAC 4 readme on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com on the Systems Management documentation Web page.

NOTICE: The Virtual Media client requires that you use Microsoft Internet Explorer® if using a Windows operating system.

Table 1-5. Supported Web Browsers 

Supported Web Browsers for 64-Bit Operating Systems

If your system is running a supported 64-bit operating system (see Table 1-4), install and run a supported 32-bit Web browser (see Table 1-5). Otherwise, you may experience unexpected results when running Virtual Media and other processes.

If your system is running a supported 64-bit version of Windows, the supported 32-bit version of Internet Explorer is installed by default.

If your system is running a supported 64-bit version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, install the supported version of Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox. These Web browsers are located on your operating system CDs that are included with your system and on the Mozilla website located at www.mozilla.org/download.html.

Disabling the Whitelist Feature in Mozilla Firefox

Firefox includes a "whitelist" feature that provides additional security. When the whitelist feature is enabled, the browser requires user permission to install plug-ins for each distinct site that hosts the plug-in. This process requires you to install a plug-in for each distinct RAC IP/DNSname, even though the plug-in versions are identical.

To disable the whitelist feature and avoid repetitive, unnecessary plug-in installations, perform the following steps:

1. Open a Firefox Web browser window.
   
   
2. In the address field, type the following and press <Enter>:
   
   

about:config

3. In the Preference Name column, locate and double-click xpinstall.whitelist.required.
   
   

The values for Preference Name, Status, Type, and Value change to bold text. The Status value changes to user set and the Value value changes to false.

4. In the Preferences Name column, locate xpinstall.enabled.
   
   
5. Ensure that Value is true. If not, double-click xpinstall.enabled to set Value to true.
   
   

Features

The following is a list of features available on the DRAC 4.

• Dynamic registration of the DRAC 4 name in the Domain Name System (DNS).
  
  
• Remote management and monitoring of a system through the DRAC 4 Web-based interface, serial connection, or telnet connection.
  
  
• Configuring Microsoft Active Directory to give you access to the DRAC 4, allows you to add and control the DRAC 4 user privileges of your existing users in your Active Directory.
  
  
• Console redirection that allows you to remotely use the managed system keyboard, video, and mouse functions.
  
  
• Virtual Media feature that enables the managed system to remotely access a diskette or CD located on the management station.
  
  
• Access to the system event log (SEL) and DRAC 4 logs and last crash screen (of the crashed or unresponsive system) independent of the operating system state.
  
  
• Integrated launch of the DRAC 4 interface from Server Administrator and IT Assistant.
  
  
• Ability to alert you to potential problems on the managed system by sending either an email message or an SNMP trap through the DRAC 4 NIC to a management station.
  
  
• Ability to configure the DRAC 4 and update DRAC 4 firmware locally or remotely using the racadm command-line utility, a scriptable interface.
  
  
• Ability to perform power management functions, such as shutdown and reset, remotely from a management console.
  
  
• Password-level security management and SSL encryption.
  
  
• Role-based authority that provides assignable permissions for different systems management tasks.
  
  

Other Documents You May Need

In addition to this User's Guide, the following documents provide additional information about the setup and operation of the DRAC 4 in your system:

• DRAC 4 online help provides information about using the Web-based interface.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage IT Assistant User's Guide and the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant Reference Guide provide information about IT Assistant.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator's User's Guide provides information about installing and using Server Administrator.
  
  

The following system documents are also available to provide more information about the system in which your DRAC 4 is installed:

• The Product Information Guide provides important safety and regulatory information. Warranty information may be included within this document or as a separate document.
  
  
• The Rack Installation Guide and Rack Installation Instructions included with your rack solution describes how to install your system into a rack.
  
  
• The Getting Started Guide provides an overview to initially set up your system.
  
  
• The User's Guide provides information about system features and technical specifications.
  
  
• The Installation and Troubleshooting Guide describes how to troubleshoot the system and install or replace system components.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Compatibility Guide provides the latest information about supported operating systems and web browsers.
  
  
• Systems management software documentation describes the features, requirements, installation, and basic operation of the software.
  
  
• Operating system documentation describes how to install (if necessary), configure, and use the operating system software.
  
  
• Documentation for any components you purchased separately provides information to configure and install these options.
  
  
• Updates are sometimes included with the system to describe changes to the system, software, and/or documentation.
  
  

NOTE: Always read the updates first because they often supersede information in other documents.

Release notes or readme files may be included to provide last-minute updates to the system or documentation or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or technicians. See your DRAC 4 readme for more information about the DRAC 4. This readme is available on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com along with this guide on the Systems Management documentation Web page.

Back to Contents Page