Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 14:43:38 +0000 From: Scott Mitchell <scott+lists.freebsd@fishballoon.org> To: Ralph Hempel <rhempel@bmts.com> Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 6.0 on Dell 1850 with DRAC4 management card? Message-ID: <20060106144337.GB20651@llama.fishballoon.org> In-Reply-To: <43BE7AB6.5020106@bmts.com> References: <20060106135717.GA20651@llama.fishballoon.org> <43BE7AB6.5020106@bmts.com>
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On Fri, Jan 06, 2006 at 09:12:06AM -0500, Ralph Hempel wrote: > Scott Mitchell wrote: > >Hi all, > > > >On to my next question about running 6.0 on a Dell PE1850, since it seems > >that the RAID card will work just fine... > > > >I'm thinking about getting the machine with a DRAC4 remote management card. > >This looks to be OS-independent (you can configure through the BIOS) so I > >expect it will just work. I've seen various posts talking about how it > >tends to take over the keyboard and render the real console inaccessible, > >but there are workarounds for that. > > I'm not sure about that, but I have 15 of these machines in locations > all over Ontario, running Windows2003 Server. I should have said that this was really a FreeBSD issue rather than a problem with the DRAC - apparently it attaches as a second keyboard and mouse, but FreeBSD has historically only allowed a single 'console' keyboard to exist. 6.0 has the kbdmux(4) driver that might solve this without and messing about with keyboard attachments. > To make the thing as secure as possible, there is no keyboard or > monitor on the server, I attach through the client's LAN. > > The DRAC gets a static IP on the local subnet, so using a laptop with > a connection (hard or wireless), I can access and control the server > from inside the server room, from an office or desk in the building, > or from anywhere in the world there is an Internet connection. > > The last option means having VPN access to the local building network. That sounds cool. The server room is right behind my desk so it's not a big deal go in there, but being able to reboot a stuck machine from home is nice! > >Does anyone have the console redirection working? I'd like to leave the > >'real' console (actually a USB keyboard attached to a KVM) active so the > >machine is accessible to someone actually in the server room, but still be > >able to get to the console remotely when necessary. The Dell docs imply > >that you can just point a browser at the DRAC and fire up a new console, > >but I'd like to hear from someone who's done this with FreeBSD! > > Works for me! It's really cool! You can access multiple servers through > additional browser windows. As long as there is another computer in the > server room with access to your server, they can control it through > the browser interface. No KBD or monitor are necessary. > > I'd like to assume FreeBSD will "just work". Me too. Sounds like it will mostly behave itself. Scott -- =========================================================================== Scott Mitchell | PGP Key ID | "Eagles may soar, but weasels Cambridge, England | 0x54B171B9 | don't get sucked into jet engines" scott at fishballoon.org | 0xAA775B8B | -- Anon
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