MyServers FAQ

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Abuse Reports [4]
-- How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report? [1]
- How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report?
  If a third party believes that any illegal, malicious or fraudulent activity is taking place on a server within our network, they are able to raise an Abuse Report through our MyServers control panel, against the offending IP address(es). If an Abuse ticket is raised against your account, you must resolve the issue outlined in the ticket by removing the offending material, then respond to abuse ticket to let the complainant know this has been resolved.
  
  If an Abuse Ticket is raised against your account, you should first log in to your MyServers account and then open the abuse ticket. Any open abuse tickets will appear on the My Account tab of MyServers. Please note that on some occasions multiple abuse tickets can be opened against a client account at once and multiple abuse tickets can be opened about the same issue. If this is the case, you must deal with and respond to every abuse ticket. Failure to do so will leave you at risk of suspension. To open an Abuse Ticket, click on the ticket’s reference number.
  
  Once you have opened up the abuse ticket, you will be presented with the details inputted by the claimant. These include the IP address linked to the malicious/fraudulent activity, the type of abuse, the details of the reported malicious/fraudulent activity, any linked domain and a description of the malicious/fraudulent activity. You will also be able to see when the abuse ticket was opened, the server it is linked to and the current status of the abuse ticket. Please see below for an example; which outlines a report of copyright infringement.
  
  If an abuse ticket has been raised against your account, you must take appropriate action to resolve the issues outlined in the abuse ticket, within a reasonable time frame. Please note the ‘reasonable time frame’ given depends on the seriousness of the reported activity and if any legal action have or will be taken by the complainant.
  
  How you resolve the issue(s) outlined in the abuse report is up to you. Some examples of how our clients have dealt with reports of abuse on their devices include:
  - Re-installing the server’s/VM’s operating system
  - Removal of the individual offending content
  - Suspending the server/VM until the content is removed
  We can assist in certain ways of dealing with abusive content, by re-installing an operating systems or suspending a host device, so if you do require assistance in one of these two ways please feel to raise a support ticket.
  
  While dealing with an abuse report and removing any offending content, you must also reply to the abuse ticket. Under the section which outlines the details of the reported abuse, there is a section for you to reply to the abuse ticket. You can use this section to respond to the complainant. Please note that the abuse ticket and this response section is to be used to communicate with the complainant only, not our support or abuse teams.
  
  There are three set type of responses you can add to an abuse ticket. Please see below a description of each type of response and when you should use them.
  
  Will be Resolved
  
  You should use the ‘Will be Resolved’ response when you have yet to resolve the issue, but you do intend to resolve the issue as soon as possible. You should use this response type to keep the complainant updated on your progress, if the issue cannot immediately be fixed. It is good practice once you have read the details of the abuse ticket and acknowledge the abuse report has been correctly assigned to one of your devices, to reply to the ticket using the ‘Will be Resolved’ response stating that you have acknowledged the abuse report and that you will investigate the issue. You should use the ‘Further Details’ box to add a message to your response.
  
  Resolved
  
  The ‘Resolved’ response should only be used once you have completely dealt with the issues raised in the abuse report. Once you have 100% dealt with the issue outlined in the abuse report, you must use the resolved response to update the abuse ticket, to inform the complainant that you have dealt with the issue. Once you have dealt with the issue and are inputting a response to show you have done so, you must enter how you resolved the issue (e.g. re-installed the VM to remove the offending content) and how you plan to stop this issue occurring in future (e.g. you have suspended the client and warned them not to do this in future). When you enter a ‘Resolved’ response, the abuse ticket will be passed back to the complainant to review.
  
  Incorrectly Assigned to me
  
  The ‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’ response is used when you believe that the abuse report has be in-correctly assigned to yourselves. If you believe that an abuse ticket has been wrongly assigned to you, you can use this response to pass the ticket back to the complainant, informing them that this is the case. You must make it very clear, using the further details section, why you believe the abuse report has wrongly been assigned to you. Please note that if the abusive behaviour/content is being hosted on a device linked to your account - even if it is one of your own clients actually performing the illegal/fraudulent/malicious activity on one of your devices, if your device has been hacked and the content has been added to your device without your knowledge/permission, or if the device’s hosted content is managed by a third part, etc. - it is still your responsibility as our client to resolve the abuse report. If you use the ‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’ response, the ticket will be passed back to the complainant to review.
  
  Once you have replied to the abuse ticket, setting the response to either ‘Resolved’ or ‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’, the ticket and your reply will be emailed to the original complainant, for them to review. The complainant should then review your reply; then either ensure the offending activity has ceased or check if they wrongly assigned to abuse to your client account. The original complainant can then proceed in one of three ways:
  
  1. The complainant reviews your response, sees that you have taken appropriate action and closes the ticket.
  
  2. The complainant does not reply or close the abuse ticket. This is normally interpreted as they have accepted the content has been removed. The ticket will automatically be closed after 3 days and the matter is considered closed.
  
  3. The complainant reviews your response, and does not feel the matter has been satisfactorily resolved and escalates this up to our abuse department. Our abuse team will then get in touch with you to determine the appropriate course of action.
  
  In the case of instance one and two, the abuse case has been resolved successfully and our abuse team will take no action. In the case of instance three, you will have to continue to try and resolve the issue, until the case has been resolved. Please make sure you are always updating the abuse ticket throughout this process.
  
  If you have any further questions about our abuse report ticketing system, feel free to raise a separate ticket with our support team, and we will be happy to help.
-- What is an Abuse Report? [1]
- What is an Abuse Report?
  
  If a third party believes that any illegal, malicious or fraudulent activity is taking place on a server within our network, they are able to raise an Abuse Report through our MyServers control panel, against the offending IP address(es). This will then create an Abuse Ticket on the client account linked to this IP address. Our abuse report ticketing system is designed to allow our clients to directly liaise with any complainants regarding any illegal/malicious/fraudulent activity that is being hosted on one of their devices. The abuse system in anonymous between the client and the complainant; so both the complainant’s details and our client’s details (company name, etc) are hidden from each other.
  
  If an abuse report is ever raised against one or more of your devices/IP addresses, the first thing to remember is not to panic. If an abuse ticket is raised against one or more of your devices, our system will not suspend your server automatically; as we know that it is not fair on any other customers you may have hosted on this device, when only one of them is acting irresponsibly. We will provide you with an appropriate timeframe to respond to the report and resolve the issue before our abuse department steps in. Please note that the ‘appropriate timeframe’ is based on the seriousness of the reported abuse.
  
  One thing that is key to remember throughout the abuse report process is that it is your responsibility to respond to abuse tickets and ensure that they get resolved in a timely fashion. This also means replying to the ticket once you’ve removed the offending client/material and selecting the correct option in the response section. Failure to do this places your service at risk of suspension, even if you’ve already dealt with the matter.
  
  If multiple Abuse Reports are raised against one or more of your devices, please note that you must reply to every abuse report with appropriate updates; even if multiple abuse reports are raised against the same address(es), regarding the same issue.
  
  If you do not reply to an abuse ticket within a reasonable time frame, or if you do not remove all the offending content within a reasonable time frame, the abuse ticket will automatically get escalated to our abuse department, who will then take steps to ensure it gets resolved. As a managed infrastructure provider, we will only step in if the issue cannot be resolved directly between the client & complainant.
  
  Please note that the abuse system is setup to allow client’s to communicate with the complainant only; please do not use the abuse tickets to communicate with members of our teams. Please raise a separate support ticket if you have any questions or need any help from us.
  
  If an abuse report is raised against your account, you will be notified by an email from MyServers. The next time you log into your MyServers account you will also see an “Active Abuse Ticket” section with details of any active abuse tickets. Below is an example of an abuse report ticket, which would appear on the My Account page of MyServers.
  
  You can click on the abuse Ticket Reference to open up the ticket and view the full details of the report.
  
  If you have any further questions about our Abuse Report ticketing system, please look through our FAQ section or feel free to raise a support ticket (this must be a ticket separate to the abuse ticket), and we will be happy to help.
Accounts & Billing [18]
- What payment methods do you accept?
  
  We offer a variety of payment options; allowing you to pay in the most convenient way to you.
  
  One of our most popular payment methods is to pay with either a debit or credit card. We accept the majority of debit and credit cards as a payment option; however, I am afraid that we cannot accept payment from an American Express card. To add a card to your account, you simply need to pay an invoice through your account.
  
  If you pay an invoice using a debit or credit card, the details of this card will automatically be stored on our system for your convenience, allowing payments to automatically be taken from this card for all future invoices. If you no longer wish to pay with a specific card which has been added to your account, please raise a ticket asking for this card to be removed, so a member of our team can delete these card details off our system on your behalf.
  
  Bank transfers can also be made to make payment; even if you are not based in the UK. If you do not want to manually pay through bank transfers each month, for your convenience you can ask us to set up a direct debit with your bank, so payments can be taken automatically each month from your account. If you would like us to set up a direct debit, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket.
  
  We now also offer PayPal as a payment option. If you wish to pay via Paypal, please get in touch through a ticket, as we will need to allow PayPal payments on your account.
  
  If you have any further questions about payment options, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- How does your billing cycle work?
  
  Our billing cycle is designed to bring customers to the point of having a single invoice, issued on the first of each month, for all services and products listed on their account. As a result, the initial invoices and billing cycle can be confusing when a new service is taken out. To help explain the billing cycle, we’ll run through how our system works, along with an example below.
  
  After taking out a new product with us, your first invoice will be for one month in advance. For new customers, who currently do not have any services with us, this invoice will be paid prior to the service being set up. For existing customers, the invoice will be issued with the usual 30 days payment terms.
  
  Once the service has commenced, the system will use the date on which the service was activated as a billing date and will raise an invoice for any remaining days in the following month, which was not covered by the original full month invoice raised. This effectively brings the billing up to the first of the month.
  
  The system will then issue a single invoice on the first of each month, for the next month's services. In the event of a cancellation, all unused service periods will be credited and, if necessary, a refund will be issued.
  
  Below is an example:
  
  A service is ordered on the 16^th of April.
  
  The first invoice will be for one full month.
  
  The service is then live on the 17^th of April.
  
  The system will use the 17^th as the start point for billing and treat the initial invoice as being up to the 17th of May.
  
  The system will then raise an invoice for the period of May 18^th to May 31^st. This brings the billing up to the first of the month, for future invoices.
  
  On the 1^st of May, the system will invoice for the full month of June. On the first of June, the system will invoice for the full month of July, and so on.
  
  If you do have any further questions relating to our invoicing system, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll be happy to advice.
- How do I add a new card to my account?
  
  In order to add a new card to your account, you simply make a payment with this new card on an invoice that is unpaid, through your MyServers account. Once you have completed the payment the card will be automatically stored for future payments on the account.
  
  If you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our support team will be happy to help.
- How do I remove a credit card / debit card from my MyServers Account?
  
  To have a card removed from your account, simply contact us through a ticket and request that we remove your credit / debit card from your account. You will need to supply the last three digits of the card number and the expiry date of the card you wish to be removed. We will then remove this card and advise you of other payment methods available to you.
  
  If you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our support team will be happy to help.
- How can I reclaim overspends on my account after I cancel?
  
  Any amounts that are due to you following the cancellation of services can be reclaimed and be repaid to the original card used; or in the case of BACS payments, sent to your bank.
  
  To reclaim the overspent amount, please send us a ticket with all the relevant details and we will arrange for a refund to be issued.
  
  If you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our support team will be happy to help.
- Do you store my card details?
  
  When a payment is made with a new debit / credit card on your account, the card details will automatically be stored within our MyServers control panel, and payment will automatically be taken from this card for future invoices.
  
  We operate in this manner for your convenience; as it allows payments to be made automatically each month without your manual intervention.
  
  Your card details will be stored in a very secure, industry standard manor.
  
  In regards to storing your card details, a message stating that the card details will be automatically stored appears, when you make a payment using a new card. The following message will also appear when making a payment, which informs you that “Payment will be collected automatically for future invoices” using this card.
  
  By adding a new card and progressing beyond these two messages, you are agreeing that this card can be used for future invoices and that this card’s details can be stored on our system.
  
  If you do not wish for us to take automatic payments from a card that is stored on our system, or if you wish for a card to be removed from your account, please raise a support requesting that your card be removed from your account. You can then pay future invoices through one of our other accepted payment methods.
  
  If you have any further questions, please feel free to raise a ticket through your MyServers control panel and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- Can you split up my invoice into multiple separate invoices?
  
  I am afraid we are not able to split up your invoices, into multiple separate invoices, in any way. Our billing system is designed so that clients are billed for all products and services within a single invoice, once a month.
  
  If you have any further questions about invoices, please look through our FAQ page for further help, or please raise a ticket and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- How can I see my invoices?
  
  You can find your invoices through the MyServers control panel. They are found under the My Account tab and then under the Invoices sub-tab.
  
  Here you will be able to see all of you invoices and credits associated with your account, sorted by the year they were raised. The table on the Invoices page displays the unique reference number of each invoice, when they were paid (if they have already been paid), when they are due, if they are late and how much by, and the amount of the invoice.
  
  You can also download your invoices as a PDF file; by pressing the PDF icon in-line with the invoice you wish to download. On the PDF version of the invoice, you can see the breakdown of the products and services being invoiced for and their associated costs.
  
  If you have any further questions about your invoices, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- How does the billing system work once I cancel off one of my services?
  
  When you request a cancellation for one of your services with us, we will cancel it from 30 days of the date requested. To stay pro rata, an automatic credit note is raised for the days not used within that billing period.
  
  Please see the following example:
  
  Customer requests cancellation on the 06/05/2019, 30 days from that date would be 05/06/2019.
  Our billing system works a month in advance so the customer would have a credit note raised for the remaining 25 days of that month.
  This credit is then assigned against the pending invoice so that the customer would only have to pay for the days used.
- How credit notes work?
  
  When a credit note is raised on your account, the credit automatically is assigned to the oldest outstanding invoice first.
  
  If there is an older invoice than the invoice that has been credited, it may look in the system that you need to pay this invoice off still, but this is just due to how our credits are applied in the system.
  You can always click into the relevant credit note in myservers for a full breakdown of what the credit was actually for.
- Can we change the date for automated card payments?
  
  We cannot change dates for automated card payments, as our system is designed to attempt payments upto 3 times if a payment fails.
  
  This is generally attempted on 26th, 28th & the 2nd of every month, which is standardised for all customers throughout the business.
ECS - Cloud Storage [34]
-- Accounts & Billing [3]
- How does the lifetime pricing work?
  
  Pricing will be 1p/GB for life.
- Do you have any reporting available around usage and cost per bucket?
  
  ECS can do detailed billing
- Whats the monthly usage billing?
  
  Based on storage use only. No ingress/egress charges, unlike AWS.
-- Features [6]
- Load balancing considerations?
  
  It is recommended that a load balancer is used in front of ECS.
  
