In my last installment of this “Why HPE ProLiant” series, we reviewed HP’s Insight Remote Support capabilities. With this article, we’ll take a deeper look at some of the value-added technology provided through the HPE iLO 4 ASIC.

 

As a solution provider, a common refrain from clients and prospects is that “a server is a server”; and they don’t see the rationale in paying more for a “brand-name” server such as an HPE ProLiant vs. a “white-box” server. Through learning about what IT professionals are looking for and what their challenges are, we find that the following are core concerns:

 

– Keep the systems up and running
– Maintain infrastructure while controlling costs
– Increase staff productivity
– Prevent system downtime
– Better control of assets

 

While “white-box” and similar low-cost/low-value server manufactures can provide a quick fix to providing clients with needed CPU and memory “horsepower,” often times there is little additional value to support the concerns listed above that is provided by these low-value solutions. In this post, I want to share with you just one of many HPE ProLiant server innovations that is provided with HPE ProLiant servers: Integrated Lights Out (iLO). [Advanced features provided with a one-time license fee]

 

iLO provides the automated intelligence to maintain complete server control from any place, giving you control from a web browser or the iLO mobile app for smartphones. HPE ProLiant Gen 8 and 9 servers include a dedicated iLO 4 ASIC onboard which includes a 1GbE out-of-band network management port. iLO Management technologies contain these capabilities:

 

Provision: Rapid Discovery and Remote Access – inventory and deploy servers [with Advanced license] using web interface, smartphone app, CLI, or remote console.
Monitor: Active Health System and performance protection with advanced power and thermal control, agentless management monitors core hardware, provides alerting without adding cumbersome OS-level providers, and out-of-band management.

Optimize: Integrated Remote Console [most features with Advanced license] provides global team collaboration, video record/playback, and virtual media/KVM. iLO Federation permits management of groups of servers at scale. Enhanced security with Directory Service Authentication

Support: iLO provides core server instrumentation availability whether the OS is up or down. Download your Active Health System logs, and send to HP Support (or use Integrated Remote Support as covered in February’s article!) for faster problem identification.

 

What is this Advanced features license I keep mentioning? While many features of iLO are available with every ProLiant straight out of the box, some features indicated in this article require the iLO Advanced Pack. This is a one-time fee license (which includes 1 year of 24×7 HPE software support); and with most Zunesis HP ProLiant quotes, we include this license on your server quote unless otherwise requested to remove it. iLO Advanced Pack comes with the new HP OneView Management Suite license as well.

 

More information about what versions come with what functionality can be found in this chart below (Please note iLO Essentials only available on DL1xx series Gen 9 ProLiant):

 

 

 

Insight Remote Support: Reducing Risk and Downtime

As a solution provider, a common refrain from clients and prospects is that, “a server is a server.” They simply don’t see the rationale in paying more for a brand-name server, such as an HP ProLiant, vs. a “white-box” server. Through learning about what IT professionals are looking for and what their challenges are, we find that the following are core concerns:

• Keep the systems up and running
• Maintain infrastructure while controlling costs
• Increase staff productivity
• Prevent system downtime
• Better control of assets

While “white-box” and similar low-cost/low-value server manufactures can provide a quick fix to providing clients with needed CPU and memory horsepower, often times there is little additional value provided by these low-value solutions to support the above concerns.
I want to share with you just one of many HP ProLiant server innovations that is provided with all server orders at no additional cost: HP Insight Remote Support. HP Insight Remote Support is provided with any HP ProLiant Server (along with HP Storage and Networking products) that is either under at least the base warranty period or is part of a Care Pack or HP support contract. Insight Remote Support includes:

• Remote monitoring 24×7 and anytime/anywhere support access via HP Insight Online – gaining you better control
• Automatic notification with proactive advisories on potential hardware problems before they occur – allowing you to do more with less
• Fast and accurate problem resolution with HP Phone Home support; problem resolution for serious issues can initiate without customer intervention – you stay up and running

HP research has shown that utilizing this NO COST feature included with every HP ProLiant server sold results in up to 66% faster problem resolution and an up to 95% “first time fix” rate, enabling you to focus on your business needs and spend less time on support calls or escorting repair technicians back and forth to your data center time and again.
Additionally, you might ask, how does an HP Solution Provider such as Zunesis potentially add even more value to this feature set? HP has provided the OPTION for a customer to provide customer-determined information to their partner, such as:

• Opt to send Zunesis your configuration reports, which gives you the opportunity to have Zunesis identify configuration issues, performance bottlenecks, and for us to have a greater understanding of your server configurations.
• Choose to allow Zunesis to view your HP infrastructure from anywhere, anytime, with HP Insight Online, again to partner with your solution provider to help proactively plan and grow your environment together.

Note: Insight Remote Support does not require use of HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) in most environments. We do recommend considering Zunesis Professional Services to assist with deployment of HP SIM if that level of granularity is desired, but the Insight Remote Support product stands alone and is an input into the SIM/OneView environment if you have already made the time investment to deploy those tools.
Ready to learn more?

– Contact your Zunesis Account Manager and/or Solution Engineer!