ServerConductor/Blade Server Manager Description and Reference

## 1.1 Features of ServerConductor

As systems increase in size, it becomes more and more important to reduce the costs of system management and to streamline the administrative workload, such as for hardware asset management, operations management, and failure management. For example, when you have a large number of servers, the time and labor required to manage those assets become important issues. In the case of a distributed system, error handling and periodic startup and shutdown of machines in various locations also contribute to increases in management costs and administrative workload.

ServerConductor collects information that is needed for management, operation, and error handling of servers and centralizes management and operations. Centralized management of a distributed system can ensure efficient system operations management, lowered costs, and reductions in the workloads of administrators. The following figure shows an example of system management by ServerConductor.

Figure 1-1 System management by ServerConductor

The following subsections describe the features of ServerConductor.

Organization of this section
  (1) Manageable machines
  (2) Achieving centralized management of assets
  (3) Managing failures
  (4) Controlling the power supply
  (5) Achieving remote control
  (6) Performing operations management from a Web browser

#### (1) Manageable machines

ServerConductor can manage the following machines:

- CF3e

#### (2) Achieving centralized management of assets

ServerConductor can manage hardware and firmware information in servers. Hardware information includes the number of CPUs and their status, while firmware information includes BIOS version information.

ServerConductor can manage these assets as follows:

- Provides a management console to view server asset information as inventory information.
- Stores the inventory information in the management console's database, retrieves the hosts whose inventory information matches specified conditions, and periodically conducts searches and sends the results by email.

#### (3) Managing failures

ServerConductor can manage error information for servers as well as the information needed for determining the causes of failures. ServerConductor supports the following elements of failure management:

- Sending the alerts that occur on servers to the management console in real time, as well as sending email notifications.

#### (4) Controlling the power supply

ServerConductor can manage the power supply for remote servers (such as turning the power on and off).

#### (5) Achieving remote control

ServerConductor enables servers to be manipulated from the management console. This makes it possible for a user working at the management console to acquire a managed server's OS information and ServerConductor log information as maintenance information without having to actually go to the installation site. Such data can be transferred to the management console as a file or by email.

#### (6) Performing operations management from a Web browser

With ServerConductor, you can use a Web browser as a management console. This enables you to handle and manage the servers subject to management from a console that is not a ServerConductor-dedicated management console.

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