  In addition to distributing the load across ECS cluster nodes, a load balancer provides High Availability (HA) for the ECS cluster by routing traffic to healthy nodes. Where network separation is implemented, and data and management traffic are separated, the load balancer must be configured so that user requests, using the supported data access protocols, are balanced across the IP addresses of the data network. ECS Management REST API requests can be made directly to a node IP on the management network or can be load balanced across the management network for HA.
  
  The load balancer configuration is dependent on the load balancer type.
- What’s the product configurations?
  
  Configurations for availability, durability, and resilience.
  
  Depending on the number of sites in the ECS system, different data protection schemes can increase availability and balance the data protection requirements against performance. ECS uses the replication group to configure data protection schemes.
  
  Local Protection
  
  Data is protected locally by using triple mirroring and erasure coding which provides resilience against disk and node failures, but not against site failure.
  
  Full Copy Protection
  
  When a replication group is enabled with the Replicate to All Sites property, the replication group makes a full readable copy of all objects to all sites within the replication group. Having full readable copies of objects on all VDCs in the replication group provides data durability and improves local performance at all sites at the cost of storage efficiency.
  
  Geo-Active
  
  Geo-Active is the default ECS configuration. When a replication group is configured as Geo-Active, data is replicated to federated sites and can be accessed from all sites with strong consistency. If you have two sites, full copies of data chunks are copied to the other site. If you have three or more sites, the replicated chunks are combined (XOR'ed) to provide increased storage efficiency. When data is accessed from a site that is not the owner of the data, until that data is cached at the non-owner site, the access time increases. Similarly, if the owner site that contains the primary copy of the data fails, and if you have a global load balancer that directs requests to a non-owner site, the non-owner site must recreate the data from XOR'ed chunks, and the access time increases.
  
  Geo-Passive
  
  The Geo-Passive configuration always includes exactly three sites and is available where you have at least three sites. In this configuration, two sites are active. The third site is passive and is a replication target. You can designate a specific site as the backup site and achieve the storage efficiency (2.0 times storage overhead) of three sites. The storage efficiency is the same as the Geo-Active three-site configuration. In the Geo-Passive configuration, all replication data chunks are sent to the passive site and XOR operations occur only at the passive site. In a Geo-Active configuration, the XOR operations occur at all sites. If all sites are on-premise, any of the three sites can be the replication target. An important use case for the Geo-Passive configuration is when the passive site is hosted by a third party and the hosted site is selected as the replication target. This configuration can be modified by using the ECS Management REST API to select an on-premise site as the replication target.
- Whats the product overview?
  
  Storage engine
  
  The storage engine component layer provides an unstructured storage engine that is responsible for storing and retrieving data, managing transactions, and protecting and replicating data. The storage engine provides access to objects ingested using multiple object storage protocols and the NFS and HDFS file protocols.
  
  Fabric
  
  The fabric component layer provides cluster health management, software management, configuration management, upgrade capabilities, and alerting. The fabric layer is responsible for keeping the services running and managing resources such as the disks, containers, firewall, and network. It tracks and reacts to environmental changes such as failure detection and provides alerts related to system health.
  
  Infrastructure
  
  The infrastructure component layer uses SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 as the base operating system for the ECS appliance, or qualified Linux operating systems for commodity hardware configurations. Docker is installed on the infrastructure to deploy the other ECS component layers. The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is installed as part of the infrastructure because ECS software is written in Java.
  
  Hardware
  
  The hardware component layer is an ECS appliance or qualified industry-standard hardware.
- What is the ECS platform?
  
  The ECS platform is composed of the data services, portal, storage engine, fabric, infrastructure, and hardware component layers.
- What is the Portal feature in ECS?
  The ECS Portal component layer provides a Web-based GUI that allows you to manage, license, and provision ECS nodes. The portal has the following comprehensive reporting capabilities:
  - Capacity utilization for each site, storage pool, node and disk
  - Performance monitoring on latency, throughput, transactions per second, and replication progress and rate
  - Diagnostic information, such as node and disk recovery status and statistics on hardware and process health for each node, which helps identify performance and system bottlenecks
- Namespaces feature?
  - ECS has a feature called Namespaces. Namespaces provide a way to organize or group items for purposes of segregating the space for different uses or purposes. It allows for the multi-tenancy feature in ECS. Each client bucket is created in a separate Namespace and other clients cannot access buckets in a namespace that isn’t theirs.
  - ECS provides several features to enable security of customer’s data such as platform lockdown and retention, etc.
  - ECS provides server-side encryption to protect data on disk. Key management is either done automatically or specified by the user. Enabling encryption is done at the namespace level or bucket level, allowing customers to have a level of control at what level to handle encryption
  - ECS provides Audit Events – basically, it records a change in the system configuration, tracks logins, and sudo commands run on a node, bucket operations such as setting bucket permissions, and user operations such as set/delete the password.
-- Product & Services [15]
- Can you set up test accounts?
  
  Yes, we can setup test accounts for 1 Month to allow for performance testing to see what suits business needs, after this, the account will either be deleted or upgraded with added billing.
- Does Object storage support Veeam backup repository?
  
  Veeam does say it supports S3 compatibility, however, this has not been tested but could be looked into at a later stage depending on demand.
- What API is used for the Object Storage?
  
  for example, if you are currently using Amazon S3 on Linux and have the S3 API installed onit to sync files over to amazon. We have got it to work with our ECS object storage as long as your using the AWS S3 client. For this to work with our Object storage, the client needs to write there own AWS detail file. We are currently creating a template which will help the client install AWS client and then replace the AWS default with our object storage.
- How many data-centres is the data stored in for redundacy?
  
  There will be options for multiple sites for site-level redundancy.
- Can Co-located servers using ftp/sftp, be replaced with S3 equivalent?
  
  Yes you can if you move from SFTP to S3.
- Can this service be mounted to existing servers as a datastore ie. NFS/GLUSTER?
  
  This is API only. API documentation if required
  
  https://www.emc.com/techpubs/api/ecs/v2-0-0-0/S3BucketListUploadsOperations_ba672412ac371bb6cf4e69291344510e_overview.htm
- Does the file system grow with demand?
  
  Yes, this can.
- Can we still increase our disk space in the future at the same price if we transfer from Amazon?
  
  Yes, you can increase this in the future for the same price.
- Will there be a feature much like IAM users?
  
  Different users can be created and each individual can be given different rights
- Are you able to set bucket policies?
  
  Bucket ACLs can be set.
- What protocol can be used to access the storage from the application servers?
  
  It supports S3 ATMOS SWIFT HDFS
- Could you please elaborate on the multi-region redundancy?
  
  We only have one region just now
- SLA's?
  
  Standard RapidSwitch SLAs as per our terms - https://myservers.rapidswitch.com/Terms.aspx
- Currently which sites offer this service?
  
  ECS storage is only in Maidenhead. However, there's a possibility to deploy a second unit in a different DC to provide geo-redundancy, as per demand
-- Security & Networking [5]
- ECS network?
  ECS network infrastructure consists of top of rack switches allowing for the following types of network connections:
  - Public network – connects ECS nodes to your organization's network, providing data.
  - Internal private network – manages nodes and switches within the rack and across racks.
- How is the data protected with ECS?
  
  ECS protects data within a site by mirroring the data onto multiple nodes, and by using erasure coding to break down data chunks into multiple fragments and distribute the fragments across nodes. Erasure coding (EC) reduces the storage overhead and ensures data durability and resilience against disk and node failures.
- Will this be able to handle multiple auth tokens for access to different buckets?
  
  Yes it can, ECS calls these users
- Does ECS support encrypted storage?
  
  Supported by D@RE - EMC's Enterprise Encryption
  Which we license and enable on all ECS storage packages by default.
- Is ECS Storage ISO Regulated?
  
  Yes this is
-- Support [5]
- Can we extend archive platform using NFS?
  
  We do not have anything like Storage Gateway in front of the ECS,
  
  The ECS does have the ability to present NFS storage but setting this up was not in the original requirements so It has not been set up.
  
  NFS would very much require more integration with the control panel as unlike the S3 protocol there would be no way for the user to handle permissions or modify the IPs that are able to mount the exports without having to go via support ticket.
  
  ECS NFS mount point would not be encrypted however this has not been confirmed yet, still under testing, so the data would likely be transferred in clear text into the ECS array over the public DC5 networks
- Can Object Storage be mounted to Windows, as shared storage?
  its recommended not to, as the request for new data written and then trying to access it will cause the platform to work incorrectly.
  - Normal filesystems used with windows, for example, adding or editing simple text files and then opening after saving work perfectly fine with filesystems ontop of block devices.
  - However, if this was the case with mounting the object storage to windows, this would cause instability and panic the file system. This is due to the object storage wanting to use different nodes each time when accessing it, so when you save something node A - will become aware of the change and take a few milliseconds for all nodes to update the change, however if a file is opened and a node has not updated correctly, the filesystem will panic, hence why we don't recommend mounting object storage to windows as shared storage.
- Do you have any documantation on object storage?
  
  Yes we do, we have created a simple guide on how to set up our storage with existing customers using S3 browsers and Winscp 5.16.2
Managed Infrastructure Services & Other Manged Services [5]
-- Managed Infrastructure Services [2]
- What is your standard management package?
  
  We are a managed infrastructure services provider; who provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Our managed infrastructure service provider package is included, free of charge, with all our dedicated devices. Our standard management package means we are responsible for the physical hardware of any dedicated device and the site’s infrastructure. We also supply other management packages, for an additional monthly costs.
  
  If you have any more questions about our management packages, please read through our FAQ section or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
- What is Managed Infrastructure Services?
  
  We are a managed infrastructure services provider; who provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
  
  As a managed infrastructure provider, we are responsible for the physical hardware of any dedicated device and the site’s infrastructure. If you have a hardware failure with your dedicated server/device, or believe that you are experiencing network issues, we will replace any failing hardware free of charge and investigate any network problem that may exist within our network infrastructure. However, we are not responsible for any configuration of the server (or other devices), the server’s operating system, nor any data hosted on your equipment.
  
  Our SLA as a managed infrastructure service provider can be found on our Terms and Conditions page, under ‘Support and Maintenance’:
  
  “Maintenance and support shall not include services for problems arising out of (a) tampering, modification, alteration, or addition to the Hardware or Software, which is undertaken by persons other than [us as the hosting company] or its authorised representatives; or (b) software programmes or hardware supplied by the Client.
  
  The Client shall document and promptly report all errors or malfunctions of the Services, Hardware or Software to [us as the hosting company]. The Client shall take all steps necessary to carry out procedures for the rectification of errors or malfunctions within a reasonable time after such procedures have been received from [us as the hosting company] provided the procedures specified are reasonable. The Client shall maintain a current archive copy of all software and data, and shall properly train its personnel in the use of the Services, Hardware and Software.
  
  Any problems caused by the Client to the Services, (which include, but are not limited to, deletion of necessary operating system files, accidental or intentional infection by a virus/Trojan) may result in extra charges to The Client at £30 per 30 minutes, or part thereof. For any work that will take more than two hours we will seek prior authorisation from the Client by telephone, email, fax, or post.”
  
  Although as standard we are a managed infrastructure services provider only, we can provide a fully managed service packages, which involve different support experiences from our managed infrastructure services. See below in the “What management options do you offer?” section for more information about this.
  
  As we are not responsible for any data hosted on our dedicated equipment, we strongly advise that all our clients back-up any important data or configuration, onto a device not physically connected to the main hosting device. If you would like to speak to someone about what back-up options we provide, please get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help you.
  
  If you have any questions about our SLA or what it means to be a managed infrastructure services provider, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and a member of team will be happy to help.
-- Other Management Options [3]
- What management options do you offer?
  
  Our standard package, as a dedicated Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) hosting company, is a managed infrastructure services package. This means that we are responsible for the physical hardware of any dedicated server/device and the site’s networking, power and environmental infrastructure. For more information on this, please see the “What is Managed Infrastructure Services?” section of our FAQ.
  
  Although as standard we are a managed infrastructure services provider, we can also provide a fully managed service any customer, which involves a different support experience from our managed infrastructure services.
  
  If you wish to migrate to a fully managed service or have a fully managed service setup, a member of our team would first discuss your requirements with you to determine what level of management is required. The biggest problems surrounding a managed service is when the lines are blurred on responsibilities, so we avoid this by agreeing upfront exactly what the platform needs to do for you and where you will need our assistance.
  
  We then provide you with tailored logins, if you still wanted to be able to administer basic changes - perhaps via a control panel, but the majority of changes would be performed by our teams in order to track the history of change management.
  
  If you'd like to discuss your management requirements in more detail then a member of our team would be more than happy to help. If you have any more questions, please raise feel free to get in touch.
- How much do your additional management services cost?
  
  As with all tailored services, the costs will vary depending on how much management is required.
  
  Prices start from £150/month for a single server, which would include the configuration of a control panel such as cPanel or Plesk, managed backups for the control panel directories, and an hour of investigative diagnosis every month for troubleshooting issues not included in the management package.
  
  Multiple servers, virtual machines and clusters will vary in cost depending on the setup. It is most often cheaper on a per-machine basis to manage multiple VMs or physical servers.
  
  If you'd like to discuss your management requirements in more detail then a member of our team would be more than happy to help. If you have any more questions, please raise feel free to get in touch.
- Can you perform OS updates?
  
  As part of our standard package, we do not perform OS updates on the operating system of your server, however, we do offer an OS Update management package.
  
  Our OS Updates management package includes a weekly check of you server’s operating system for updates. If an update is required, we will get in touch with you through a ticket, list the updates that are required, and then apply any update that you wish to be applied. If there are no updates are available, we will still get in touch to inform you that there is no updates available.
  
  If you would be interested in our OS updates package, or if you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and a member of our team would be more than happy to help.
Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status [58]
- How to check server bandwidth?
  
  1. When logged into Myservers home page.
  
  2. Navigate to the Bandwidth section and click anywhere to open details report.
  
  3. This will then take you to the server bandwidth report page, where you can select a dropdown menu for bandwidth periods.
  
  4. You can then further click on the graph to give a more detailed overview, as shown below.
- What is RAID and the different levels?
  RAID is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data storage. The abbreviation stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. A RAID system consists of two or more drives working in parallel. These disks can be hard discs, but there is a trend to also use the technology for SSD (solid-state drives). There are different RAID levels, each optimized for a specific situation. These are not standardized by an industry group or standardization committee. This explains why companies sometimes come up with their own unique numbers and implementations. This article covers the following RAID levels:
  
  RAID is no substitute for back-up!
  
  All RAID levels except RAID 0 offer protection from a single drive failure. A RAID 6 system even survives 2 disks dying simultaneously. For a complete security, you do still need to back-up the data from a RAID system.
  - That back-up will come in handy if all drives fail simultaneously because of a power spike.
  - It is a safeguard when the storage system gets stolen.
  - Back-ups can be kept off-site at a different location. This can come in handy if a natural disaster or fire destroys your workplace.
  - The most important reason to back-up multiple generations of data is user error. If someone accidentally deletes some important data and this goes unnoticed for several hours, days or weeks, a good set of back-ups ensure you can still retrieve those files.
  RAID 0– striping
  
  RAID 1– mirroring
  
  RAID 5– striping with parity
  
  RAID 6– striping with double parity
  
  RAID 10– combining mirroring and striping
  
  The software to perform the RAID-functionality and control the drives can either be located on a separate controller card (a hardware RAID controller) or it can simply be a driver. Some versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2012 as well as Mac OS X, include software RAID functionality. Hardware RAID controllers cost more than pure software, but they also offer better performance, especially with RAID 5 and 6.
  
