I have a few DELL servers in a remote DC and our ISP has been very kind about doing OS installs for us. However, as we move to Production and multiple DC's I'd like to be able to do the installs/re-installs internally and DRAC Enterprise w/SDRAM seems ideal.
My question is, how do you get your install ISO's on to the SDRAM? Can I just copy it from a local DVD (temp USB hookup) or FTP?
What's the advantage to the SDRAM over just buying a USB dongle (to leave plugged into the server) and installing a bootable install ISO?
We're a virtual org generally using DSL (2mb) connections to the DC over the Internet and using 'Virtual Media' isn't viable for us.
Best Answer
I wouldn't really bother with any of those methods to be honest.
If this is going to be a regular thing, you're going to be well served by a PXE installation environment. For Windows deployments that's WDS and there are numerous solutions for Linux. For a mixed environment, there's things like UDA. There are also PXE environments for deploying VMWare's ESXi.
As for answering your actual question, we have iDrac Enterprises, and we copy them from an SMB share from an online server onto the built-in memory card on the iDrac. The server we are copying them from is on the same network and subnet as the iDracs themselves.
The advantage of this is that it's not something that can be removed by accident. To remove the memory card from the iDrac you have to open the chassis and take it out. To remove a USB dongle from a server, all you need is a single wayward tech who mistakes it for the one that they just plugged in to do something else.