Dell OpenManage
Connections:
An Overview
Enterprise Systems Group (ESG)
Dell™ OpenManage™
Systems Management
Dell White Paper
By Manoj Gujarathi
manoj_gujarathi@dell.com
November 2001
Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4
OpenManage Connections Architecture ................................................................................. 6
Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM for Windows ........................... 8
Applications Supported by Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Important Points................................................................................................................... 10
Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG ..................................................... 11
Important Points................................................................................................................... 12
Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console ......................................... 14
How it works......................................................................................................................... 14
Framework and Operating Systems ................................................................................. 15
Applications Supported...................................................................................................... 15
Dell OpenManage Connections for HP OpenView NNM for HP-UX, for Solaris, and
for Tivoli NetView for AIX...................................................................................................... 17
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 19
Tables
Table 1: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM ...................... 9
Table 2: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for TEC ..................................................15
Table 3: Version Support for the OpenManage Connections for UNIX-based Management
Systems.................................................................................................................................................18
Figures
Figure 1: Enterprise Management Framework With Dell Hardware ................................................... 5
Figure 2: Architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections ..................................................................... 7
Figure 3: Event Information Flow in the OpenManage Connection for TEC.....................................15
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section
1
Executive Summary
Dell™ OpenManage™ Connections enable management of Dell systems from an
Industry standard system management enterprise framework. Dell
OpenManage Connections offer centralized management of Dell Systems by
providing flexibility, reduced complexity, increased availability and most
importantly, protecting customer choice of management frameworks. Dell
OpenManage Connections allow management of heterogeneous management
environments by offering system discovery and status management, ability to
launch applications, and event propagation for Dell systems.
If you are using an enterprise systems management framework for managing the
heterogeneous environment of your systems and wonder -- can I use Dell
OpenManage applications to manage my Dell systems, while continuing to use
my existing enterprise management framework? – The answer is YES.
This paper presents an overview of all the OpenManage Connections offered by
Dell. This paper is both for new users of OpenManage Connections as well as
existing users, and it answers the following questions:
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November 2001
What are the different OpenManage Connections available?
What is the overall architecture of OpenManage Connections?
What kind of Frameworks Versions and Operating Systems are supported?
What Dell and IHV agents and versions are supported by each Connection?
What are the requirements for each Connection in terms of integration with
the framework, and with Dell components and agents?
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section
2
Introduction
Dell OpenManage Connections are part of Dell’s OpenManage suite of system
management applications and allow customers to manage and monitor Dell
Systems from leading enterprise systems management frameworks. These
enterprise frameworks are evident in the following list of Dell OpenManage
Connections offered:
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Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager
(NNM) for Windows
Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG
Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console and Framework
Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager
for Solaris and HP UX
Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli NetView for AIX
The following are the areas of integration provided by one or more OpenManage
Connections with the enterprise framework:
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Dell System Discovery/Status Management
Once a system is discovered by the enterprise management framework, this
integration will determine if the system is a Dell system, displays it as such
in the framework, and reflects its global status.
Dell Application Launch
Application Launch is the ability to launch Dell OpenManage applications,
and IHV applications, to manage Dell systems.
Event Management
Event management provides the ability to receive asynchronous events/traps
from a Dell system, and allows the user to manage the problems indicated by
this event. Example events are fan or SMART disk alerts.
Figure 1 shows the areas of integration between Dell components and the
enterprise framework, and an overview of the functionality. The management
station system is the one running the enterprise framework, which is used to
monitor and manage a network of systems, while the managed nodes are the
actual systems being managed.
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Figure 1: Enterprise Management Framework With Dell Hardware
November 2001
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Section
3
OpenManage Connections Architecture
Dell OpenManage Connections consist of components on both the management
station (the system used to manage and monitor a network of nodes), and on
managed nodes (the systems that are being managed). The management station
components mainly consist of Dell plug-in components integrated with the
enterprise framework components. The plug-in components consist of Dell’s
discovery and status components, configuration and policy files, and Dell and
independent hardware vendor (IHV) MIBs. (MIB stands for Management
Information Base, a database of objects that can be monitored by a network
management system.) The discovery plug-in integrates with discovery
components and database components of the enterprise framework to retrieve
information on Dell Systems, while the status plug-in integrates with status
monitoring components of the enterprise framework and gives the status related
information on Dell systems. The configuration and policy files are mainly used
to filter out and verify the retrieved events from managed nodes. Usually these
files have associated files on managed nodes to filter out the event information
and send to the management station.