  Sometimes disks in a storage system are defined as JBOD, which stands for ‘Just a Bunch Of Disks’. This means that those disks do not use a specific RAID level and acts as stand-alone disks. This is often done for drives that contain swap files or spooling data.
  
  RAID level 0 – Striping
  
  In a RAID 0 system data are split up into blocks that get written across all the drives in the array. By using multiple disks (at least 2) at the same time, this offers superior I/O performance. This performance can be enhanced further by using multiple controllers, ideally one controller per disk.
  
  Advantages
  - RAID 0 offers great performance, both in read and write operations. There is no overhead caused by parity controls.
  - All storage capacity is used, there is no overhead.
  - The technology is easy to implement.
  Disadvantages
  - RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant. If one drive fails, all data in the RAID 0 array are lost. It should not be used for mission-critical systems.
  RAID level 1 – Mirroring
  
  Data are stored twice by writing them to both the data drive (and set of data drives) and a mirror drive (or set of drives). If a drive fails, the controller uses either the data drive or the mirror drive for data recovery and continues operation. You need at least 2 drives for a RAID 1 array.
  
  Advantages
  - RAID 1 offers excellent read speed and a write-speed that is comparable to that of a single drive.
  - In case a drive fails, data do not have to be rebuilt, they just have to be copied to the replacement drive.
  - RAID 1 is a very simple technology.
  Disadvantages
  - The main disadvantage is that the effective storage capacity is only half of the total drive capacity because all data get written twice.
  - Software RAID 1 solution does not always allow a hot swap of a failed drive. That means the failed drive can only be replaced after powering down the computer it is attached to. For servers that are used simultaneously by many people, this may not be acceptable. Such systems typically use hardware controllers that do support hot-swapping.
  RAID level 5
  
  RAID 5 is the most common secure RAID level. It requires at least 3 drives but can work with up to 16. Data blocks are striped across the drives and on one drive a parity checksum of all the block data is written. The parity data are not written to a fixed drive, they are spread across all drives, as the drawing below shows. Using the parity data, the computer can recalculate the data of one of the other data blocks, should those data no longer be available. That means a RAID 5 array can withstand a single drive failure without losing data or access to data. Although RAID 5 can be achieved in software, a hardware controller is recommended. Often extra cache memory is used on these controllers to improve the write performance.
  
  Advantages
  - Read data transactions are very fast while write data transactions are somewhat slower (due to the parity that has to be calculated).
  - If a drive fails, you still have access to all data, even while the failed drive is being replaced and the storage controller rebuilds the data on the new drive.
  Disadvantages
  - Drive failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable.
  - This is complex technology. If one of the disks in an array using 4TB disks fails and is replaced, restoring the data (the rebuild time) may take a day or longer, depending on the load on the array and the speed of the controller. If another disk goes bad during that time, data are lost forever.
  RAID level 6 – Striping with double parity
  
  RAID 6 is like RAID 5, but the parity data are written to two drives. That means it requires at least 4 drives and can withstand 2 drives dying simultaneously. The chances that two drives break down at exactly the same moment are of course very small. However, if a drive in a RAID 5 systems dies and is replaced by a new drive, it takes hours or even more than a day to rebuild the swapped drive. If another drive dies during that time, you still lose all of your data. With RAID 6, the RAID array will even survive that second failure.
  
  Advantages
  - Like with RAID 5, read data transactions are very fast.
  - If two drives fail, you still have access to all data, even while the failed drives are being replaced. So RAID 6 is more secure than RAID 5.
  Disadvantages
  - Write data transactions are slower than RAID 5 due to the additional parity data that have to be calculated. In one report I read the write performance was 20% lower.
  - Drive failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable.
  This is complex technology. Rebuilding an array in which one drive failed can take a long time.
  
  RAID level 10 – combining RAID 1 & RAID 0
  
  It is possible to combine the advantages (and disadvantages) of RAID 0 and RAID 1 in one single system. This is a nested or hybrid RAID configuration. It provides security by mirroring all data on secondary drives while using striping across each set of drives to speed up data transfers.
  
  Advantages
  - If something goes wrong with one of the disks in a RAID 10 configuration, the rebuild time is very fast since all that is needed is copying all the data from the surviving mirror to a new drive. This can take as little as 30 minutes for drives of 1 TB.
  Disadvantages
  - Half of the storage capacity goes to mirroring, so compared to large RAID 5 or RAID 6 arrays, this is an expensive way to have redundancy.
-- Checking for Hardware Errors [4]
- How do I identify a failed drive in my dedicated server?
  
  As a hosting provider we know that it can be very frustrating for our customers when a drive fails. As a managed infrastructure service provider we will always replace any failed drive, free of charge, as soon as we are alerted to a failed drive and provided its details.
  
  If you believe a hard drive has failed on your server, you will first need to identify which physical drive has failed, before we can proceed with replacing it. There are several ways in which you can identify which drive has failed and to identify the information required to have it replaced. Which method is best for you depends on your server’s current setup. Below are some examples; please feel free to read through them all and decide which method is best for you.
- RAID Controller’s Menu
  
  One way to identify a failed drive and its details would be through your server’s RAID BIOS. To access your RAID BIOS, you would first require either remote management or a KVMoIP session, then you would need to re-boot your server, then boot into the servers RAID controller / UEFI BIOS, and then check the status and details of the physical drives. Exactly how you do this is dependent on the make and model of your server and RAID controller. Please use our FAQ section to find some examples on how to do this.
  
  The benefits of this method is that your server only needs to have been configure with a RAID controller. However, this method does require downtime throughout the entire process. As this method requires downtime, our client’s often prefer to use other methods that do not require any downtime.
  
  The above method only applies if your drives are attached to a RAID controller card; which is now the set-up for almost all of our dedicated servers. If your drives are not connected to the RAID controller, you will need to check through the chassis’ BIOS screen instead.
- Remote Management
  
  Another way in which you can check for a failed drive and check the drive’s details is through some forms of OOB Remote Management’s control panel.
  
  Most new remote management’s control panel versions will allow you to monitor the RAID array and drive health; while showing you any failed drives and the physical drive’s details. Some older forms of OOB control panels, however, will not allow you to do this.
  
  The benefits of this options is that it allows you to check the drive health and the drive’s details without any downtime. However, the remote management will have to have been already setup on the server to use it. We can add remote management at after a server is activated; but this will require downtime.
- Third Party Software
  
  The last option is to install third party software capable of monitoring your server’s storage, onto your server’s operating system.
  
  There is a wide variety of monitoring software that you can download. Which one would be best for your server depends on your server’s operating system, which RAID controller you server is using, and what the make and model of you server is. You can download these through third parties; some free of charge and some at a cost. A populate monitoring software for Dell PowerEdge server is their OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) software.
  
  The benefit of using a third party piece of software, like OMSA, is that they do not require any downtime to identify a failed drive and its details. The down side to these third party softwares are that they require the server to be online and remotely accessible. Also, as they are created by third parties, you must be careful about the security of these pieces of software.
  
  You should be able to use one of the above three methods to identify any failed drives and these drives’ details (e.g. serial number, physical drive bay number, capacity, etc.). When you have identified all of these details, please raise a ticket through your MyServers control panel, and a member of our team will be happy to help.
  
  Please feel free to use our FAQ for examples on how to use the above methods, to identify a failed drive and its details.
  
  We would suggest always taking a full back-up of any data on your server before we perform any work, to a storage/backup device external to the server, as there is always a risk of data loss.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

-- Dell OMSA [1]

What is OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA)?

OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is a systems management product, provided by Dell EMC, which can be installed on supported Dell PowerEdge servers. It provides the user with a number of network management and systems management applications.

The OMSA product is accessible through either a web browser-based GUI or through a command line interface via the Operating System, depending on the Operating System installed on the server. For Linux based operating systems, OMSA is accessed through the command line interface of the server’s operating system. With the Windows Server operating systems, OMSA is accessed through the server’s Operating System’s web browser. For VMware ESXI based operating systems, OMSA is accessed through a web browser based GUI remotely, from your home or work computer, using SSH.

If your server is installed with either a Windows or Linux OS, the server’s operating system does not have to be accessible remotely, directly; as you can use a KVMoIP / iDRAC to access the server and then OMSA, as long as the server is booted into a functioning operating system. For an ESXI server, however, you must be able to SSH into the server to access OMSA.

We encourage our clients to download and use OMSA on their Dell servers, as it allows the user to check the status of their hardware, which means that it can be used to identify hardware related issues and provides the necessary information to have this hardware replaced.

OMSA compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the version of Operating Sytem installed onto the server. See the below tables to identify what generation of Dell PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Windows Server:

Dell PowerEdge Generation	Compatible with Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2	Compatible with Windows Server 2016
Dell PowerEdge 11^th Gen (R_10)	Yes	Not Supported*
Dell PowerEdge 12^th Gen (R_20)	Yes	Yes
Dell PowerEdge 13^th Gen (R_30)	Yes	Yes
* There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Windows Server 2016 for 11^th Gen servers. However, you may be able to install the 12^th generation version of OMSA for Windows 2016 onto a 11^th Gen server. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (and any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this action.

Linux:

Compatibility with OS	Compatible with Dell PE 11^th Gen (R_10)	Compatible with Dell PE 12^th Gen (R_20)	Compatible with Dell PE 13^th Gen (R_30)
CentOS 6	Yes	Yes	Yes
CentOS 7	Yes (No*)	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 14	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 16	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 7	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 8	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 9	Not Supported**	Not Supported**	Not Supported**
*OMSA is not compatible with CentOS 7 on a Dell PE R210 II chassis.
** There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Debian 9. However, using the guide below, you are able to download the Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (and any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise not to do perform this action.

VMware ESXI:

Compatibility with OS	Compatible with Dell PE 11^th Gen (R_10)	Compatible with Dell PE 12^th Gen (R_20)	Compatible with Dell PE 13^th Gen (R_30)
ESXI 5.0	Yes	No	No
ESXI 5.1	Yes	Yes	No
ESXI 5.5	Yes	Yes	Yes
ESXI 6.0	No	Yes	Yes
ESXI 6.5	No	Yes	Yes

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

-- Dell OMSA - Linux Servers [15]

How do I Install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator onto Linux Platforms?

Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have greater control over their server remotely. OMSA is downloadable through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most Operating Systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the version of Linux installed onto the server. See below to find what generation of Dell PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Compatibility with OS	Compatible with Dell PE 11^th Gen (R_10)	Compatible with Dell PE 12^th Gen (R_20)	Compatible with Dell PE 13^th Gen (R_30)
CentOS 6	Yes	Yes	Yes
CentOS 7	Yes (No*)	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 14	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 16	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 7	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 8	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian 9	Not Supported**	Not Supported**	Not Supported**
* OMSA is not compatible with CentOS 7 on a Dell PE R210 II chassis.
** There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Debian 9. However, using the guide below, you are able to download the Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (or any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this task.

Please note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software supplied by Dell EMC. As such, iomart (and any company within the iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be able to install, use or configure this software.

How you install OMSA onto a Linux server depends on the version of Linux you are using. Please see below how to install OSMA for each version of Linux (which we install and which is supported by OMSA).

How to Install OMSA on CentOS 6 & 7.

Downloading and installing OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a CentOS 6 or CentOS 7 server involves issuing commands which download the necessary files, start and then enable the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your CentOS server, please issue the following commands one after the other, waiting for each task to complete before proceeding with the next command:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue the following command to download and install the Dell Repository to your server.
Command	wget -q -O - http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/bootstrap.cgi \| bash
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue the following command to install the base utilities and storage
Command	yum install srvadmin-base srvadmin-storageservices -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the OMSA service
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 4
Command Description	Run this command to enable the OMSA services
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

Dell EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server. You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How to Install OMSA on Ubuntu 14

Downloading OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Ubuntu 14 installed involves issuing commands which download the necessary repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start and enable the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your Ubuntu 14 server, please issue the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to complete before proceeding with the next command:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue this command to download and create the repository file
Command	echo 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/ubuntu trusty openmanage' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list (Please note that each command is one line)
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue this command to download the repository key
Command	gpg --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key 1285491434D8786F
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Run this command to import the key into APT
Command	gpg -a --export 1285491434D8786F \| apt-key add -
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 4
Command Description	Run this command to let the APT know there’s a new repository.
Command	apt update -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 5
Command Description	Issue this command to install the required utilities
Command	apt install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 6
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the OMSA service
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 7
Command Description	Run the following command to enable the OMSA service
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How to Install OMSA on Ubuntu 16

Downloading OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Ubuntu 16 installed involves issuing commands which download the necessary repository files and keys, installing the required utilities, then starting and enabling the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account (or an account that is a member of sudoers). Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your Ubuntu 16 server, please issue the following commands one after the other, waiting for each task to complete:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue this command to download and create the repository file.
Command	echo 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/ubuntu xenial openmanage/840' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list (please note that each command is one line)
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue this command to download the repository key.
Command	gpg --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key 1285491434D8786F
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Run this command to import the key into APT.
Command	gpg -a --export 1285491434D8786F \| apt-key add -
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 4
Command Description	Run this coomand to let the APT kknow there’s a new repository.
Command	apt update -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 5
Command Description	Issue this command to install the required utilities.
Command	apt install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 6
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 7
Command Description	Run the following command to enable the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How to Install OMSA on Debian 7

Downloading OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 7 installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary repository files and keys, installing the required utilities, then starting and enabling the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 7 server, please issue the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to complete:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue this command to download and create the repository file.
Command	echo 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian wheezy openmanage' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list (each command is one line)
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue this command to download the repository key.
Command	gpg --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key 1285491434D8786F
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Run this command to import the key into APT.
Command	gpg -a --export 1285491434D8786F \| apt-key add -
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 4
Command Description	Run this coomand to let the APT know there’s a new repository.
Command	apt-get update -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 5
Command Description	Issue this command to install the required utilities.
Command	apt-get install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices –y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 6
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 7
Command Description	Run the following command to enable the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How to Install OMSA on Debian 8

Downloading OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 8 installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start and enable the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 8 server, please issue the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to complete before proceeding:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue this command to download and create the repository file.
Command	echo 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian jessie openmanage' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list (Each command is one line)
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue this command to download the repository key.
Command	gpg --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key 1285491434D8786F
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Run this command to import the key into APT.
Command	gpg -a --export 1285491434D8786F \| apt-key add -
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Command 4
Command Description	Run this coomand to let the APT kknow there’s a new repository.
Command	apt-get update -y
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Command 5
Command Description	Issue this command to install the required utilities.
Command	apt-get install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices -y
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Command 6
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
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Command 7
Command Description	Run the following command to enable the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
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If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How to Install OMSA on Debian 9

There is no officially supported version of OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) for Debian 9. However, using the guide below, you are able to download the Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS.

