Dell DRAC vs IPMI

dell-poweredgedrac

I currently have a Dell PE R610 with a DRAC card installed. I was looking at getting a Dell PE C6100 and the description says it has IPMI with dedicated NIC. I have my server in a co-location about 1.5 hours away, so the DRAC has saved me a trip many times. Will the IPMI work like the DRAC?

Best Answer

DRAC is based on IPMI, so it will work approximately the same, but with fewer features. You will be able to get a remote console and change BIOS and firmware settings, update firmware, have alerts emailed to you, etc. All the most critical and basic stuff will work.

In particular, the C6100 has what appears to be a very stripped down DRAC, which is also not branded as a DRAC. Nevertheless it will be sufficient for all of the necessary server management tasks, as described above.