As a part of Dell OpenManage Connections (like Connection for HP OpenView
Network Node Manager [NNM] for Windows), many, but not all Dell
OpenManage applications are supported and installed on the management
station to augment the Dell value add. This helps with ease of use, and makes
Dell OpenManage applications instantly available, to be launched in-context, to
manage and monitor Dell systems. The Discovery plug-in discovers what kind of
OpenManage agents are installed on the managed nodes and within few clicks
you can launch OpenManage Applications including:
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Dell OpenManage IT Assistant – for overall system configuration, status,
asset and event management.
Dell OpenManage Array Manager – for comprehensive RAID storage
management.
Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) Console Application – if you have the
Dell Remote Assistant Card installed on the remote system, it is possible to
launch this console application for health monitoring, event logs and console
redirection.
The Dell Discovery plug-in also detects the installation of other IHV agents like
Adaptec CI/O, Symbios LSI, and Intel NIC, and gives the ability to launch these
agent applications on the management station pointing to specific managed
nodes.
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Figure 2 shows the overall architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections. It
shows the areas of integration, the components residing on management station
and managed nodes, and the applications that can be launched.
Figure 2: Architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section
4
Dell OpenManage Connection for HP
OpenView NNM for Windows
The Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager
for Windows provides all the important areas of integration with HP OpenView
enterprise framework, as follow:
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Dell System Discovery/Status Management
Once the enterprise management framework discovers a system, the
discovery plug-in finds out the discovered system from HP OpenView’s
discovery and database components, determines if the system is a Dell
system, and then the status plug-in determines the global status of the
system and monitors it for status changes.
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Dell Application Launch
Once the discovered system is identified as Dell system, Dell OpenManage
applications and supported IHV applications applicable to the discovered
managed node system are available to launch in-context pointing to the
managed node system.
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Event Management
You can define the SNMP trap destination on the managed node as the
management station running HP OpenView NNM to receive traps. The Dell
Configuration files have all the information on all the traps from supported
agents. Once the trap is received and matched with the stored trap
information, it is then displayed properly formatted in HP OpenView NNM
console.
Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView for NNM supports the full
version of HP OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) 6.0 or greater. Note
that the OpenManage Connection application does not install the HP OpenView
NNM product itself, but only the customization pieces including Dell
OpenManage software applications on top of existing HP OpenView NNM 6.x
framework. The details on the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM versions and other integration components are shown in Table 1.
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Support for HP OpenView NNM
Framework and Other Dell
Components
OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM
V 1.1
V 1.2
HP OpenView NNM Framework
Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
Dell OpenManage Array Manager
Dell Remote Assistant Card Console
Dell OpenManage Server Agent
(Hardware Instrumentation Package
(HIP) Agent)
V 6.0. 6.1
5.2
2.5
2.3
4.0 (3.5.x)1
V 6.0, 6.1, 6.2
6.1
3.0
2.4
4.4
1Do
not install Dell OpenManage Server Agent or Hardware Instrumentation Package
Agent on management station for local system management.
Table 1: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM
Applications Supported by Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM
This OpenManage Connection supports the following Dell and other IHV
applications. Each application name is followed by the managed node
requirement to launch it.
Dell and IHV Applications that are installed with this OpenManage Connection:
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Dell OpenManage IT Assistant – requires Dell instrumentation on the
managed node
Dell OpenManage Array Manager – requires array manager agent on the
managed node
Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) 32 bit application or Web Console -requires remote assistant card installed on the managed node
Adaptec CI/O Management Software – requires Dell instrumentation on the
managed node equipped with Adaptec SCSI Controllers
LSI DMI Browser -- requires Dell instrumentation on the managed node
equipped with LSI/Symbios SCSI Controllers
Qlogic DMI Management Application -- requires Dell instrumentation on the
managed node equipped with Qlogic fibre channel host bus adapters (HBA)
Additional application support is provided for the following applications:
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November 2001
Cluster Administration Application – manages clusters from the
management station if the Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) Cluster
Administrator or the Dell OpenManage Cluster Assistant With ClusterX
application is installed on the managed node.
Fibre Channel Bridge Manager – for management of fibre channel bridge to
SCSI converter devices (Dell PowerVault 35F)
Fibre Channel Switch Manager -- allows management of Fibre Channel
switch devices (Dell PowerVault 5xF)
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
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FilerView -- allows management of the Dell PowerVault 7xxN filer
Dell SAN Manager – to manage Dell SAN Appliances
Dell PowerVault NAS Manager – to configure and manage NAS Appliances
Navisphere Manage Clarion FC RAID Application– requires Navisphere
Manage Clarion installed on management station and appropriate hardware
on managed node
The OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM also installs the SNMP
MIBs for several above-mentioned Dell and IHV applications. You can browse
these MIBs using HP NNM’s MIB Browser.
Important Points
The following are important points to note regarding this OpenManage
Connection:
 A Dell Managed node system must have Dell OpenManage Server Agent (or
Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent) installed in order to be
discovered as a Dell system.
 If HP OpenView NNM SE (based on NNM v 5.2) is the installed framework,
it must be uninstalled. HP OpenView NNM v 6.x must be installed instead
prior to installing the Dell OpenManage Connection.
 It is possible to use ‘DCVerify.exe’ (included in the bin folder) to verify the
successful installation and for the information on the installed components.
 OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM 1.1 does not support a
management station system installed with Dell OpenManage Server Agent
on the same system. OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM
version 1.2 does support this configuration.
 OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM v 1.1 does not offer
support for Dell OpenManage IT Assistant v 6.x.
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section
5
Dell OpenManage Connection for CA
Unicenter TNG
Dell OpenManage Connection for Computer Associates Unicenter TNG
enterprise framework is similar to OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView
NNM with respect to feature set. This OpenManage Connection provides the
following integration functionality:
Dell system discovery/status management – Once a system is discovered by CA
Unicenter TNG framework, Dell’s Unicenter TNG monitoring plug-in finds out
the discovered system from CA Unicenter TNG’s discovery and database
components, determines if the system is Dell system and then the status plug-in
determines the global status of the system and monitors it for status changes.
Dell application launch – Once the discovered system is identified as a Dell
system, Dell OpenManage applications and supported IHV applications
applicable to the discovered managed node system are available to launch incontext pointing to the managed node system.
Event Management – You can define the SNMP trap destination as the
management station running CA Unicenter TNG to receive traps. The Dell
Configuration files have all the information on all the traps from supported
agents. Once the trap is received and matched with the stored trap information,
it is then displayed properly formatted in the CA Unicenter TNG console.
Like other OpenManage Connections, The OpenManage Connection for CA
Unicenter TNG does not install the CA Unicenter TNG framework itself, but
only the customization pieces including Dell OpenManage software applications
on top of existing framework. The current version shipping of this OpenManage
Connection is version 1.2 while supported versions of the CA Unicenter TNG are
versions 2.2 and 2.3. The Dell OpenManage Connection works both with the CA
Unicenter TNG (full) and with the CA Unicenter TNG. It is possible to install
either the CA Unicenter TNG Framework or the full CA Unicenter TNG.
The following Dell and IHV applications are supported with this OpenManage
Connection:
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November 2001
Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 5.2 - Presents the data available from Dell
managed nodes running Dell server instrumentation
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
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DRAC II Web Console version 2.3.1 - Supports out-of-band (via dial-up
modem or Network Interface Controller [NIC] status retrieval and
management operations for certain Dell servers; and out-of-band
management for Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) equipped systems.
Dell PowerEdge Expandable Redundant Array of Independent Disks
(RAID) Controller (8.08i) PERC Console Package - Allows management of
the hard-disk drive subsystem(s) of servers installed with Dell PowerEdge
Expandable RAID Controller (PERC), Dell PERC 2/SC, and PERC 2/DC.
Flexible Array Storage Tool (FAST) console - Allows configuration,
management, and monitoring of RAID subsystems installed with the Dell
PERC 2, PERC 2/Si, PERC 3/Si, and PERC 3/Di.
Comprehensive Input/Output (CI/O) Management Software 4.01 - Manages
and monitors servers that have an Adaptec small computer system interface
(SCSI) controller. The controller monitors the channels and devices
configured on each channel.
The following agents, when installed on Dell OpenManage Connection managed
nodes, can send SNMP traps to the CA Unicenter TNG console.
 Server Instrumentation (agent) — Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x or Dell
OpenManage HIP 3.5.x.
 Dell Remote Access Card Agent
 Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Agents
 Adaptec CI/O
This OpenManage Connection also provides alert message generation and data
logging to NT event log. It is also possible to configure automatic server actions
in response to certain conditions or SNMP traps and events. The OpenManage
Connection for CA Unicenter TNG also installs the SNMP MIBs for several
above-mentioned Dell and IHV applications. The Unicenter TNG MIB Browser
allows users to browse these MIBs.