Please note that there may be compatibility issues and iomart (and any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues performing this action may cause. Also, please note that Dell EMC would advise not to install this version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 server.

If you do with to install OMSA onto a Debian 9 server, using a Debian 8 version of the software, see below how to perform this task.

Downloading OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 9 installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start and enable the OMSA services.

First, you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 9 server, please issue the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to complete before proceeding with the next command:

Command 1
Command Description	The following four commands are to configure your server so that the Debian 8 version of OMSA can be installed onto Debian 9. Please note that there may be compatibility issues and iomart (and any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues performing this action may cause. Also, please note that Dell EMC would advise not to do this.
Command	wget -q -O /tmp/libssl1.0.0_1.0.1t-1+deb8u9_amd64.deb (please note, this and all commands are one continuous line)
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Command 2
Command	dpkg -i /tmp/libssl1.0.0_1.0.1t-1+deb8u9_amd64.deb
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Command 3
Command	apt-get update
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Command 4
Command	apt-get install dirmngr* -y
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Command 5
Command Description	Issue the following command to create the repository file, using the Jessie repo, because the Strech one is not compatible.
Command	echo 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian jessie openmanage' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list (please note, this and all commands are one continuous line)
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Command 6
Command Description	Run this command to download the repostiroy key.
Command	gpg --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key 1285491434D8786F
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Command 7
Command Description	Run this comand to import the key into APT.
Command	gpg -a --export 1285491434D8786F \| apt-key add -
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Command 8
Command Description	Run the bellow command to let APT know there is a new repository.
Command	apt-get update -y
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Command 9
Command Description	Issue the following command to install the required utilities.
Command	apt-get install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices –y
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Command 10
Command Description	Issue the below command to start the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh start
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Command 11
Command Description	Now run this command to enable the OMSA service.
Command	/opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh enable
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If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I access Dell OMSA on a Linux server?

When Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a Linux server, the OMSA product is accessible through the server’s operating system, through the command line interface.

Simply access your server remotely in the normal manor and log into your server’s root account. You can then issue a command through the server’s operating system to find what information you need. Some example of commands can be found through our FAQ section on MyServers. Additional commands and information can be found online through Dell EMC’s and Linux’s support websites, and through community pages.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a Linux server?

One of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator tool (OMSA) is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have occurred with the server’s hardware and allows you to check the current status of several components. Due to the nature of hardware, we recommend checking the status of the server’s hardware on a regular basis.

To check the current state of the server and to check the error log, you should run the following command:

Command 1

Command Description

The following command shows the current status of the server and displays the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

Command

omreport system alertlog

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The above command will show the log of all errors with the server hardware monitored by OMSA. You can use this information to see if there are currently any errors with the server that may need investigation. An example of an error would be the following:

As you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the storage of this server. The severity of the error is also shown. There are four statuses within OpenManage:

Status	Description
OK	The component is working as normal and is healthy.
Non-Critical Warning	These errors normally indicate a problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt attention.
Failed / Critical Warning	The component has either failed or has a critical warning. If a critical error occurs, there error must be addressed as soon as possible.
Unknown Status	The status of this component is unknown.

To find out more specific details about errors relating to hardware and to check the current status of specific pieces of hardware, you need to run the specific OMSA command in the server’s root account’s command line interface.

Some examples of commands can be found below; additional commands and information can be found online through Dell EMC’s and Linux’s support websites, and through community pages.

Investigating storage errors using OMSA on a Linux server

When storage is mentioned in Dell EMC OpenManage (OMSA), this is referring to the RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays). When an error occurs related to storage, this would normally mean that there is an error with a physical drive, which has then effected the RAID array it is configured within. This is for the majority of cases; however, there can be other issues related to storage, which can cause errors.

To check for errors relating to storage, run the following command:

Command 1

Command Description

The following command shows the current status of the server and displays the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

Command

omreport system alertlog

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This command will list all the errors with the server; including errors relating to storage. In my example, you can see that there are several errors relating to storage; all caused by Physical Disk 0:1:3 being missing/removed.

You can use the information in the log to identify which Controller, Connector, Virtual Disk (VD) and Physical Disk (PD) the errors relate to.

With this information, you can find out more details about the physical drive that has failed. Run the following command, inputting the controller number from your error:

Command 2

Command Description

The following command lists all the Physical Disks attached to the controller you specify; and all the Physical Disk’s details.

Command

omreport storage pdisk controller=[Insert Controller Number]

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Here you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this controller. You will also be able to see any errors and the state of each Physical Disk.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration. As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID controller, however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

These details can be used to identify any drives that may have an error, may be fault, or may be missing from OMSA’s monitoring; and can help locate a drive for it to be replaced.

You can use this information to decide what you wish to do next. If you do encounter any drives with an error and wish for this drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a disk replaced using OMSA for more details.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Checking storage status - Physical Disks & Virtual Disks - using OMSA on a Linux Server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk) configured on your server and the status of each physical drive.

First, you should check the status of each Virtual Disk (VD). To do this, run the following commands:

Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to list all the Virtual Disks configured within this server. You also will be presented with the VDs’ details and statuses.

Command

omreport storage vdisk

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You will now be presented with a list of Virtual Disks configured within the server, their details, their current status and their ID number. In my example below, you can see I have one RAID array which is degraded.

You should now know if there is an error with any of the RAID arrays (or VDs) within the chassis. If there is an error with an array, this is normally caused by a Physical Disk (PD) within this array also having an error, or failing. However, other problems can occur, which can cause an error with a Virtual Disk.

If there is an error with a Virtual Disk or not, you should also check the status of all the Physical Disks within the server. To do this, you first need to identify how many RAID controllers are within this server and the ID number of these RAID controllers. Once you have identified this information, you can use the RAID controllers’ ID number(s) to list all the physical disks connected to these controllers.

Run the following two commands; using the ID number(s) from Command 2 below, to fill in the blank in command 3. Run command 3 once for each controller:

Command 2

Command Description

The following command lists all the RAID controllers within the chassis. You need this information (identified in my results example, with a red box) for command 3.

Command

omreport storage controller

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Command 3

Command Description

Run the following command, using the controller’s ID number from Command 2, to list all the Physical Disks within this server. You will also be able to see their details and statuses.

Command

omreport storage pdisk controller=[insert controller number]

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Repeat Command 3 for every controller found in the results of Command 2.

In my example above, and with most of our dedicated servers we provide, there is normally only one controller with an ID of 0; however, some servers maybe configured with more than one. Once you have run the above two commands (for every controller within the chassis), you will have a clear idea of the status of every physical disk within the chassis, and you should be able to identify if any drives currently have an error. In my example below, you can see drive 0:1:3 currently has a critical error, and its state is removed.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration. If a drive completely fails, it can sometimes not show in OMSA at all, opposed to showing as having an error. As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID controller, however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

Once you have a list of each physical drives configured within the server, you should be able to identify any drives with any errors or if any drives are missing from the OMSA monitoring. You can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do next.

If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this action, using the information form OMSA. If you do wish for a drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the examples above. This will aid the on-site technician in identifying the faulty drive, during the drive swap process.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Checking other component’s status (Non-Storage), using OMSA on a Linux server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to check the status of your server’s hardware on a regular basis, to check for any errors or failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several sub-components of the server.

To check for any errors, simply run the command to show the error log, as shown below:

Command 1

Command Description

The following command shows the current status of the server and sow the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

Command

omreport system alertlog

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This will provide you with a list of any errors related to hardware monitored by OMSA. You can use this to see if any component monitored by OMSA currently has an error. If you do encounter any errors, you should use OMSA’s commands to find out more details about the component and its error. Please see below how to do this for some of the main components. For other components, commands can be found online through Dell’s and Linux’s support websites.

You can also run commands to check the current status and configuration of specific pieces of hardware and to look at any errors in more detail. It is good practice to do this on a regular basis, as running the above command may not list a completely failed piece of hardware; so you should check each main hardware type to identify if any piece of hardware has completely failed and is missing. There are specific commands for different pieces of hardware monitored by OMSA. See below for examples of the main components monitored by OMSA and the commands that are used to check their status (excluding components related to storage).

Memory

The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. You can use OMSA to check how many RAM sticks are configured within the server, their details, their status and what DIMM slot they are using on the server’s motherboard.

To check on the status of the memory within the chassis, you need to run the following command:

RAM - Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to bring up a list of what RAM stick are configured within the chassis, their status, and their details.

Command

omreport chassis memory

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You can use the results of this command to check the status of your system’s memory. If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here which our technicians would need to replace the faulty stick. You can also use this page to identify if a RAM stick has become completely failed and is now missing from OMSA.

If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found through OMSA, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details.

Processors

You can use OMSA to list the processors (or CPUs) configured within your server. To find out more details about the processors in your server and their current status, run the following command.

Processor (CPU) - Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to bring up a list of what Processors are configured within the chassis, their status and their details.

Command

omreport chassis processors

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If an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU, so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network

You can use OMSA to lists all the network ports attached to the server. You can also see the NIC interface’s index, name, details and status. To find these details, run the following command:

Network - Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to bring up a list of network ports within the chassis.

Command

omreport chassis nics

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You can use the above information to identify if any of the network ports have encounter an error.

The above commands, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the status of several components and to check for errors. This information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware related issues.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I us OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details & have a drive replaced on a Linux server?

If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed drive as possible to our support team, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

Serial number
Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, SAS HDD, etc.)
Capacity
Product ID
Physical Drive Bay Number

This information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first be logged into the server’s root account, then have identify a drive with an error/that has failed. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and then the section on locating a drive with an error, if you are un-sure how to do this. To locate a drive with an error/which has failed, you should have run the following command:

Command 1

Command Description

The following command lists all the Physical Disks attached to the controller you specify; and all the Physical Disk’s details. Within the command, you must insert the controller number, for the controller you wish to check the status of the physical disks for. You should be able to find this number from the resulting message of commands shown in the identifying storage errors section of the FAQ: omreport storage controller.

Command

omreport storage pdisk controller=[Insert Controller Number]

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Once you have found the physical drive with the error and run the above command, you should be able to identify details about the drive with the error, including the details required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information.

If you wish for the drive to be replaced, please supply all the necessary information in a support ticket, requesting for the faulty drive to be replaced, and we will be happy to help. You can also supply a screenshot of the results of the above command.

To work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of this drive in conjunction with all the other physical disks’ ID numbers. After running the command above you will be able to see the ID number of all the Physical Disks attached to this controller, which you can use to identify the bay number of the faulty drive. Using the example below, the drive I wish to be replaced is disk 0:1:3, the first drive in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking the technicians to replace this disk, simply inform them of the failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:3) and inform them of the drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they can use this to locate the physical disk.

In addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which will also help our technician locate the appropriate drive. To get the drive to blink, run the following command. You will need to know the controller’s ID number, for the controller the drive is attached to, and the drive’s ID number, for the drive you wish to blink.

Command 1

Command Description

The following command sets the LED on the drive bay, for the inputted drive, to blink. You need to input the controller ID number and the Physical Disk ID number for the drive you wish to blink.

Command

omconfig storage pdisk action=blink controller=[Insert Controller ID#] pdisk=[Insert PD ID#]

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If you have been able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. If you cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When the technicians have completed any drive swap, you should run the following command to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is important to do so, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still blinking while any further drive changes at a later date are taking place, as this may lead to some confusion.

Command 1

Command Description

The following command sets the LED on the drive bay, for the inputted drive, to stop blinking. You need to input the controller ID number and the Physical Disk ID number for the drive you wish to blink.

Command

omconfig storage pdisk action=unblink controller=[Insert Controller ID#] pdisk=[Insert PD ID#]

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Once you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), the local technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive.

If the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring, opposed to having an error, then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives that are still present on OMSA and their details in a support ticket, so that by process of elimination the technicians can replace the missing drive.

Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced on a Linux server?

If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM) and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible to our support team, to allow the technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:

The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
The failed RAM stick’s size
The failed RAM stick’s type

You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information. You must first be logged into the server’s root account and have located the RAM stick with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access it. To find the details about the memory configured in the server, run the following command:

Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to bring up a list of what RAM sticks are configured within the chassis, their status and their details.

Command

omreport chassis memory

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Here you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the motherboard, their statuses, their connector names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error and you wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply all the information about this stick of RAM shown in the results, in a support ticket, so that the technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, the server below is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks are appearing. If this is the case, it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this has happened you will not be able to find the required information above on the failed RAM stick to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the other RAM sticks that are still present, so the technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU & have it replaced on a Linux server?

If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU (Processor) and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible about the faulty CPU, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:

The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand information)

If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid the technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first be logged into the server’s root account and you must have located the CPU with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the processors configured in the server, run the following command:

Processor (CPU) - Command 1

Command Description

Run the following command to bring up a list of what Processors are configured within the chassis, their status and their details.

Command

omreport chassis processors

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Here you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their connector name and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error and you wish for this CPU to be replaced, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in the results from this command in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present, so the technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

-- Dell OMSA - VMware ESXI Servers [9]

How do I install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator on a VMware ESXI server?

Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have greater control over their server remotely. OMSA is downloadable through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most Operating Systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the version of ESXI installed onto the server. See below what generation of Dell PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Compatibility with OS	Compatible with Dell PE 11^th Gen (R_10)	Compatible with Dell PE 12^th Gen (R_20)	Compatible with Dell PE 13^th Gen (R_30)
ESXI 5.0	Yes	Not Supported	Not Supported
ESXI 5.1	Yes	Yes	Not Supported
ESXI 5.5	Yes	Yes	Yes
ESXI 6.0	Not Supported	Yes	Yes
ESXI 6.5	Not Supported	Yes	Yes

Please note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software supplied by Dell EMC. As such iomart (and any company within the iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be able to install, use or configure this software.

The Dell OMSA product is downloaded through Dell’s website, on their Product Support – Drivers & Downloads page, found here:

Dell Product Support - Drivers & Downloads

First, open up this webpage on your home/work computer’s web-browser. We will be downloading the OMSA installation file onto your home/work computer and then remotely uploading it onto your server from there.

Once you are on the Drivers & Downloads page, you need to select the model of you server. To find the model of your server, while on the MyServers control panel, press the My Servers button.

Then click on the name of the server you wish to install OMSA onto.

On this page, under Service Description, you will be able to see the make and model of this server. In my example below, you can see that the server is a Dell PowerEdge R230.

Now you know the model of your device, you can enter the model into the Dell website, by typing the chassis’ model in the search bar and then pressing the green arrow. Please type in the chassis model in the same format as shown in the image below (PowerEdge R---).

You should now be presented with the chassis’ Drivers & Downloads page. If you are presented with a list of search results, however, please look through the results and click on your chassis model. Once you are on the Drives & Downloads page, you should now enter the Operating System which is installed on the server. Do this in the Operating System drop-down box.

Now in the Keyword search box enter ‘OMSA’ and select Systems Management in the Category drop-down box.

