Product category: Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: OSA Technologies | Subject: OSA CLI Manager and SOL Manager
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 5 May 2004

System management moves beyond the band

OSA Technologies is extending the reach of its IPMI software and firmware with the launch of its newest product line, OSA Out-Of-Band (OOB) Services

OSA OOB Services recognises the need for standards-based products to interoperate with the installed base of proprietary and industry standards management interfaces that offer platform access in the absence of operating system control/intervention - commonly referred to as out-of-band. Currently, incompatible server management interfaces drive up the total cost of ownership (TCO) as additional operational processes are required.

OOB Services is the industry's first solution to address this problem.

The first products offered within the OOB Services line are OSA CLI (Command Line Interface) Manager and OSA SOL (Serial-Over-LAN) Manager.

OSA SOL Manager extends existing management domains to include remote management, monitoring, diagnostics and recovery at all phases of the system lifecycle - OS-absent, pre-boot, OS-present, and OS-unresponsive - by allowing access to various boot and system consoles.

OSA CLI Manager extends management by presenting information within a telnet interface, combining interactive, menu driven and scriptable monitoring, management and recovery tasks.

Both products support the IPMI management standard and other vendor-specific interfaces.

Over one million new servers this year will be shipping with OSA's standards-based IPMI firmware and software.

Major server OEMs have committed to bundle OSA OOB Services products.

These products will be generally available in June 2004 and will support Windows and Linux.

Pricing varies by OS platform and implementation.

"The investment OSA is making in out-of-band services matches the growing need for simplifying server operations by better utilising embedded management technologies like IPMI", said Mark Lee, CEO and President of OSA Technologies.

" OSA OOB Services products are available as pre-built applications or as building blocks, providing integration opportunities for independent hardware or software vendors to complement their existing management products, supporting millions of existing and IPMI-compliant servers".

"HP has a long history of building industry standards around manageability.

HP's entire line of Integrity IPF servers use IPMI, from the smallest two-way server to the largest Superdome", said Donald Jenkins, Vice President of Marketing, Business Critical Systems Group at HP.

"HP uses IPMI, along with other manageability standards like WBEM, to build interfaces that promote interoperability between OSs and platforms.

With OSA SOL Manager and OSA CLI Manager supporting the HP remote management/telnet interface, existing HP customers can benefit from simplifying management operations and reducing TCO".

Dell, which currently supports IPMI on its PowerEdge servers, is also expected to support OSA OOB Services with its next generation of servers.

Industry-standards compliance and enabling customer access to leading systems management solutions are key aspects of the company's drive for scalable, standardised systems in the data centre.

For IT departments, the cost of server operations and administration represents between 50-70% of TCO.

Unplanned downtime due to operating system hangs, hardware failures and/or power issues that create service outages also drives up TCO.

Vendors typically offer minimal management features "out of the box".

Users are therefore left to add and/or enhance manageability themselves using third party products and tools.

This costs users a great deal - first, the money to purchase and, second, the time to install and configure.

TCO yet again suffers.

Addressing TCO is therefore key for users and vendors alike.

OSA OOB Services products offer a solution by addressing the access and management chaos caused by multiple management interfaces.

"Out-of-band" typically describes system access over the serial port, requiring direct access by external console devices.

However, many servers offer different technologies and use different standards to achieve this.

OOB Services products use these existing embedded management technologies, reducing complexity and presenting their native management in familiar interfaces - telnet, web based or via programmatic/scriptable interfaces.

By doing this, users reduce the need for extra software and/or equipment and thereby reduce costs and complexity, streamlining operations.

OSA OOB Services provides critical hardware management for IPMI-compliant servers as well as supporting vendor specific interfaces like the HP remote management/telnet interface.

It provides a standards-based, one-to-many, foundation for server health information including alerts, sensor information, power control and asset tracking functions.

All operations can be secured by using supported embedded authentication and encryption options within the managed server.

Future management standards can be easily added, ensuring backward and forward compatibility.

OSA SOL Manager and OSA CLI Manager are the first products in the OSA OOB Services product line.

Future OSA OOB Services products will offer additional features in the following areas: SSH-enhanced security, directory services, automated operations, integration with management suites such as HP OpenView and management frameworks (IBM/Tivoli, CA Unicenter, BMC Patrol, Microsoft MOM), virtual media support and web services.

Management Services are available across many platforms and operating systems.

Windows 2003 Server offers "headless" support, allowing OS installation, configuration and recovery without the aid of displays, keyboards or mice.

This is achieved by directing a text-based console screen (Special Administration Console, or SAC) over the serial port, with access typically provided by a connected console server.

Linux has similar support.

Servers equipped with OSA IPMI firmware with serial-over-LAN capability along with OSA SOL Manager product will be able to access these OS consoles over the LAN without relying on traditional serial port access.

Besides providing LAN-based access to Windows SAC and Linux consoles, OSA SOL Manager also provides access to the BIOS and system boot screens, providing a seamless transition from pre-boot to OS-running.

OSA SOL Manager also allows administrators to monitor a remote system and as needed, provide the last mile management capability to power-cycle the remote server (or individual blades) without the need for external console devices.

OSA CLI Manager offers a command line interface and menu feature that allows easy access to all standard management tasks like power cycling.

If more automation is required, a scriptable interface supports batch file scripting of standard configuration or change management tasks.

Server discovery can also be automated, with supported servers stored in an address book to simplify server identification.

The managed server's hardware sensor information including sensor information for fans, voltage, temperature, chassis, in addition to asset information are gathered and presented via a Telnet-like interface.

Hardware event logs can be retrieved and saved.

Systems can be more easily identified by turning on supported LEDs.

• OSA Technologies: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Put your news on Electronicstalk  |   Advertise  |   Get the free Electronicstalk newsletter
Electronicstalk Home  |   About Electronicstalk  |   Copyright © 2000-2007 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK