Blade Watch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Lights-Out

Integrated Lights-Out, or iLo, is an embedded server management technology exclusive to Hewlett-Packard but similar in functionality to the Lights out management (LOM) technology of other vendors.

iLO makes it possible to perform activities on a HP server from a remote location. The iLO card has a separate network connection (and its own IP address) to which one can connect via HTTPS. Possible options are:

• reset the server (in case the server doesn’t respond anymore via the normal network card)
• power-up the server (possible to do this from a remote location, even if the server is shut down)
• take over the screen
• mount remote physical CD/DVD drive or image.
• access the server’s IML (Integrated Management Log)
• remote console (in some cases however an ‘Advanced license’ maybe required for some of the utilities to work)

Got an email last night about the ILO, getting the lights out function in your server can be just as important as ensuring the operating system working. The abiltiy to power cycle/remotely manage the server is something that you can easily overlook until you need it, being able to mount a cd or usb key for security patching, or even to rebuild your server. For anyone wanting to know more about ILO, this wikipedia posting is quite good and is relevant to both blade and rackmount HP servers, note on the older servers the ILO equivalent is either RIB/RIB2 or RILO2.

Related posts:

1. How to tell if my HP server has an ILO? There are a few ways to check if it’s installed...

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