[Info-vax] RX2800 i4 iLO 3 firmware

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2021-06-23 19:51:55 +0000, Hans Bachner said:

> Stephen Hoffman schrieb am 23.06.2021 um 18:58:
>> On 2021-06-22 23:27:16 +0000, <kemain.nospam at gmail.com> said:
>> 
>>> Out of band server management like ILO's, DRAC including remote power 
>>> mgmt. strategies has been around for decades (early 1980's).
>> 
>> [...]
>> 
>> Remote management was something comparatively new for OpenVMS folks, 
>> first arriving with Itanium for many of the OpenVMS sites around.
> 
> Actually, there was the RMC (remote management console) on various 
> Alphas - I think starting around the AlphaServer 4100 and friends. It 
> also included remote power on/off among other things.
> 
> Given that this effort startet in the last millenium, the RMC was 
> accessed through a serial port (not via network as today). You could 
> connect this port to a DECserver and access the DECserver either 
> locally over the network or remotely via a modem.

Ah, an Alpha "RMC" you say?

>> ... Alpha eventually added RCM and RMC hardware outboard, all the way 
>> up to the entirely gonzo server management network present within the 
>> Marvel-class AlphaServer boxes; AlphaServer GS1280, etc.
>> ...None of these VAX and Alpha consoles was supported for remote 
>> Ethernet network access, with the gear supporting remote serial access 
>> at best. Early on, this serial access was intended for DEC Field 
>> Service to dial in (modems, remember those?) and diagnose the server.

iLO was a server-management gearshift for a lot of OpenVMS sites.

Remote management of VAX, Alpha, and Integrity sans iLO was either 
purchased, or often home-grown duct tape. Some of that duct tape used 
the RMC, too.

An external, outboard, out-of-the-server-cabinet management console was 
never anybody's preferred solution though, which is why it's all but 
disappeared as a viable design for most modern servers; why it all went 
embedded.

And an approach akin to RMC/RCM was reasonable for its serial-line era, 
but the RMC/RCM was missing a NIC and its supporting infrastructure. 
Which is what iLO, iDRAC, BMC, and other solutions provide.

For those here that do prefer their consoles with blinking lights: 
https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 — it'd very 
likely be possible to hook this PiDP-11 to an RMC too, if you wanted to 
work at it.



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