HP Onboard Administrator - Manual (Page 11)

Introduction 11
NOTE: The Onboard Administrator supports multiple simultaneous login sessions, whether
through the Onboard Administrator web interface or CLI, except for LDAP/Active Directory users
where only one login session is allowed per user.
Onboard Administrator overview
Managing a c-Class enclosure involves multiple functions:
• Detecting component insertion and removal
• Identifying components including required connectivity
• Managing power and cooling
• Controlling components including remote control and remote consoles
Detecting component insertion and removal
Onboard Administrator provides component control in c-Class enclosures. Component management begins
after the component is detected and identified. The Onboard Administrator detects components in
BladeSystem c-Class enclosures through presence signals on each bay. When you insert a component into a
bay, the Onboard Administrator immediately recognizes and identifies the component. When you remove a
component from a bay, the Onboard Administrator deletes the information about that component.
Identifying components
To identify a component, Onboard Administrator reads a FRU EEPROM that contains specific factory
information about the component such as product name, part number, and serial number. All FRU EEPROMs
in c-Class enclosures are powered up, even if the component is turned off. Therefore, Onboard Administrator
can identify the component before granting power. For devices such as fans, power supplies, and Insight
Display, Onboard Administrator directly reads the FRU EEPROMs. Onboard Administrator accesses server
blade FRU EEPROMs through iLO management processors.
• The server blades contain several FRU EEPROMs: one on the server board, which contains server
information and embedded NIC information, and one on each installed mezzanine option cards.
• Server blade control options include auto login to the iLO web interface and remote server consoles,
virtual power control, and boot order control. Server blade control options also include extensive server
hardware information including BIOS and iLO firmware versions, server name, NIC and option card
port IDs, and port mapping.
• Onboard Administrator provides easy-to-understand port mapping information for each server blade
and interconnect module in the enclosure.
The NIC and mezzanine option FRU information informs Onboard Administrator of the type of interconnects
each server requires. Before power is provided to a server blade, Onboard Administrator compares this
information with the FRU EEPROMs on installed interconnect modules to check for electronic keying errors.
For interconnect modules, Onboard Administrator provides virtual power control, dedicated serial consoles,
and management Ethernet connections.
A 16-step progress meter appears when the Active Onboard Administrator boots. Some steps might take as
much as several minutes, depending on the number and types of blades, mezzanine cards, and
interconnects.
Managing power and cooling
The most important Onboard Administrator tasks are power control and thermal management. Onboard
Administrator can remotely control the power state of all components in BladeSystem c-Class enclosures. For