Now find the Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Installation Bundle (VIB) and click on its download button. The software installer file will now download onto your home/work computer.

Once the download has finished, you should rename the zip file to OMSA. This will make it easier to install.

Once the installation file has been downloaded onto your home/work computer, you can now upload the installation file onto the server’s Operating System, into the Host’s datastore. Different version of VMware ESXI have slightly different processes for uploading content remotely; but the principle is the same. The process I use below, to demonstrate how to do this, uses ESXI 6.5 as an example. If you have a different version of VMware ESXI installed on your server, the process is very similar to the one outlined below, but you can also use content available on the internet to aid you in uploading the OMSA installer file to the host’s datastore.

To upload the installer bundle onto your server’s operating system, first remotely access and log into your server, using the same computer you downloaded the installation bundle onto. Next, you need to locate the Host’s datastore. To do this in ESXI 6.5, first make sure Host is selected, then select Storage, and then click on the datastore you wish to have the file uploaded to.

Please take a note of the datastore’s name; as you will need this for a later step. In my example, it is datastore1.

Now you are on the datastore you wish to upload the installation bundle onto, select Datastore browser.

You can now click Upload.

You now need to select the OMSA installation bundle to upload it.

The installation bundle should now appear in the datastore. You can now press close, to close the datastore browser.

Now the file has been uploaded to the server, the next step is to enable SSH for this server (if you haven’t previously enabled SSH). To do this in ESXI 6.5, return to Host, select Actions, select Services and then select Enable Secure Shell (SSH).

Once you have clicked Enable, you should be returned to the host’s home screen and be presented with the message ‘SSH is enabled on this host. You should disable SSH unless it is necessary for administrative purposes’.

You now need to SSH into your server’s host root account, using Putty (or any SSH client tool). Once you are logged in, you now need to install the VIB with the following command:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue the following command to install the OMSA software.
Command	esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volume/[Insert datastore name]/[Insert filename].zip (You should have taken a note of the datastore name in an earlier step; and you should have set the filename to OMSA)
Image of Command being Run	(In my example, the datastore name is datastore1 and the filename is OMSA)
Image of a Successful Result of Command

To complete the installation, you now need to reboot the host. To do this in VMware ESXI, you can exit the SSH shell, return to the GUI interface, and while on the Host’s homepage click Reboot.

If you are not in Maintenance mode, you may be presented with an error. If you are happy for the server to be restarted, press Reboot.

If you normally have SSH disabled on your server, you may wish to disable SSH, as this will improve your server’s security.

The server’s operating system should now reboot and you should be presented with the OS’s login screen. Once the host has rebooted, the installation of OMSA onto your server is now complete.

If you have any more questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ. If you FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

How do I access Dell OMSA on a VMware ESXI server?

When Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a VMware ESXI server, to access OMSA, you will need to download a version of the OMSA software onto your home/work computer and access it remotely.

To install OMSA onto a Windows computer, first download OMSA for Windows onto your computer. Click the appropriate version (based on your home/work computer’s memory) below, to download the OMSA software onto your computer:

System Architecture (bits)	OMSA Download Link
x32 bits	OMSA 8.5
x64 bits	OMSA 9.1

Please note that the source of these two downloads are Dell’s Support website. You can find the two files here:

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/how10613/how-to-install-openmanage-server-administrator-omsa-on-vmware-to-collect-logs?lang=en

Once the files have downloaded, you will need to un-zip it; using software such as WinZip. When the file has been un-zipped, you need to open the OpenManage > Windows folder, then run the setup.exe file.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator prerequisite status screen runs and displays the prerequisite checks for the managed system.

Once it has completed scanning for prerequisite information, it will list out any errors or warnings that it encountered. You should resolve all error and warning situations before continuing the installation. Some errors are correctible by simply clicking on the blue text within the error. Once you are ready to install OMSA, click Install Server Administrator.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Install Wizard now appears. Click Next to begin to proceed.

The Dell End User License Agreement now appears. Please read through this agreement. If you wish to proceed, select the ‘I Accept’ option and then click Next.

You now need to select the type of installation required. There are two options:

Typical: All program features will be installed.
Custom: Choose which features you want installed and choose the installation directory.

This guide will show you how to proceed with the Typical install of OSMA. However, if you run a Custom install, you will be able to select which features you wish to be installed and where for OMSA to be installed to.

For a Typical install, make sure Typical is selected and then press Next.

Now click Install.

The install will now begin. Once it has completed. Press Finish.

OMSA has now been installed onto your home/work computer. You can now use this to access the OMSA software on your VMware ESXI software. To do, first open the software.

This will open a new web-page in your default browser. Advance through the warning page until you get to the Managed System login page. Now enter the default external IP address for your server’s Host. This is the IP address you use to access the server remotely, to access the host’s controls. Then enter the host user’s root username and password.

Now tick Ignore Certificate Warnings and press submit.

You should now be presented with the home screen for the OMSA control panel, for you ESXI server. You have now accessed and logged into Dell EMC’s OpenManage software. You can now use OMSA to check the hardware of your server and to monitor for any errors. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the application and the configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the application.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a VMware ESXI server?

One of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator tool is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have occurred with the server’s hardware.

When you first log into the OpenManger portal on a Windows computer, and use it to access the OMSA tools of your VMware ESXI server, you will be presented with the current health status of the server. If there are currently any errors with the server, they will be displayed here.

As you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the storage of this server. The severity and type of error is identified by the symbol in-line with the error. There are four statuses within OpenManage:

Icon	Status	Description
	OK	The component is working as normal and is healthy.
	Non-Critical Warning	These errors normally indicate a problem which is not currently service impacting, but will still require prompt attention.
	Failed / Critical Warning	The component has either failed or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, it must be addressed as soon as possible.
	Unknown Status	The status of this component is unknown.

How you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Please see below how to investigate specific pieces or hardware.

Investigating Storage Errors Using OMSA on an ESXI server

The term storage, when mentioned in the Dell EMC OpenManage portal, refers to the RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays) within the server. When an error occurs related to storage, this would normally mean that there is an error with a Physical Disks, which has then effected the RAID array it is configured within. This is for the majority of cases; however, there can be other issues related storage, which cause storage errors.

In my example by below, there is currently a non-critical error with the storage of this server. To find more details out about any present error, first, simply click on the component with the error.

Depending on the set-up of the server, you may now need to navigate further, to identify the specific details of the error. In my example, it is a SSD which has an error; so I need to Navigate from the RAID controller component, into the array which contains the SSD. This will bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this array. Navigate by clicking on the component title with the error.

Once you are presented with the component with the error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about the component.

Here you can see the details about the Physical Disk, its state and its current status.

These details can be used to identify which drive is faulty and can help locate the drive. Using this information, you can decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using OMSA for more details.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Checking storage status, Physical Disk status & Virtual Disk status using OMSA on an ESXI server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk) configured on your server and the status of each physical drive.

To check the status of the storage devices within the server, first use the OMSA portal on your home/work computer to access your server’s OMSA services. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on storage, in the lift hand side panel.

Depending on the configuration of your server, you will now be presented with a list of RAID controllers and Virtual Disks configured on the server (if present), or a list of Physical Disks.

If there are any errors with any of the storage components or configuration, you should see either a non-critical or critical warning symbol, next to one of the items. You should also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disks (if present) on this server.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration. For the server in my example, the server was meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing.

If a Virtual Disk is missing, it would normally indicate that one or more of the physical drives within this array has completely failed, which has caused the RAID array to go offline. To investigate further, you would need to check the Physical Disks.

If there is an error with a Virtual Disk, if a Virtual Disk is missing, or even if nothing appears to be wrong, at this point you should check the status of all the Physical Disks within the chassis. You should now click on the RAID controller name to check the individual components within the RAID controller.

You should now see a list of components attached to the RAID controller. This list can differ depending on the RAID controller that is installed in your server. In my example, the RAID controller has a Battery, two connecters, Firmware/Driver Version and Virtual Disks attached/configured on the RAID controller.

You can see the status of each component to the right of it; which you can use to identify if there are currently any errors. However, if a Virtual/Physical Disk is completely offline, the status may still show as OK for the Virtual Disks and Connectors, so it is still worth clicking into these components even if they show as having no error. Click onto Connector 0 to begin with.

Depending on the configuration of you server, you may need to click on further components (e.g. Enclosure), until you reach the list of Physical Disks.

Here you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this connecter on the RAID controller. Please note, depending on the setup of your server, not all of the physical drives may be connected to connecter 0; so you should keep this in mind while following the below steps and also check any other connecters.

Using the list of all the physical drives, you will be able to see if any of the drives have an error and the state of each Physical Disk.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration. As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID controller (all through connector 0), however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

You can use this screen to see the current state of each drive attached to the RAID controller through this connector. In my example, one of the disks has a foreign configuration, which would normally suggest an error has occurred with the drive.

If you are presented with a component with an error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about this component.

Here you can see the details about the physical drive, its state and its current status.

You can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do next. If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this action, using the information found on OMSA. If you do wish for a drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the example above. This will aid our technician in identifying the faulty drive during the drive swap process.

You should now repeat this process for any other connectors and then any other RAID controllers configured within your server. How many connectors are present depend on the model of the RAID controller. How many connectors are in use depends on how your server was built and configured. Most of our dedicated servers only use one connector, meaning that other connectors may have no Virtual Disks or Physical Disks behind them, but please check to make sure.

Once you have checked all the connectors, you can now also check the Virtual Disks for more details about their configuration and status, by clicking on the Virtual Disks button. The status of the Virtual Drives were shown in a previous screen, but by using the below steps, you can check the Virtual Disks in more detail.

Here you will be able to see a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID Arrays) configured on this RAID controller and their current status. You will also be able to see the details of each Virtual Disk; including the layout (i.e. the RAID configuration/level).

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration. For the server in my example below, the server is meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing. The most likely cause for this is either an error with a Physical disk or a missing drive; which you should have been able to identify on the page which listed all the physical disks attached to the connectors.

If an error does appears against one of the Virtual Disks, you can click the name to find out all the Physical Disks configured within this Virtual Disk, and check for any drives with errors or identify any missing drives.

After checking the status of each component attached to each RAID controller, checking through each connector of the RAID controller, all the Physical Disks and all the Virtual Disks, you should have a clear picture of the status of your server’s storage, and if there are any errors or missing disks. If you have encountered any issue with any of the hardware, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help. If you need further advice on how to proceed, please feel free to get in touch or check through our FAQ section on our MyServers Control Panel.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Checking other components’ status (non-Storage), using OMSA on an ESXI server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, to check for any errors or failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several sub-components of the server.

To check the status of the components within the server, first log into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on Main System chassis, in the left hand side panel.

You will now see a list of all the components which OpenManage monitors; other than the components related to storage (e.g. drives and RAID controllers). Depending on the model of your chassis and its configuration, the list of components that OpenManage can monitor will differ. In my example, you can see that the Batteries, Fans, Intrusion switch, Memory (RAM), Processors, Temperatures and Voltage are all monitored. You will also see the current status of each component. In my example below, there are no errors.

In addition to the components listed on the main section of this page, you may also see several other components listed under Main System Chassis, on the left-hand-side panel. In my example, I can see BIOS, Firmware, Network, Ports, Power Management, Remote Access, Removable Flash Media and Slots within the left-hand-side panel; which are not listed within the main section of the page.

To find out more details about each specific component, click on the component name.

Below is some detail on how to check the current status of the main components within these lists. If you require more details about components monitored by OMSA, which are not outlined below, content can be found on Dell’s support website. If you need any assistance, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Memory

The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. When you click on memory, you will be able to find the details about how much memory you server is currently configured with, the total amount of memory this chassis can take, what type or RAM stick is in the chassis, the details of each individual stick and their current status.

If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM stick here. If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within the Details of Memory Array section, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details.

Processors

The processor (or CPU) page, lists all the processors within the server, their details, and their current status. If you wish to find out more details about a processor, you can click on the Connector Name to bring up more details.

If an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU, so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network

Once you click on Network, you will be able to see a list of all the network ports attached to the server.

You can also see the description of the network ports (i.e. the network port device’s details) and if they are currently shown as connected or not connected. You can also click on the interface name to find out more details about this connection; including the MAC address, the duplex settings, the link and connection status, the IP settings and the port’s speed.

The above monitoring tools, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the status of several components and to check for any errors. This information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware related issues with the server.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced on a VMware ESXI server?
If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed drive as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:
1. Serial number
2. Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)
3. Capacity
4. Product ID
5. Physical Drive Bay Number
This information will aid our technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you first need to use OMSA on your home/work computer to access OMSA on your server, and then locate the Physical Disk with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and then the section on investigating storage/storage errors to locate the failed drive, if you are un-sure how to do this. Once you have found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click the button to find more details about the drive with the error, including the details required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information from the details of a physical drive. You can also provide a screenshot of the failed drive’s details.

To work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of this drive in conjunction with all the other Physical Disks’ ID numbers. If you return to the list of all the Physical Disks, you can see the drive I wish to be replaced is disk 0:1:1, the first drive in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking the technicians to replace this drive, simply inform them of the failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:0) and inform them of the drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they should be able use this to locate the physical disk. You can also provide a screenshot of this page.

In addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the Physical Disks, set the task to ‘blink’ in-line with the drive you wish to be swapped and then press Execute. This will then make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink.

If you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not allow you to perform this action, however. If you cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely a non-hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the ‘un-blink’ task, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this may lead to some confusion.

Once you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), our technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive.

If the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still present on OMSA and their details, so that by process of elimination our technicians can replace the missing drive.

Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced on a VMware ESXI server?
If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM) and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed RAM stick as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:
1. The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
2. The failed RAM stick’s size
3. The failed RAM stick’s type
This information will aid our technician in locating the failed RAM stick and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, first use OMSA on your home/work computer to remotely access OMSA on your server, and then locate the RAM stick with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the memory configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then Memory, in the left-hand-side panel.

The list of RAM sticks attached to the server’s motherboard are found under Details of Memory Array 1. Here you will be able to see their status, their connector names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able to find the information above on the failed RAM stick, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM sticks that are present without errors, so the technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, our technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU on a VMware ESXI server?
If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the faulty CPU as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:
1. The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
2. The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand information)
If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, first use OMSA on your home/work computer to access OMSA on your server, and then locate the CPU with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are un-sure how to access OMSA. To find the details about the CPUs configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then click on Processors, on the left-hand-side panel. The list of CPUs installed in the server will now appear.

Here you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their connector name and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

-- Dell OMSA - Windows Servers [9]

How do I Install OMSA on a Windows platform?

Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have greater control over their server. OMSA is downloadable through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most of the latest Operating systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the version of Windows Server installed onto the server. See below to see what server generation Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Dell PowerEdge Generation	Compatible with Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2	Compatible with Windows Server 2016
Dell PowerEdge 11^th Gen (R_10)	Yes	Not Supported*
Dell PowerEdge 12^th Gen (R_20)	Yes	Yes
Dell PowerEdge 13^th Gen (R_30)	Yes	Yes
*There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Windows Server 2016 for 11^th Gen servers. However, you may be able to install the 12^th generation version for 2016 onto a 11^th Gen server. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (or any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this action.