Important Points
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November 2001
Dell server instrumentation (Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x or Dell
OpenManage HIP 3.5.x) cannot be run on the management station that is
running the Dell OpenManage Connection.
Managed node systems must be instrumented with either Dell Hardware
Instrumentation Package 3.5.x or Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x.
Dell OpenManage Array Manager is not installed with this OpenManage
Connection. But OpenManage Connection has the built in support for it.
Install OpenManage Array Manager 2.5 or 3.0 later and then launch it
through TNG Unicenter framework.
OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG v 1.2 does not support
launching of Dell OpenManage IT Assistant v 6.x from the same
management system on which the OpenManage Connection components are
installed.
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
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November 2001
It is not possible to upgrade from earlier versions of OpenManage
Connection for CA Unicenter TNG. First uninstall previous versions and
then install Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG 1.2.
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Section
6
Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli
Enterprise Console
The integration components of Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli
Enterprise Console (TEC) mainly consist of the configuration files residing on
management station as well as node. This OpenManage Connection mainly
provides the event management of Dell systems. The events consist of Windows
NT events that are logged in the Windows NT event log on the managed nodes.
This OpenManage Connection consists of the following components:
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The configuration files -- .brc (baroc) files on management station and .fmt
(format) files on managed node for each Dell and other vendor components.
The readme information files for each component supported, giving details
about each event class for the events generated on managed node.
How it works
The format file and the baroc file consist of all the information about the
Windows NT events logged by supported Dell and other vendor applications.
The event information flow is shown in Figure 3. Once an event occurs on the
managed node (arrow # 1), the Tivoli Enterprise Console Adapter service
running on the managed node retrieves it from the NT event log (arrow # 2),
filters out that event using .fmt file (arrow # 3), and forwards it to the Tivoli
Enterprise Console Event Server (arrow # 5) with all the details such as severity,
date and time of occurrence, event class name, and the actual event message.
TEC Event Server has Dell’s .brc files loaded (arrow # 4), which makes sure that
the class name of the incoming event matches and displays it on the Tivoli
Enterprise Console.
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Figure 3: Event Information Flow in the OpenManage Connection for TEC
Framework and Operating Systems
As the OpenManage Connection components are integrated with the Tivoli
Enterprise Framework, the Windows Operating System support is governed by
the framework support for the Operating System. Table 2 details the Windows
Operating System version and the framework version supported by the
OpenManage Connection for TEC.
OpenManage
Connection for TEC
Version 1.2 and 1.2.1
Tivoli Framework and
Enterprise Console
Version 3.6 and 3.6.2
Upcoming Version 1.3
Version 3.6, 3.6.2 and
3.7.11
1Please
Operating Systems
Management Station
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows 2000 (with
TEC 3.7.11)
Managed Node
Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows 2000
Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows 2000
check Dell web site for latest details on the support for TEC3.7.1 support.
Table 2: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for TEC
Applications Supported
The following is the list of Dell and other IHV agents supported by this
OpenManage Connection. Note that these agents must be installed on the
managed node in order to receive events.
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November 2001
Dell OpenManage Server Agent – This is the instrumentation agent to
manage Dell Server systems. OpenManage Connection version 1.2 onwards
has the most up to date support for OpenManage Server Agent events.
Dell OpenManage Array Manager – OpenManage Connection version 1.2
supports OpenManage Array Manager version 2.5 while OpenManage
Connection version 1.3 supports OpenManage Array Manager 3.1.
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
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November 2001
Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) Console Application – OpenManage
Connections version 1.2 onwards support events for the latest version of
DRAC, version 2.4.
Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller 2 and 3
Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package – The older server instrumentation
agent, which is replaced by OpenManage Server Agent.
Adaptec Comprehensive Input/Output (CI/O) Agent
Qlogic Agent
Intel NIC Instrumentation Agent
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Section
7
Dell OpenManage Connections for HP
OpenView NNM for HP-UX, for Solaris, and
for Tivoli NetView for AIX
Dell OpenManage Connections are also available for these three Unix-based
consoles. These OpenManage Connections mainly provide event management
functionality and MIB browsing capabilities for Dell MIBs installed as part of
OpenManage Connection components. These OpenManage Connections allow
network administrators to browse Dell servers and some IHV components via
the SNMP browser included with HP OpenView Network Node Manager or
Tivoli NetView. Also, Dell-related and some IHV traps are formatted with this
product.
