Is HP SIM what I really need?

[DAMatson]

Greetings Everyone!

I'm a small business owner (computer repair), and I bought an HP DL380 G4 Server from a trusted 3rd party, upon which I installed Small Business Server 2008.  

I tried using VCRM and VCA initially to help manage the Software & Firmware updates, but kept having problems getting the two to talk to each other.

WHile researching the fix for that particular problem, I kept reading about HP Systems Insight Manager, that it was free, and would apparently solve all of my problems because it would be a much better solution (or so all the documentation said).  I went all the way through the process to install the HPSIM and now it's asking me to go thru a registration process where I'm expected to input some kind of Entitlement number, which I do not have.

Did I take a wrong turn somewhere during registration?   Or is HPSIM not really free?    If that's the case, will VCRM & VCA still be what I need to assist me in managing all of my hardware/software on the DL380 G4?

-David

[LGentile]

Is this your only HP server? SIM would be overkill for a single machine, in my opinion.

HP releases support pack updates roughly once per quarter. You could put them into Smart Update Manager and just update them every 6 months if you want to keep the system current. Through SIM/VCRM you'd still need to manually push the updates anyhow. SUM supports firmware and software now.

Also, for event management, you can install the full HP Management Agents (SUM will show these) and then configure the HP event notifier to send you an email when something breaks.

Alternatively, you can install Insight Remote Support (if your system has a valid warranty) and have it phone home to HP when something breaks. Since you said it was a G4, i assume you didn't bother with warranty since it'd be cost prohibitive on so old of a model.

HP SIM, the base product is free, if you still wish to use it. It's really meant to manage an larger environment. It's too complex of a tool for 1 machine.