Moving iDRAC 7 Enterprise License from R720 to R520 We just had one of our R720's die on us and we've put in our spare R520 to replace it. The problem with the R520 is that it doesn't have an iDRAC Ent license, while the R720 does. It helps perform remote server management and it feels like you are physically in front of your server. IDRAC has several versions and below we will highlight the key features of iDRAC 7 Enterprise. IDRAC 7 Enterprise allows you to: View the health of your server; View memory information; View and export system inventory.

One very important consideration for choosing your blade server is the type of embedded management license you need. I’ve seen organizations attempt to save money by going with the low end license offering for systems management only to find out it doesn’t include a crucial feature. One such feature is the ability to see trends and get early warnings from a server before it alerts. In this blog post I’m going to talk about the iDRAC license options for Dell EMC blade servers including a comparison of the different license versions and why you may want them.

Dell EMC PowerEdge servers all have a dedicated systems management chip known as iDRAC 9 or integrated Dell Remote Access Controller, 9th generation. (If you are familiar with HPe ProLiant servers, the iDRAC serves a similar function as the iLO.) iDRAC provides a secure out-of-band, agent-less connection to allow for a user to manage the lifecycle of the PowerEdge server, even if the server is powered off. It also offers both a HTML 5 GUI web interface and command line interface allowing administrators to perform remote management tasks like monitoring, managing, updating, troubleshooting and remediation. Finally, iDRAC enables connectivity into other Dell Technologies datacenter management tools like OpenManage Enterprise and OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter.

What Features Come Free

iDRAC9 v4.00.00.00 released in December of 2019 and introduced new features including a new Datacenter License – see below for details. Although there are 3 variations of the iDRAC license for Dell EMC blade servers: iDRAC9 Express, iDRAC9 Enterprise and iDRAC9 Datacenter, you really only have two to choose from. There is not an option to buy the PowerEdge server without an iDRAC9 license, therefore the Express license edition is considered the base license. All of the iDRAC9 4.00.00.00 licenses come with basic instrumentation with web GUI and API support, but here are the items available with all iDRAC9 licenses:

User Interfaces
- HTML5 Web GUI
- Redfish
- WS-Man
- IPMI 2.0
- DCMI 1.5
- RACADM
- SMASH-CLP
- Telnet
- SSH
- Serial Redirection
Connectivity
- dedicated NIC
- VLAN
- IPv4/6
- DHCP
- static IP
- dynamic DNS
- iDRAC Direct (direct access from a local PC to a dedicated USB port)
- Connection View
- NFS v4
- NTLMv1/2
Security
- silicon root of trust in iDRAC and Boot
- signed firmware updates
- RBAC (role based access control)
- local users
- SSL/TLS encryption
- FIPS
- UEFI certs,
- secure default Password (random)
- Custom security login banner
- PKI authentication
- IP range filtering
Remote Presence
- power control
- boot control
- serial Over LAN (SOL)
Power & Thermal
- real-time power meter and graphic
- temperature monitoring
- customized exhaust temperature
- power thresholds and alerts
- historical power counters
- temperature graphic
Health Monitoring
- full agent-free monitoring
- predictive failures (including drive Smart Alerts)
- SNMPv1/2/3
- fans
- PSUs
- Memory
- CPU
- RAID
- NIC
- direct attach storage enclosures
- SSD wear levels
- customized email alerting
Firmware Update
- remote agent-free updates
- embedded update tools (F10/iDRAC GUI)
Deployment
- local configuration via F10 LC GUI
- remote OS deployment
- BIOS and RAID configuration pages
- remote server configuration
- import/export Server Configuration Profile (SCP)
- OS driver pack
- system inventory
- system erase for server retirement / re-purposing
- auto-discovery
Diagnostics, Service and Logging
- SEL and Lifecycle Controller logs
- diagnostic tools
- server configuration restore
- Easy Restore after motherboard replacement
- health status LEDs
- LCD on bezel optional
- iDRAC Direct service port
- remote and local iDRAC reset
- virtual NMI
- OS watchdog
- SupportAssist Collection report
- direct SupportAssist registration
- work notes
- license management
- crash screen capture

If you’ve read this far, congratulations. Give yourself a pat on the back and grab a nice cold one. As you can see, the list is pretty extensive for a base systems management license, so let’s next look at what the iDRAC9 Enterprise and iDRAC9 Datacenter licenses offer.

iDRAC 9 Enterprise Features

In addition to the features listed above, the iDRAC9 Enterprise license adds:

Idrac7 Enterprise License Key List

Zero touch, auto-configuration
Automatic updates with synchronization with a repository
MAC Address Reporting (MARS)
Auto discovery via Layer 2 switches via transmit LLDP
Directory services (AD / LDAP)
2-factor authentication (2FA)
Single sign-on (SSO)
System lockdown mode
Easy multi-factor authentication
Integration with select Secure Enterprise Key Manager Solutions
Virtual media
Virtual Folders
Remote File Share
Virtual Console with HTML5 or VNC
Quality bandwidth control
Collaboration with up to 6 users
Virtual console chat
Group manager supporting linking up to 250 iDRACs
Out-of-band performance monitoring
Remote syslog for alerts
Power capping and integration with OpenManage Power Center
Crash screen video (agent-free with Windows Server OS)
Boot capture

iDRAC9 Datacenter License Features

Finally, the newest iDRAC9 license is the Datacenter license. Added in December of 2019, the Datacenter license provides all of the above plus:

Granular insight and control
- telemetry streaming – enables users to pick metric reports then choose a transport method (Rsyslog, Redfish SSE, Redfish Subscription or Redfisho Polling) and frequency (every 5 seconds – every 84,400 seconds)
  - metric reports include:
    - sensor data from NIC, FC HBA, CPU, memory, fans, sensors, thermal and storage
    - statistics from NICs, power, performance, GPU, storage and NVMe
    - metrics from CPUs, memory, PSUs, thermal, power, GPUs
- system serial data buffer capture – snoops system serial data and stores it to be retrieved later for analysis and failure root cause
- SMART logs for storage drives
- GPU inventory and monitoring
- SFP+ optical I/O inventory and monitoring
- idle server detection – identifies any servers running idle for extended periods of time (aka zombie servers)
Enhanced security
- iDRAC auto certificate enrollment for SSL certificates – polls the specified Certificate Authority (CA) and authenticates the SSL certificate using the credentials provided. Can be done via the GUI, via server configuration profile or via script.
Thermal Manage – provides key thermal telemetry and associated control features
- PCIe airflow customization – provides a comprehensive PCIe device cooling view of the server and allows cooling customization of 3rd party cards
- custom exhaust control – specify the temperature limit of the air exiting the server to match your datacenter needs
- custom Delta-T control – limits air temperature rise from inlet air to exhaust to right-size your infrastructure level cooling
- system airflow consumption – displays the real-time system airflow consumption (in