The Dell OMSA product is downloaded through Dell’s website, on their Product Support – Drivers & Downloads page, found here:

Dell Product Support - Drivers & Downloads

First, open up this page on your server’s web-browser.

Once you are on the Drivers & Downloads page, you now need to select the model of you server. To find the model of your server, while on the MyServers control panel, press the My Servers button.

Then click on the name of the server you wish to install OMSA onto.

On this page, under Service Description, you will be able to see the make and model of this server. In my example below, you can see that the server is a Dell PowerEdge R220.

Now you know the model of your device, you can enter the model of your server on the Dell Support website, by typing the chassis’ model in the search bar and then pressing the green arrow. Please type in the chassis model in the same format as shown in the image below; ‘PowerEdge R---‘.

You should now be presented with the chassis’ Drivers & Downloads page. If you are presented with a list of search results, however, please look through the results and click on your chassis model. Once you are on the Drives & Downloads page you should now select the Operating System which is installed on the server. Do this in the Operating System drop-down box.

Now in the Keyword search box enter ‘OMSA’. Then select Systems Management in the Category drop-down box.

Now find the Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node for Windows within the list of downloadable software and click on the download button. The software installer file will now download onto your server.

Once the OMSA file has been downloaded onto your Windows server, you can begin to install the software. Start by unpacking the downloaded Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node file. You will need a program capable of un-zipping files installed on your server, such as WinZip.

Once the file is un-zipped, run the autorun.exe/setup.exe file, found within the OpenManage > Windows folder of the download, to begin the installation wizard.

If the Dell Open Manage Install window appears and prompts you to choose what utility to install, select Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (Standalone Server Management) and click install.

On some versions of OMSA, this screen may not appear and you will be able to skip this step.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator prerequisite status screen will now run and display the prerequisite checks for the managed system.

Once it has completed scanning for prerequisite information, it will list any errors or warnings that it encountered. You should resolve all error and warning situations before continuing the installation. Some errors are correctible by simply clicking on the blue text within the error. Once you are ready to install OMSA, click Install Server Administrator.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Install Wizard now appears. Click Next to begin to proceed.

The Dell End User License Agreement now appears. Please read through this agreement. If you wish to proceed, select the ‘I Accept’ option and then click Next.

You now need to select the type of installation required. There are two options:

Typical: All program features will be installed in the default install location.
Custom: Choose which features you want installed and choose the installation directory.

If you wish to perform a typical install, meaning you wish to install all features and you are happy for the software to be installed in the default location, select Typical and then press next.

If you wish to perform a custom installation, select Custom and click Next to continue.

This guide will show you how to perform a Custom install; however, if you are performing a Typical install, once you have pressed next, simply press install to start the installation.

If you have selected a custom install, you can now select the features to install. If you want to change a feature so that it is set to be installed or set to be not to be installed, simply click on the icon next to the feature, and then select the option you wish to change it to.

Once you have finished selecting which features you wish to install, you can now check the destination folder. This current install destination is shown under ‘Install to’.

If you wish to change the folder where the software will be installed, press the change button, then us the box that appears to select the destination folder and then press OK.

When you have finished selecting which features you wish to be installed and once you have selected the destination folder, press Next to proceed.

If you are performing a custom installation, you may now be able to select the Alert Messaging Type. There are two options:

Enhanced Message Format.
Traditional Message Format.

You can see the descriptions for each format within the installation wizard box. Select which message format you wish to use and then press Next.

You can now start the installation. To begin the installation, click Install.

The installation process will begin.

Once the installation has completed, click Finish to exit the installer.

Dell EMC’s OpenManage System Administrator will now be installed onto your server. You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware within this server. You may need to restart your server before you can access the OpenManage application, however.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I access Dell OMSA on a Windows server?

When Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a Windows Server, the OMSA product is accessible through a web browser-based GUI, on the Administrator account of the server. To access the web browser-based GUI, enter the following into the URL box of the web browser on your server, while changing the text in red to your server’s external IP address. The external IP of the server will be the one you use to RDP into the server’s administrator account, remotely. Then press enter.

https://[Insert Server’s External IP]:1331

Once you have entered your IP address followed by ‘:1331’ into your server’s web browser, the Dell EMC OpenManage portal will appear, showing a login screen.

If an error does appear after you have entered this into your web-browser, stating that this page cannot be accessed, there may be a firewall rule configured on your server blocking port 1331. If this is the case, you will need to allow access to port 1331 through Windows firewall. Please use Dell’s Support website and documentation for any troubleshooting information.

To login to the OpenManage portal, enter the credentials for the Administrator user of the Windows Operating System of this server. Then press Submit.

You have now accessed and logged into Dell EMC’s OpenManage software. You can now use OMSA to check the hardware of your server and to monitor for any errors. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the application and the configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the application.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a Windows server?

One of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator tool is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have occurred with the server’s hardware.

When you first log into the OpenManger portal on a Windows server, you will be presented with the current health status of the server. If there are currently any errors with the server, they will be displayed here.

Icon	Status	Description
	OK	The component is working as normal and is healthy.
	Non-Critical Warning	These errors normally indicate a problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt attention.
	Failed / Critical Warning	The component has either failed or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, the error must be addressed as soon as possible.
	Unknown Status	The status of this component is unknown.

How you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Please see below how to investigate specific pieces or hardware.

Investigating storage errors using OMSA on a Windows server

When storage is mentioned in the Dell EMC OpenManage portal, this is referring to the server’s RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays) within the server. When an error occurs related to storage, this would normally mean that there is an error with a physical drive, which has then effected the RAID array it is configured within. This is for the majority of cases; however, there can be other issues related to storage, which can cause storage errors.

In my example by below, there is currently a non-critical error with the storage of this server. To find more details out about any present error, first, simply click on the component with the error, under the Component column.

Depending on the set-up of the server, you may now need to navigate further to identify the details of the error. In my example, it is an SSD which has an error; so I need to Navigate from the RAID controller component, into the array which contains the SSD. This will bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this array. Navigate by clicking on the component title with the error.

Once you are presented with the specific component with the error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about the component.

Here you can see the details about the physical drive, its state and its current status.

These details can be used to identify which drive is faulty and can help our technicians locate the failed drive to replace it. Using this information, you can decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using OMSA for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced, using the information available on OMSA.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Checking Storage Status, Physical Disk Status & Virtual Disk Status Using OMSA on a Windows server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk) configured on your server and the status of each physical drive.

To check the status of the storage devices within the server, first log into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on storage in the left hand side panel.

Depending on the configuration of your server, you will now be presented with a list of RAID controllers and Virtual Disks configured on the server (if present), or a list of Physical Disks.

If there are any errors with any of the storage components or with the storage configuration, you should see either a non-critical or critical warning symbol, next to one of the items. You should also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disks (if present) on this server.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.

For the server in my example, the server was meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing and there is an error symbol next to the RAID controller’s name.

If an error does appear with any storage device, you will need to click on the name of the device with the error to investigate further, and you would need to check the status of the relevant Physical Disks.

If nothing appears to be wrong with the server’s storage, it is good practice at this point to still check the status of all the Physical Disks within the chassis.

Unless you first wish to investigate a specific issue with a Virtual Disks, you should now click on the RAID controller’s name to check the individual components within the RAID controller. To do this, click on the RAID controller. You should repeat this and each step below for each RAID controller configured within the server.

You should now see a list of components attached to the RAID controller. This list can differ depending on the RAID controller that is installed in your server. In my example, the RAID controller has a Battery, two connecters, Firmware/Driver Version and Virtual Disks attached/configured on the RAID controller.

You can see the status of each RAID controller component under the Severity column; however, if a Virtual/Physical Disk is completely offline and is missing from OMSA, the status may still show as OK for the Virtual Disks and Connectors, so it is still worth clicking into these component. Click onto Connector 0 to begin with.

Depending on the configuration of you server, you may need to click on further components (e.g. Enclosure), until you reach the list of Physical Disks.

Here you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this connecter on the RAID controller. Please note, depending on the setup of your server, not all of the physical drives may be connected to connecter 0; so you should keep this in mind while following the below steps.

While a list of all the physical drives are shown you will also be able to see any errors and the state of each Physical Disk

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration. As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID controller (all through connector 0), however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

You can use this screen to see the current state of each drive attached to the RAID controller through this connector. In my example, one of the disks has a foreign configuration, which would normally suggest an error has occurred with the drive.

If you are presented with a component with an error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about this component.

Here you can see the details about the physical disk, its state and its current status.

You can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do next. If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this action, using the information found on OMSA. If you do wish for a drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the example above. This will aid our technician in identifying the faulty drive during the drive swap process.

You should now repeat this process for any other connectors and then any other RAID controllers. How many connectors are present depends on the model of the RAID controller. How many connectors are in use depends on how your server was built and configured. Most of our dedicated servers only use one connector, meaning that other connectors may have no Virtual Disks or Physical Disks behind them, but please check to make sure.

Once you have checked all the connectors, you can now also check the Virtual Disks and find more details about their configuration and status, by clicking on the Virtual Disks button. The status of the Virtual Drives were shown in a previous screen, but by using the below steps, you can check the Virtual Disks in more detail.

Here you will be able to see a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID Arrays) configured on this RAID controller and their current status. You will also be able to see the details of each Virtual Disk; including the layout (i.e. the RAID configuration/level).

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration. For the server in my example below, the server is meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing. The most likely cause for this is either an error with a Physical Disk or a missing drive; which you should have been able to identify on the page which listed all the physical disks attached to the connectors.

If an error does appears against one of the Virtual Disks, you can click the name to find out all the Physical Disks configured within this Virtual Disk, and check for any drives with errors or identify any missing drives.

After checking the status of each component attached to each RAID controller, checking through each connector of the RAID controller, all the Physical Disks and all the Virtual Disks, you should have a clear picture of the status of your server’s storage and if there are any errors or missing drives. If you have encountered any issue with any of the hardware, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help. If you need further advice on how to proceed, please feel free to get in touch or check through our FAQ section on our MyServers Control Panel.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Checking other components’ status (non-storage), using OMSA on a Windows server

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, to check for any errors or failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several sub-components of the server.

To check the status of the components within the server, first log into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on Main System chassis, on the left hand side panel.

You will now see a list of all the components which OpenManage monitors; other than components related to storage (e.g. drives and RAID controllers). Depending on the model of your chassis and its configuration, the list of components that OpenManage can monitor will differ. In my example, you can see that the Batteries, Fans, Intrusion switch, Memory (RAM), Processors, Temperatures and Voltage are all monitored. You will also see the current status of each component. In my example below, there are no errors.

In addition to the components listed on the main section of this page, you may also see several other components listed under Main System Chassis, on the left-hand-side panel. In my example, I can see BIOS, Firmware, Network, Ports, Power Management, Remote Access, Removable Flash Media and Slots within the left-hand-side panel; which are not listed within the main section of the page.

To find out more details about each specific component, click on the component name.

Below is some detail on how to check the status of the main components within these lists. If you require more details about components monitored by OMSA, which are not outlined below, content can be found on Dell’s support website. If you need any assistance, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Memory

The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. When you click on memory, you will be able to find the details about how much memory you server is currently configured with, the total amount of memory this chassis can take, what type or RAM sticks are in the chassis, the details of each individual stick and their current status.

If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you should be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here. If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within the ‘Details of Memory Array’ section, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details.

Processors

Once you click into the processor page lists all the processors (or CPUs) within the server, their details, and their current status.

If you wish to find out more details about a processor, you can click on the Connector Name to bring up more details. If an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU, so our technician can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network

Once you click on Network, you will be able to see a list of all the network ports attached to the server.

You can also see the description of the network ports (i.e. the network port device’s details) and if they are currently shown as connected or not connected. You can also click on the interface name to find out more details about this connection; including the MAC address, the duplex settings, the link and connection status, the IP settings and the port’s speed.

The above monitoring tools, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the status of several components and to check for errors. This information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware related issues with the server.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details & have it replaced on a Windows server?
If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this disk to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed drive as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:
1. Serial number
2. Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)
3. Capacity
4. Product ID
5. Physical Drive Bay Number
This information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the physical drive with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and then the section on investigation storage errors/checking storage status, if you are un-sure how to do this. Once you have found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click the button to find more details about the drive, including the details required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information from the details of a physical drive:

To work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of this drive in conjunction with all the other Physical Disks’ ID numbers. If you return to the list of all the Physical Disks, you can see the drive I wish to be replaced is drive 0:1:1, the first drive in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking the technicians to replace this drive, simply inform them of the failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:0) and inform them of the drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they should be able use this to locate the physical disk.

In addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the Physical Disks, set the task to ‘blink’ in-line with the drive you wish to be swapped and then press Execute. This will then make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink.

If you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not allow you to perform this action, however. If you cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a non-hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the ‘un-blink’ task, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this may lead to some confusion.

Once you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), our technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive.

If the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still present on OMSA and their details, so that by process of elimination our technicians can identify and replace the missing drive.

Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced?
If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM) and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed stick as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:
1. The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
2. The failed RAM stick’s size
3. The failed RAM stick’s type
This information will aid the technician in locating the failed RAM stick and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the RAM stick with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the memory configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then Memory, in the left-hand-side panel.

Under Details of Memory Array you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the motherboard, their status, their connector names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to simply supply all the information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able to find the information above on the failed RAM stick, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM sticks that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU & have it replaced on a Windows server?
If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed CPU as possible, to allow the technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:
1. The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
2. The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand information)
If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the CPU with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are un-sure how to access OMSA. To find the details about the CPUs configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then click on Processors, on the left-hand-side panel.

Here you will now be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their connector name and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors on OMSA, so the technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

-- How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the server’s RAID Configuration Menu? [11]
- How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the server’s RAID Configuration Menu?
  
  Sadly, on occasion, errors can occur with the storage components of a server. As we know how frustrating this can be, this FAQ section has been created to help our client’s investigate their server’s storage through their server’s RAID BIOS.
  
  If you believe an error has occurred with either a server’s RAID array or with a server’s physical drives, when a RAID controller is configured on the server, one way you can check the status of a server’s storage is through the server’s RAID configuration (BIOS) menu. You can use the server’s RAID menu to identify any failed drives and identify the details required to have them replaced.
  
  Checking a server’s RAID menu involves rebooting a server while accessing it through either a KVMoIP device or while having a remote management’s virtual/remote console open, then accessing the RAID controller’s menu while the server boots. This does require the server and anything the server is hosting to be offline during the entire process. Due to this, it is normally preferable for clients to use either Remote Management software or monitoring tools configured on the server’s operating system to identify any issues with a server’s storage; however, if this not possible then you may have to use the server’s RAID configuration menu.
  
  How to boot into a server’s RAID controller’s menu and check the drives’ and arrays’ statuses depends on the model of your server and the model of the RAID controller it is using. Below, you will see some examples of how to check the RAID BIOS for some of our combinations of RAID controllers and server models. If your server and RAID controller are not listed below, you can either find material online to help you perform this action, or raise a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss what we can do to help.
  