Table 3 describes the support for different Dell agents that each version of
OpenManage Connection offers. The support consists of MIB browsing
capability for these agents’ MIBs and formatted events from these agents. Note
that the SNMP services must be running to carry out this functionality. These
releases of OpenManage Connections do not offer support for Dell system
discovery/status integration.
Versions
Framework Versions
Dell OpenManage Connection
version 1.2
Dell OpenManage Connection
version 1.3
November 2001
OpenManage Connection for HP
OpenView NNM for HP-UX and
Solaris
HP OpenView NNM for Solaris or
HP-UX, version 6.x.
Hardware Instrumentation Package
3.x, Dell OpenManage Server
Agent 4.0, Dell OpenManage Array
Manager 2.0 and IHV Agents
Added support for:
 Dell OpenManage Server Agent
4.4 MIB and events
 Dell OpenManage Array
Manager 3.1 MIB and events
 Dell Remote Card version 3
events
 Broadcom NIC MIB and events
 Dell OpenManage Cluster
Assistant With ClusterX® MIB
 Dell™ PowerVault™ Storage
Area Network (SAN) Appliance
MIB and events
OpenManage Connection for
Tivoli NetView
Tivoli NetView for AIX version 5.1.x
or later
Hardware Instrumentation Package
3.x, Dell OpenManage Server
Agent 4.0, Dell OpenManage Array
Manager 2.0 and IHV Agents
Added support for:
 Added support for Dell
OpenManage Server Agent 4.4
MIB and events
 Dell OpenManage Array
Manager 3.1 MIB and events
 Dell Remote Card version 3
events
 Broadcom NIC MIB and events
 Dell OpenManage Cluster
Assistant With ClusterX® MIB
 Dell™ PowerVault™ Storage
Area Network (SAN) Appliance
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Versions
OpenManage Connection for HP
OpenView NNM for HP-UX and
Solaris
Crossroads Storage Bridges and
Router MIB
OpenManage Connection for
Tivoli NetView
MIB and events
Table 3: Version Support for the OpenManage Connections for UNIX-based
Management Systems
To update MIBs and events, Dell strongly recommends uninstalling the
Connections version 1.2 before installing version 1.3
Following are the MIBs supported by these OpenManage Connections:
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Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent
Dell OpenManage Server Agent
Dell OpenManage Array Manager
Dell Remote Assistant Card Agent
Dell OpenManage Cluster Assistant With ClusterX
New Dell(TM) PowerVault(TM) Storage Area Network (SAN) Appliance
Adaptec CI/O Agent
Broadcom NIC agent
Crossroads Storage Bridges and Routers
Brocade Fibre Channel Switch
Intel NIC Instrumentation Agent
Network Appliance Filer Agent
PowerEdge RAID Controller Adapter
American Power Conversion PowerNet
Symbios Agent
The following agents offer the support for formatted events:
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November 2001
Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent 3.5.x
Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x
Dell OpenManage Array Manager 2.5, 3.0 and 3.1
Dell PowerVault Storage Area Network Appliance,
Adaptec CI/O Agent 4.01
PowerEdge RAID Controller Adapter
Brocade Fibre Channel Switch
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section
8
Conclusion
This paper introduces Dell OpenManage Connections, their architecture, and
then provides an overview of each OpenManage connection Dell offers. All
OpenManage Connections are available on Dell’s web site. Please refer to the
User’s Guide or readme files of each OpenManage Connection for more details.
The enterprise framework primarily drives the installation requirements for each
OpenManage Connection. Also note that to install Dell OpenManage
Connections, the respective enterprise framework must be installed and
configured. Dell OpenManage Connections do not install the framework itself.
Manoj Gujarathi (Manoj_Gujarathi@dell.com) is a systems engineer at Dell Computer Corporation (http://www.
dell.com). With over five years of experience in system management applications, he currently works as a lead engineer
for Dell OpenManage IT Assistant and Dell OpenManage Connections applications. Manoj has a Masters Degree in
Engineering from Washington State University and Masters Degree in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He
is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).
Dell and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in
this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary
interest in the marks and names of others.
©Copyright 2001 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. Dell
cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The content is provided as is, without express or
implied warranties of any kind.
November 2001
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Dell Enterprise Systems Group