Can’t Connect to DRAC 5 after Firmware Update

Mark Berry June 8, 2011

I have a DRAC 5 in a Dell PowerEdge 2900. It was working fine on firmware version 1.51, but I was doing some other server updates so decided to update the DRAC firmware as well.

Connect to DRAC II from Windows 7

Mark Berry April 9, 2011

If you’re still managing an old Dell server that has a DRAC II card, you may have some trouble connecting to it from Windows 7. However it does work, from both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 running Internet Explorer 8. Here are the basic instructions.

Monitor Dell DRAC 5 Using SNMP

Mark Berry March 2, 2011

I want to use the SNMP checks in GFI MAX Remote Management to monitor my Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC), version 5. The Dell™ OpenManage™ Server Administrator Version 6.2 SNMP Reference Guide (PDF) is the main reference on Dell SNMP.

Windows 7 UAC Blocks DRAC II Web Console

Mark Berry October 22, 2010

You have an old Dell server with a DRAC II remote access card. You just installed Windows 7 and you want to control the DRAC II from that desktop. You’ve installed the Dell Management Station and Client Web Console on the Windows 7 machine. When you run the DRAC II Client Web Console, the ActiveX component starts fine, but once you try to connect to the server, you get this message:

Remote Boot Bitlocker without a TPM

Mark Berry July 20, 2010

One of the challenges of implementing full-disk encryption is how to provide the key to unlock the drive when the system boots. This is especially important with servers, which may be at a remote location.

Microsoft’s Bitlocker can use a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on the motherboard to provide a unified start-up experience, even unlocking system drives before a user logs on. But what if your machine does not have a TPM? How do you configure Bitlocker, and how do you boot the machine if you are not at the server location? I found that a Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) is all that is needed.

Fixing DRAC 5 Error: Remote Access Controller initialization failure

Mark Berry March 4, 2010

I recently got a good eBay deal on a DRAC 5 remote access card for my Dell PowerEdge 2900 server.

Well it seemed like a good deal until I installed the card and got this message on bootup:

Remote Access Controller detected
!!*** Error: Remote Access Controller initialization failure***
RAC virtual USB devices may not be available...