  If you are un-sure what model your server and RAID controller is, please see below how to use MyServers to identify this.
- How do I identify what the make and model of my dedicated server and RAID controller is, using MyServers?
  
  If you have a dedicated server hosted with us, you will be able to identify the make and model of your device through our MyServers control panel, on the IS page of the device.
  
  First, log in to the MyServers control panel and then navigate to the IS page of the server you wish to check the model of. A list of servers can be found by clicking on the My Servers tab. Once you are on the IS page of the server, you will be able to find the make and model of the server within the Service Description box, in line with the IS number. In my example below, you can see that the make of my server is a Dell, while the model of the server is a PowerEdge R210 II.
  
  Within the Service Description, you should also be able to see the model of the RAID Controller. If no RAID controller is present in this box, it may mean that either no RAID controller exists in the chassis, the RAID controller is built into the chassis’ motherboard (integrated), or that this device was deployed before we added RAID controllers to this box for every server. If the RAID controller is not present in this box, you can either identify what RAID controller the server is configured during the server’s POST screens, or please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
  
  You should now know what the make and model of your server and RAID controller is. If you have any more questions about your server’s RAID controller, please look through our FAQ for more information. Alternatively, or if you have not been able to identify this information, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 13th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_30), with a H730 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID configuration menu of a 13^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a H730 RAID controller installed (this includes H730Ps and H730P Minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. Iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  After pressing F2 at the prompt, and waiting for a minute or two, the System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device Settings. You can navigate through these menus using the mouse or using the arrow, Tab, Esc and Enter keys.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check the status of both the Virtual Disks and Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID arrays) configured in this server. You will also see some details about the Virtual Disks, including their status. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is ‘Ready’, meaning that it has no errors, and one has a status of ‘Degraded’, meaning that there is an error with the RAID array. Click on a Virtual Disks to find more information on the array.
  
  Here you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk and can select operations to perform. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now view the associated Physical Disks to see the status of the drives. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with any drives. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can now navigate to a page which allows you to view the information on the physical drive. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number
  2. Capacity
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, set the Operation drop-down box to ‘Blink’ and then press Go. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except setting the drop-down box to ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the status of the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, and then select Physical Disk Management.
  
  You will now see a list of Physical Disks present in the server, along with their current status. In my example, you can see that there are four drives, three are online and one is currently offline. To find out more information about a drive, simply click on it/select it.
  
  You will now be on the physical drive’s page, which lists all of the drive’s details, allows you to run operations (or tasks) on the drive and shows you the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 12th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_20), with a H710 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID Configuration menu of a 12^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H710 raid controller installed (this includes H710Ps and H710 minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  Once you have pressed F2 at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device Settings. You can either use the mouse or the arrow, Esc, Tab or Enter keys to navigate this menu.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the status of the Virtual Disks and of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk. In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with a status of ‘Ready’, meaning that the Virtual Disk has no errors, and one with a status of ‘Offline’, meaning that there is currently an error with this Virtual Disk.
  
  Under ‘Virtual Disk Porperties’ you can see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now view the associated Physical Disks to see the status of the drives. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to identify if there are any errors with any drives. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can use this window to view information on the physical drive. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number
  2. Capacity
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to flash, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then Select Physical Disk Operations.
  
  You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box, then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management, and then select View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks, three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.
  
  To find out more details about a Physical Disk, select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status, under Physical Disk Properties. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 12th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_20), with a H310 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a 12^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  Once you have pressed F2 at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device Settings. You can navigate this menu by either using the mouse or the arrow, Tab, Esc and Enter keys.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the status of the Virtual Disks and the status of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk. In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with a status of ‘Ready’, meaning that there are no errors with this Virtual Disk, and one with a status of ‘Failed’, meaning that there is currently an error with this Virtual Disk.
  
  Under Virtual Disk Policies you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now check the status of the physical drives configured within this array. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with any drives. As you can see from my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can now navigate to a page to view the physical drive’s details. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number
  2. Capacity
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to flash, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then Select Physical Disk Operations.
  
  You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box, then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management, and then select View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of ‘Ready’, meaning that they currently do not have any errors, and one with a status of ‘Offline’.
  
  To find out more details about a Physical Disk, select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status under Physical Disk Properties. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 11th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_10), with a H310 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID Configuration Menu (or BIOS menu) of an 11^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the RAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+R to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  Once you have pressed Ctrl+R at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the RAID BIOS Configuration Utility menu will appear. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the status of the Virtual Disks and the status of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server.
  
  To do this you need to use the arrow keys to highlight the Virtual Disk (VD) you wish to check. Once the VD is highlighted, the status and details of this Virtual Disk will appear on the right. You should repeat this action for every Virtual Disk configured on the RAID controller.
  
  In my examples above, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is ‘Optimal’, meaning that there are no errors with this Virtual Disk, and one has a status of ‘Degraded’, meaning that there is an error with this Virtual Disk.
  
  On this screen you can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. To do this, highlight the Physical Disks option under the VD name, then press the right arrow key to bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this Virtual Disk. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. In my example below, you can see that on drive (05) is currently offline.
  
  If you do come across a drive with an error, you will need to check the details of this drive within the PD Mgmt (Physical Disk Management) page. To navigate to this page, press Ctrl+N. You will be now be a on a screen which displays all the physical drives’ details; including their current states and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a failed drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Disk ID
  2. Drive Type
  3. Capacity
  4. Product ID
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you may also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, press F2 while the drive you wish to set to blink is highlighted, then highlight LED Blinking and press the right arrow key. You can then start the blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, but selecting it to stop blinking, to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. Please note, non-hotswap chassis will not let you set the drives to blink, as there are no LEDs.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you should also check the Physical Disks directly, by navigating to the PD Mgmt page, as outlined above.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 11th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_10), with a H200 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an 11^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H200 RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the RAID configuration menu appears; then press Ctrl+C to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  Once you have pressed Ctrl+C at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the RAID BIOS configuration menu will appear. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should first select the RAID controller and then select RAID properties. If more than one RAID controller is configured in this server, you will need to repeat the process outlined below for every RAID controller. To navigate through this RAID BIOS, you need to use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys. Select the RAID controller and then RAID properties.
  
  Unless a RAID array has not already been configured on the server, you will now be presented with the first RAID arrays (or volume), a list of drives configured within this array, their details, their status and the details of the RAID array configured on the server. If you have more than one RAID array configured on the server, you can use the keys Alt+N to navigate between the volumes.
  
  Along the top of the page, you will be able to see the details of the RAID array currently selected (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page), including its current status.
  
  Below the RAID array’s details you will be able to see a list of the physical drives configured within the currently select array (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page); including the drives’ details and their current statuses.
  
  You can use the details and statuses shown on the pages described above to identify whether or not there is currently an error with the storage of your server, by checking if there is an error with either the RAID arrays (or volumes) or the Physical Drives.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type (Device + Identifier)
  3. Capacity (Size)
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my SuperMicro server, with a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an IPMI remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the LSI MegRAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+H to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  Once you have pressed Ctrl+H at the prompt and waited a minute or two, you will be presented with a list of adapters configured on the server. You should now enter the first RAID adapter configured on the server. Most servers will only have one adapter installed, but if your server has more than one adapter, you should repeat the below process for every adapter.
  
  You will now be in on the WebBIOS page for this RAID controller. On the right hand side panel of this WebBIOS, within the Logical View, you will be able to see a list of Virtual Drives (or RAID arrays), and a list of Physical Drives configured within the controller and their current status. You can use this screen to identify if and Virtual Drives or Physical Drives attached to this controller have any errors. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Drive is degraded and one Physical Drive is Offline.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type
  3. Capacity
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- Configuration Menu of my SuperMicro server, with an Adaptec 2405 / 5405 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has an Adaptec RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an IPMI remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the Adaptec RAID Configuration menu appears; then press Ctrl+A to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below. Also, the below uses a 5405 RAID controller; however, the RAID BIOS for a 2405 controller is very similar.
  
  You will now be presented with the RAID controller’s configuration utility. You should now select Array Configuration Utility. To navigate through this utility, use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys.
  
  To check the current status of the storage within the server, you should first check the current status of all the RAID arrays configured on the server. Do this by first selecting Manage Arrays.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of arrays. To check the status of the RAID array, press Enter while it is highlighted. You will now be presented with the RAID array’s details, its status, and a list of drives within the array. In my example below you can see the RAID1 array is currently degraded. You can see the second drive in this array (Dev01) is greyed out; which indicates that it currently has an error.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type
  3. Capacity
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the Identify Drive function. Turning on the Identify Drive function will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. Please note, using the Identify Drive function will require the server to remain within the Adaptec Utility menu to keep the drive bay blinking. To set the drive bay to blink, keep pressing Esc until you reach the options menu. Then select Disk Utilities.
  
  It will now take a minute or two to load the list of physical drives. You now need to highlight the drive you wish to set the LEDs to blink on and then press enter.
  
  Then select Identify Drive and press Enter.
  
  The caddy’s LED for this drive will now start flashing. To stop the LEDs from flashing, you simply need to press any key. If you have set the drive bay’s LED to flash, please let the support team know in the ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  You should repeat the above mentioned process, checking every RAID array configured on this server.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my HP ProLiant G9 server, with a HPE Smart Array P440 controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G9 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL160 G9), when it has a HPE Smart Array P440 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  After the Systems Utilities menu appears, select System Configuration, then select the Smart Array P440 Controller option, then finally select the Exit and launch HP Smart Storage Administrator (HPSSA) option.
  
  The HPE Smart Storage Administrator will now load; this can take a couple of minutes. Once it has loaded, you can use this menu to check the current status of the storage, of your server. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check the status of the server’s Arrays and the Physical Drives.
  
  First, select the RAID controller of your server, in the left hand side panel. In my example below, you can see that I have two controllers. One is the on-board (integrated) RAID controller - the Dynamic Smart Array B140i RAID - and the other is a PCI-e RAID controller - the Smart Array P440. The storage of my server is currently only utilising the PCI-e RAID controller; which will be the case of most servers which display both; however, you should check every controller present for arrays and drives. Once you have clicked onto the RAID controller, press Configure.
  
  Then press Logical Devices on the left hand side panel.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of arrays configured on this controller and a list of the drives configured within these arrays. You can use this page to identify the current status of your server’s storage status.
  
  If there are any errors with either an array or with a drive, there will be one of two warning symbols next to the device’s icon. There are two warning symbols within the HPESSA; the symbol represents a critical error which needs urgent attention, while the symbol represents a less crucial error should be address as soon as possible. In my example below, you can see that one array and one drive within this array, have errors.
  
  If you do encounter a drive with an error, you should click on the device and then press View more Details, to identify what the error is and to see more details about this device.
  
  The device details will appear at the top of the window appears, while the Status Message appears at the bottom of this window, which will provide you with more information on the error.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive, to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Capacity (Size)
  2. Drive Type
  3. Drive Model
  4. Drive Serial Number
  You can use the ‘View more details’ page to identify this information. Select the drive you wish to be replaced and then press ‘View more details’.
  
  You can use this page to identify the above information, as demonstrated below.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the Identify Device function. Turning on the Identify Device function will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, click close on the ‘View more details’ window, and then click Identify Device while the drive you wish to be swapped is still selected under the list of devices.
  
  Then select how long you wish for the drive bay to blink for or when you wish for it to turn off. We would suggest setting the LED to stop blinking after 4 hours. Then press OK and then Finish.
  
  If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my HP ProLiant G7 server, with a HPE Smart Array P410 controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G7 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL360 G7), when it has a HP Smart Array P410 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  You now need to make sure that Power-On Logo is disabled; as this allow you to see more options, including the one for entering the RAID menu, to appear during POST. To do this, first select Advanced Options. You can use the arrow keys, Enter and Esc to navigate through the BIOS menu.
  
  Then select Advances System ROM Options.
  
  Now select Power-On Logo and make sure it is set to Disabled, by making sure Disabled is highlighted, and press enter.
  
  Once you have set the Power-On Logo to disabled, you can now exit the BIOS menu, by press Esc multiple times and then press F10 to Confirm Exit Utility. The server will now start to reboot.
  
  When the option to enter the HP Smart Array P410 controller appears, you should now press F8, to enter the controller’s utility menu.
  
  You will now be in the main menu for the RAID controller’s utility. To check the current status of your server’s storage, you should check each array configured on your server’s status, and the status of each physical drive configured within these arrays. To do this, first select View Logical Drive.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of Logical Drives (or arrays) configured on the server. You will be able to see their details and their statuses. In my example below, you can see that I have two RAID Arrays; one with a status of ‘OK’ and one with a status of ‘Degraded’.
  
  Once you have checked the status of the RAID arrays, you should now check the status of the Physical Drives within these arrays. To do this, highlight an array and press Enter.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of Physical Drives configured within this array; and you will be able to see their statuses and details. In my example below, you can see that one drive has a status of OK and one drive is degraded.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Bay Number
  2. Capacity
  3. Drive Type
  You can use this page to identify this information, as demonstrated below. You can also supply a screenshot of this page in a support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information in a ticket our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  You should repeat the process outline above, to check the status of the physical drives within each RAID array.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
-- MyServers Monitoring Tools [5]
- Can I have MyServers monitoring set up for my devices?
  
  Our MyServers control panel has a built in monitoring system which can be used to monitor certain services.
  
  Depending on the service support level you purchased with the device, certain monitoring systems are automatically put in place on the IS page of the device, to monitor the status of specific serveries or pieces of hardware. You will be able to see these monitoring services on the IS page of the server, on MyServers, within the ‘Status’ section. In my example below you can see that this server has ping, SSH and switch port monitoring applied.
  
  If you wish for additional monitoring services to be added to an IS page of a device, you are able to add these monitoring services in the MyServers control panel by clicking on Health > Monitoring, on the IS page.
  
  You will now be on the monitoring page for this device. Here you will be able to see a list of the current monitoring services applied to this IS number. You can also add additional monitoring services by clicking on Add Monitored Service.
  
  Once you have pressed Add Monitored Service button you will be presented with a page where you can configure new monitoring services for this device. To do this, first select what type of monitoring service you wish to be added from the drop-down box. Depending on the monitoring service you select, you will then need to fill in other details relevant to the service you wish to be monitored. Examples include IP addresses, port numbers and URLs. Once you have filled in these relevant details, you can also add a custom message to the monitoring service. If you later decide to add SMS or email monitoring alerts to this device, this custom message will appear in the email/text if this monitoring service detects an error, which you can use to help you identify which monitoring service for which device has failed. Once you have filled in these details, press Add Monitored Service.
  
  The monitoring service will now be added. You will now be returned to the monitoring page were you will now be able to see the status of the service you just added, amongst the statuses of any other monitoring service already applied to IS page. Please note that any monitoring service just applied may take a couple of minutes to register the status as Ok. You can now add any other monitoring service you wish to add.
  
  You can also use this page to remove monitoring service that you no longer need.
  
