An affordable
IBM offers an innovative “call home” feature that allows System x and xSeries servers to automatically report hardware problems to IBM support, which can even dispatch onsite service6 if necessary to those customers entitled to onsite support under the terms of their warranty or an IBM Maintenance Agreement. The IBM Electronic Service Agent is a downloadable software tool available from the IBM support Web site at no extra charge. It resides on a server and provides electronic support and problem management capabilities through a highly secure electronic dialogue between customer systems and IBM. Electronic Service Agent monitors networked servers for hardware errors and it can perform hardware and software inventories and report inventory changes to IBM. All information sent to IBM is stored in a highly secure database and used for improved problem determination.
Additional services include hardware warranty upgrades and
IBM offers extensive technical support by phone and via the Web. Support options include links to forums/newsgroups, problem submission, online shopping support, service offerings, device drivers for all IBM product lines, software downloads and even upcoming technical seminar worldwide schedules and registration. Also available are remote installation, configuration and usage support for System x and xSeries hardware and software, as well as onsite custom services to give customers the level of expertise they require.
Advanced Systems Management Capabilities
The x3200 has a high level of systems management capabilities that are
The BMC provides
•Monitoring of system and battery voltage, system temperature, fans, power supplies, processor and DIMM status
•Product ID and Family ID detection
•Highly secure remote power on/off
•System reset control
•NMI/SMI detection and generation
•System diagnostic LED control (power, HDD, activity, alerts, heartbeat)
•Proxy server support
•LAN messaging and alerting
•Local update of BMC firmware
•Other mandatory and optional IPMI BMC functions
The BMC alerts IBM Director to anomalous environmental factors, such as voltage and thermal
The x3200 also supports an optional IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II SlimLine for additional systems management capabilities, including:
•Serial over LAN
•Text and graphical console redirection over LAN
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•Windows “blue screen” capture
•Remote virtual floppy and
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•SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) support
Automatic Server Restart (ASR) helps reduce downtime by restarting the server automatically in the event of a system lockup. ASR technology is a combination of hardware circuitry tied into the server’s system reset function and a device driver. As long as the server continues running, the ASR watchdog timer will keep being reset, but if the operating system crashes or the hardware freezes somehow the ASR software will be unable to reset the hardware timer. If the timer is not reset within five minutes, it automatically triggers the ASR hardware, which immediately restarts the server (and logs an ASR event with IBM Director). These features are designed so that no more than five minutes can pass before the server is restarted.
Wake on LAN permits the server to be remotely powered on if it has been shut off. Once powered up, the server can be controlled across the network, using the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE).
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