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тАО04-19-2011 06:27 AM - last edited on тАО07-11-2011 11:26 AM by Kevin_Paul
тАО04-19-2011 06:27 AM - last edited on тАО07-11-2011 11:26 AM by Kevin_Paul
In a 2009 thread, I read that neither PA-RISC nor Itanium servers have what's considered a BIOS, just firmware. Typically in a PC Win Server environment, management wants to ascertain whether or not the BIOS is password protected.
Here's the thread:
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/System-Administration/Commands-to-obtain-BIOS-amp-Processor-Info-in-HP-UX/m-p/4446793#M358178
As I don't typically get into the nuts and bolts of these systems, could someone pls elaborate on this subject and/or make a case for why the firmware is either not password protected or can/should be? I would usually just vote for physically protecting the machine in a locked room, but that's not always a good answer for bean counters.
Thx.
Solved! Go to Solution.
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тАО04-19-2011 08:59 AM
тАО04-19-2011 08:59 AM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
Your statement about BIOS is wrong in my opinion. BIOS on an X86 series server is nothing more than a specialized firmware. So, both PA-RISC/Itanium machines and X86 machines have firmware code. HP chose not to put a password protection on theirs (I am not very closely familiar with Itaium family and there might be a feature like this that I am not aware of).
UNIX because I majored in cryptology...
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тАО04-19-2011 01:44 PM
тАО04-19-2011 01:44 PM
SolutionPDC (System Firmware) is not password protected and "usually" requires physical system access to update or modify it. Yes, you can update Firmware remotely on some systems via an O/S patch, others require FTP or an ISO media image to boot from. In all cases you can set elevated privileges and passwords to take the system down, access the MP (system) console or USB/Media devices.
IMHO it should be locked up to prevent unauthorized physical access.
Rgds,
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тАО04-19-2011 11:34 PM
тАО04-19-2011 11:34 PM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
AFAIK there is no equivalent for PDC/BCH on a PA-RISC system
HTH
Duncan
I am an HPE Employee
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тАО04-20-2011 12:49 AM
тАО04-20-2011 12:49 AM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
HTH
Duncan
I am an HPE Employee
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тАО04-20-2011 11:54 AM
тАО04-20-2011 11:54 AM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
Regarding your question about the differences in firmware between pa-risc / itanium and intel.
That they are firmware and the first part of the boot sequence should explain everything, that they are called by another name is arbitrary. That they all have an option to be password protected is probably more akin to a marketing decision of jumping onto the band wagon because the other guy does this.
Having a password to boot up is your preference. However, the procedure to recover is not pleasant and very similar on all: Restore the firmware defaults. And I believe this means all of the firmware and not just the word byte that holds the password.
And for this, you probably need a CE an up to date resume. Because no manager is going to tolerate a lost password in the middle of an outage.
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тАО04-21-2011 06:35 AM
тАО04-21-2011 06:35 AM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
Harvard Arch. is a cpu, memory, disk, bus IO, user input and output, just like most computers today including those made by Sun, HP, Intel, et al.
Harvard arch. is almost exactly the same as Von Neuman Arch. Both are similar and separately developed but Von Neumon does something different like handle program code the same as data.
A different computer arch. would be the connection machine, for example.
Here's a link to Harvard arch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_architecture
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тАО04-21-2011 08:38 AM
тАО04-21-2011 08:38 AM
Re: Itanium/PA RISC Firmware
First, I'd like to personally thank all who responded.
Next, I need to mention that I am not in disagreement w/the majority on physical security. In theory, it's sound. Unfortunately, in practice, it doesn't always work. Why? Because I don't own the company(ies), I just work for it/them. As I consult for several companies (simultaneously... and generally on the same issues) I sometimes have to "demonstrate" to them that even though I (or someone else) may have already asked the same question, they want it asked "again". I prefer to not have to repeat myself either...
When it comes to the customer, they know what they want, they just don't know why they want it or whether or not it's feasible, it's simply something they picked up at an IA conference in Vegas.
Once again, my appreciation goes out to everyone who responded positively, regardless of the topic.
Thx again.