iLO in place of IPKVM?

[Rowdy1124]

anyone have experience with using iLO in place of an IPKVM w/ Virtual Media support?

We are looking at any issues that may result from using iLO as our only remote console option. The iLO advanced product license is the primary candidate now, but it may be trumped if someone knows a better way. I'm looking for any industry opinions so feel free to speak your mind.

Current setup will be a remote CoLo about 8 hours drive from the office. 100 DL series ProLiant servers will eventually populate the site. We don't support or utilize any NON-HP hardware, so no worries about some ancient Dell in the back rack not having iLO :-)

[acartes]

>> We are looking at any issues that may result from using iLO as our only remote console option.

Evaluate the iLO IRC to see if it meets your needs. You can download a trial license at no cost.

>> I'm looking for any industry opinions so feel free to speak your mind.
iLO has a lot more personality of the host system, where KVMIP associates that with the dongle. Moving the dongle around can mean an extra admin task. Additionally, iLO supports a lot more functionality than just KVMIP.

A nice thing about the dongles is that they work on all systems, from 100-series to other brands of equipment. iLO sticks with the box.

>> Current setup will be a remote CoLo about 8 hours drive from the office. 100 DL series ProLiant servers will eventually populate the site.

Try evaluating iLO remote use to this site. No better test than the actual thing!

[Rowdy1124]

Unfortunately, we don't have a current remote CoLo, so "real-world" testing is not an option. I have access to a few remote servers and may be able to test with those. Now to find some keys...

[acartes · Accepted solution]

By the way, this sounds like the appropriate situation to use iLO 2 for remote access to the systems.

As far as obtaining evaluation license keys, you can register and download 60-day evaluation license keys here:
https://h20293.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/try.do?productNumber=HPICEVAL

I believe it issues keys for a number of ProLiant Essentials products including iLO.

A few other things you may want to look into:
- use of Windows Terminal Services passthrough via iLO
- use of power management features via iLO and managed using Insight Power Manager. With the latest servers, this support can reduce power & cooling (and thus increased density and/or savings) in the datacenter.

[Jim Miller]

Another feature not mentioned is the ability to power cycle the server if the OS ever misbehaves.

I have actually deployed over 75 servers without ever seeing them. The virtual media feature is excellent

I manage 300ish across North America and all have iLO.

[Adrian Clint]

Make sure you enable "Aquire Console" in iLO as if you dont and an iLO connection breaks its hassle getting it back.