Blade servers are increasingly being included in the server mix as more and more companies embark on IT consolidation projects. Blade servers, characterised by miniaturisation and modularisation of hardware and an associated reduction in power and space requirements, offer increased power, flexibility and scalability. This makes them ideal for consolidating front-end applications in computer centres.
As one of the pioneers of Blade Servers, Fujitsu Siemens Computers has developed RemoteDeploy, a management application that supplements its ServerStart programme to support rapid, error-free deployment of a larger number of blade servers.
RemoteDeploy is a server management application which facilitates simple management and installation of large numbers of server blades, and alleviates the requirement for the local presence of an administrator. Installation runs can be largely automated and the effort needed to support PRIMERGY BX blade servers is significantly reduced. RemoteDeploy is integrated in the user interface of ServerView and provides a central overview of installed or additionally available server blades, existing master images and assignment of server blades to deployment groups.
Using RemoteDeploy, configuration of the server blades and the installation of the operating system and application software can take place entirely over the network. The required parameters are predefined at a central management station, and automated and time-controlled installation or reconfiguration of server blades is possible with boot images. The multicast protocol used for the multi-server installation of server blades via the network, ensures that network load during this process is kept to a minimum.
RemoteDeploy supports the automated execution of scripts following cloning, for example for driver/software updating or for configuration of the operating system and hardware. Project-specific scripts can be created.
This provides the following benefits:
* Reduce administration cost: Automated mass deployment for large server farms
* Ensure server farm availability: Very short update windows needed
* Save on service costs: Updating performed as scripted process
* Optimise operation for data centres: Flexible assigning of Blade server groups to tasks
Typically, server blade installation comprises a number of individual steps:
* Hardware preparation, BIOS settings, RAID configuration, etc
* Installation of the operating system and parameterisation (licensing, network configuration)
* Application environment setup
* User and service setup
In the hardware preparation step, the hardware configuration of a target system is analysed with ServerStart. Configuration parameters, for example RAID groups, are set over the network. The PXE protocol is used to start remote configuration tools for unattended installation. The configuration parameters are transferred interactively or as defaults.
Moving onto the installation step, ServerStart installs an executable operating system over the network on a reference system (master server blade). Configuration and installation parameters stored in a configuration file are queried in ServerStart. Following installation of the operating system, additional application programs can also be installed over the network. An additional advantage of RemoteDeploy is that once server blades are loaded with an operating system/application software image, other tasks can be assigned to the blades. For example, by exchanging an image, a server blade that previously operated under Linux can perform a different task now utilising Windows 2000. Hardware can therefore be put to flexible use and can be adapted dynamically to changing business needs.
With regard to hard disk image handling, when an image is required to be generated, a software product is booted with the aid of PXE, which reads the target system and stores the reference installation as a master image on an assigned file server in the network. In addition, a configuration and a documentation file are created. Explanatory information and specific options for the generation process can be stored for an image. The status of the image generation process is displayed.
RemoteDeploy generates and administers the hard disk images of master installations, assigns server blades to a specific master image and performs time-controlled deployment processes (image generation/cloning), including regularly scheduled processes, for example every day, week or month.
A master image can be transferred to any number of server blades. If several server blades are cloned simultaneously, the multicast protocol considerably reduces the network load. Customer-specific scripts can be executed following cloning of boot images, useful for mass cloning.
RemoteDeploy offers a physical view of the available server blades for generating master images or cloning, as well as a deployment view in which server blades are combined into logical groups (deployment groups) for loading with a hard disk image.
RemoteDeploy was developed by Fujitsu Siemens Computers to facilitate optimisation of the customer`s investment in blade server technology, and provide server management, network-oriented server administration for efficient deployment and utilisation of PRIMERGY BX 300 and BX600 Blade servers. It significantly reduces cost of ownership as well as time constraints for large server farms of PRIMERGY Blade servers, and ensures that investment in blade server hardware is put to optimal use.
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