  If you need help adding monitoring services to your device, or if you have any more questions about MyServers monitoring, please feel free to raise a ticket and a member of our support team will be happy to help.
- How do I check the current and historical status of the MyServers monitoring services?
  
  Our monitoring services are run through and displayed on our MyServers control panel. Once monitoring services have been set-up on your devices, to check the current status of your devices, first log in to your MyServers account. Once you have logged into your account, if any devices on your account with monitoring services configured on them currently have an error causing a monitoring service to fail, it will appear in a Servers with Problems section on the home screen (My Account) page.
  
  If no devices with monitoring services applied have an error which causes these services to fail, then this section will not appear.
  
  To check the status of a device’s monitoring services, you first need to navigate to this device’s IS page. Once you are on the IS page of the device, you will be able to see the current status of each monitoring service applied to this device within the Status box. You will be able to see the current status of each monitoring service, how long the monitoring service has been in its current state and the name of each monitoring service. You may also be able to see some detail about the monitoring service; like an IP address or URL. In my example below you can see that one my device’s ping monitoring services has been in a failed state for 7 minutes.
  
  You can use this information to identify the current status of each monitoring service. If you want to find out more details about a monitoring service, click on its name. You will now be presented with the test result page for this monitoring service. You will now be able to see this monitoring service’s current status, when the status was last updated, how long it has been in its current status, the error and the status results recent history.
  
  You can use this information to find out more details about any error that may have occurred. If you do encounter any monitoring issues that you need assistance with, please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.
  
  If you have any more questions about MyServers monitoring, please look through our FAQs or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- Do you offer SMS and email alerting?
  
  We provide automated SMS and email alerting for free, to all our clients, which can be used to help alert you to any status issue detected by our system with your devices.
  
  Our SMS and email alerting system, once it has been setup on an IS page of one or more devices, automatically sends a text to a designated phone number or email address if any of the MyServers monitoring tools configured on this IS page detects an issue. The most common example of a monitoring system applied to a server, and then configured to send a text/email if an error occurs, is ping monitoring. Using this as an example, if the server fails to ping for a set amount of time, then a text/email would automatically be sent.
  
  You can setup the SMS and email monitoring system on the IS page of your devices, on the MyServers control panel. Please see our ‘How do I set up SMS alerting?’ and ‘How do I set up email alerting?’ sections of our FAQ to see how to do this.
  
  If you have any more questions on alerting, please look through our FAQ or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I set up SMS alerts?
  You can set up SMS alerting for a device on its MyServers IS page. To do this, first load the IS page of a device you wish to add SMS alerting to, then click on Health > Alerts on the right hand side.
  
  This page will list all the alerts currently configured for this device, if any exist. To add a new alert, first click Add An Alert.
  
  You will now be presented with a page where you can configure the alert you wish to receive. Please input the following details:
  - Alert Type - Select SMS to receive a text message
  - Number - Enter the phone number you wish to receive the SMS. Please make sure you enter the area code (normally +44 for UK phone numbers)
  - Initial Delay - Enter the delay before the text is sent in minutes. This is the period of time a monitoring service has to fail before the message is sent
  - Repeat alert after - Enter the time you wish to pass before an additional message is sent if a monitoring service continues to fails, in minutes
  - Use the tick boxes to indicate if you wish to be messages in instances of a warning status, failure status, or both. Some monitoring services have three statuses - OK, Warning and Failure. Some monitoring services may only go into a warning state, rather than a failed state, if a less critical error occurs.
  Once you have filled in the above, press Add Alert.
  
  The new alert will now appear on the Alerts page. You can now add additional alerts, edit the current alerts or delete any alert you no longer need on this page.
  
  If you have any more questions about alerts, please look through our FAQ or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I set up email alerts?
  You can set up email alerting for a device on its MyServers IS page. To do this, first load the IS page of a device you wish to add email alerting to, then click on Health > Alerts on the right hand side.
  
  This page will list all the alerts currently configured for this device, if any exist. To add a new alert, first click Add An Alert.
  
  You will now be presented with a page where you can configure the alert you wish to receive. Please input the following details:
  - Alert Type - Select Email
  - E-Mail Address - Then enter the email address you wish to receive the email
  - Initial Delay - Enter the delay before the email is sent in minutes. This is the period of time a monitoring service has to fail before the email is sent
  - Repeat alert after - Enter the time you wish to pass before an additional email is sent if a monitoring service continues to fails, in minutes
  - Use the tick boxes to select if you wish to be emailed in instances of a warning status, failure status, or both. Some monitoring services have three statuses - OK, Warning and Failure. Some monitoring services may only go into a warning state, rather than a failed state, if a less critical error occurs.
  Once you have filled in the above, press Add Alert.
  
  The new alert will now appear on the Alerts page. You can now add additional alerts, edit the current alerts or delete any alert you no longer need on this page.
  
  If you have any more questions about alerts, please look through our FAQ section or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.

-- What monitoring tools do you recommend? [1]

What monitoring tools do you recommend?

As a hosting company, we see how frustrating it can be for our clients when a piece of hardware fails on a device, so we highly recommend that our client’s regularly monitor the health of their devices and check for any errors within their server’s hardware. There are several different third party tools available which are designed to help server administrators monitor and check the health of their devices; some of which we recommend our customers install and use.

What monitoring tool is best for your server depends on the make and model of the server and the operating system it uses. Please see below for some examples of tools we would recommend that you use.

Please note that these tools are developed by third parties and we can only advise you to use these tools; the choice to download, install and use these tools must be your own. As such, iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any harm that may come to your system as a result of downloading, installing and using these tools.

Server Manufacture	Monitoring Tool / Software Name	Monitoring Tool / Software Description
Dell EMC PowerEdge	iDRAC	iDRAC is Dell’s version of a Remote Management tool. Depending on the version of iDRAC, it can allow the server’s administrator to check the health of the server, to check individual components status, to run tasks on the server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works independently of the server’s OS.
Dell EMC PowerEdge	OMSA	OMSA is a system administrative tool; that allows the system administrator to check the health of the server and some of its components. OMSA runs on the server’s operating system and is only compatible with certain operating systems, on certain Dell PowerEdge servers
HPE ProLiant	iLO	iLO is HPE’s version of a Remote Management tool. Depending on the version of iLO, it can allow the server’s administrator to check the health of the server, to check individual components status, to run tasks on the server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works independently of the server’s OS.
SuperMicro	IPMI	IMPI is SuperMicro’s version of a Remote Management tool. IPMI can allow the server’s administrator to check the health of the server, to run tasks on the server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works independently of the server’s OS.

If you do decide to use any of the above monitoring tools, they can help you check the health of your system and help identify any components that may need investigating or replacing. If they do alert you to any problems, please raise a support ticket using the information found in our FAQ and we will be happy to help.

If you have any more questions about monitoring tools, please see our FAQ section. If this does not have the answer you are looking for, please raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

-- Whose Responsibility is it to Monitor My Server? [1]
- Whose Responsibility is it to Monitor My Server?
  
  As a Managed Infrastructures Service provider, the main responsibility of monitoring the state of a dedicated server lies with the client who uses the device.
  
  Depending on the service support level you purchased with the device, however, we do put certain monitoring systems in place through MyServers, to monitor the status of specific serveries or pieces of hardware. You will be able to see these monitoring services on the IS page of the server, on MyServers, within the ‘Status’ section. In my example below you can see that this server has ping, SSH and switch port monitoring applied.
  
  If you do have a monitoring service applied and have either a ‘Proactive Alerting and Monitoring’ or ‘Premium’ SLA, then we also alert you to any MyServers monitoring service that becomes un-responsive for longer than a set period of time. For more details on this, please see our MyServers Monitoring tools section, of our FAQ.
  
  Due to the nature of hardware, we would strongly suggest that you regularly check the health of your server and its components, to check for any errors that may have occurred. How you go about this is up to you; with this being said, however, there are several monitoring tools we recommend that our customers use. Please read through our Monitoring My Device section of the FAQ for more information.
  
  If you have any more questions about monitoring your servers, please read through our FAQ section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
Networking & IPs [36]
- How to setup RDNS for IP's?
  
  1. Navigate over to the My Servers TAB and select your IS-Reference
  
  2. Then Navigate over to Network Settings
  
  3. Go over to the Edit Reverse DNS Entry for IP’s
  
  4. Edit the RDNS records as you wish and tick to confirm your entry.
- How does the DDoS Prevention System work?
  Iomart DDoS Protection
  
  Iomart’s advanced DDoS protection, provisioned as a service at the network edge, matches the sophistication and scale of the latest cyber threats and can be used to mitigate DDoS attacks of all forms and sizes.
  
  We’ve partnered with Arbor Networks, one of the world’s leading providers of DDoS protection technology, to offer tiered levels of DDoS protection and ensure we have the right solution - at the right price - to suit any size of the organisation.
  
  Key Features
  
  Increased Network Visibility, Stronger Security, Improved Services
  
  The Arbor solution provides comprehensive network visibility and reporting capabilities that enable iomart to detect and understand threats as they appear on our network and take steps to combat them.
  
  Comprehensive DDoS Detection and Analysis
  
  Combines pervasive, cost-effective visibility with real-time reporting of critical network traffic, services and applications to proactively protect against DDoS attacks.
  
  Application Layer Intelligence and Protection
  
  Our DDoS solution provides the application-layer intelligence necessary to secure and manage critical business applications such as voice, data, messaging, file sharing, Web, email and more against advanced threats.
  
  Anomaly Detection
  
  A core value of the solution is the ability to generate alerts to anomalies on the network. These anomalies can be indicative of malicious traffic (DDoS), device failures, unusual demand spikes or misconfigurations. These alerts enable problems to be spotted quickly, the root causes rapidly identified and corrective action is taken.
  
  Denial of Service Protection
  
  The iomart solution, powered by Arbor Networks, mitigates DDoS attacks by surgically removing malicious attack traffic while allowing normal legitimate traffic to pass through and reach your site. When potential threats are detected, traffic is redirected through the Arbor solution, stripping out the harmful attack traffic and allowing only legitimate traffic to reach the intended destination.
  
  Who could benefit from DDoS Protection?
  - Sites with the ability to purchase goods/services online
  - Gaming sites
  - High profile organisations
  - Government/Government agencies
  - Sites with high internet traffic
  Any organisation with a web presence can benefit from DDoS protection. We hope our customer sites are never targeted by cyber-criminals, but if they are, the DDoS Protection Solution from iomart will provide a robust and effective defence.
  
  Benefits
  - Secure your business-critical operations
  - Avoid financial losses due to service unavailability
  - Retain your customers and protect your reputation
  - Keep your customer data secure from cyber attacks
  - Always have the most up to date protection available
- How to request additional IP's from MS control panel?
  
  1. Navigate over to Myservers Tab and select the correct IS-reference you're requesting IP’s.
  
  2. Select the Network Request IPV4 Addresses or IPV6 Addressing depending on your requirement.
  
  3. Please carefully read the instructions and fill in the required fields. Please make sure you add a reason for the IP’S requested as this is required for RIPE.
  
  Note: When on a shared IP range your IP entitlement is no more than 30 IP’s after this you will need to request a private subnet which is also chargeable.
- How to edit/change/add IP details within Windows?
  
  1. Search Control Panel in windows search
  
  2. Select Network & Security
  
  3. Select View network status and tasks
  
  4. Then click on Change adapter settings, which opens up Ethernet Interfaces you can edit IP’s on.
  
  5. Right click the required Ethernet Interface to change IP details and select properties.
  
  6. Select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and then properties OK
  
  7. Select Use the following IP address and enter details.
- How to enable RDP in Windows Server 2016?
  
  1. Navigate to “Server Manager” on Windows.
  
  2. Click on “Local Server” and then “Remote Desktop”
  
  3. Windows will then pop up which will give you the following options
  
  Click on “Allow remote connections to this computer” and then press “Apply”.
  
  RDP is now enabled
- How to add DNS (Domain Name Server) records
  
  1. Click “My Domains” and select the relevant domain.
  
  2. Click add record and add the relevant record.
  
  3. Another option is to use our DNS wizard which help you had the basic records.
- How do I update RIPE information?
  
  When trying to change the IP of mail servers via RIPE whois, you will find the search refer to the range owned by IOMART, and any abuse reports will directly come to IOMART and not the client associated to IP.
  
  When your systems are utilising IP’s from our shared pool range, the information present will always be linked with iomart/Rapidswitch
  
  If this is a key attribute you require, you can look towards acquiring a dedicated subnet, but it would mean swapping your existing IPs for a completely new range and slightly greater costs (+ an admin fee). You would also need to confirm if the change would be on one server or multiple systems on the account.
  
  RIPE info required to update details:
  
  person: <Firstname Surname>
  address: <Company name>
  address: <Contact address>
  address: <Contact address>
  address: <Contact address>
  address: <Contact City>
  address: <Contact Code>
  address: <Contact Country>
  phone: <Contact phone number>
  e-mail: <Contact email address>
  abuse-mailbox: <Contact email address>
- Penetration Testing
  
  We allow pen testing as long it is not targeting our own internal systems and infrastructure and will not affect other client’s services.
- Do you licence Cpanel IP’s outside your network?
  
  We do not licence IP's outside our network for Cpanel.
- Can you please tell me what abuse-mailbox is?
  
  You are required to have a mailbox set up for abuse emails. Abuse emails are sent to you where you are found to be in violation of terms and conditions set for IP use.
- Do you enable SNDS on shared ranges?
  
  We are unable to set SNDS on shared IP ranges, however, its possible to do so via private ranges.
- 95th Percentile Bandwidth
-- Bandwidth [1]
- Can I purchase additional bandwidth?
  You most certainly can pre-arrange bandwidth additions if you would like to do so.
  
  We offer a variety of bandwidth limits. Examples include:
  - 1Tb per month
  - 3Tb per month
  - 10Tb per month
  - Unlimited
  The bandwidth used by your device(s) can also be measured in a variety of ways; including based on an individual device’s bandwidth usage, or across multiple devices accosted with the account’s bandwidth usage.
  
  You can use your MyServers control panel to identify how much bandwidth each device is currently using and identify what bandwidth limit is current applied to each device. To do this, after signing in to your MyServers account, navigate to the My Servers tab and then the Bandwidth per Server tab. You will then see a table which displays this information for each device on each account. Under the My Servers tab, you can also see the ‘Total Bandwidth Usage’, ‘BW Graphs per Server’ and ‘BW Graphs per Switch’ tabs; which all also display information on the bandwidth.
  
  If you only require additional bandwidth for a specific amount of time (minimum one month), then we can change the bandwidth limit back to the original limit once you no longer need the additional bandwidth, at your request.
  
  If you do wish to increase your bandwidth limits, please feel free to get in touch and let us know what you want the bandwidth to be set to, and we can work out a price for you. If you have any questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.
-- Connection Speeds [2]
- Do you provide 1GB & 10GB connections?
  
  Yes - we provide both dedicated 1Gb connections and 10Gb connections. We can also provide 1GB vLANs.
  
  Please be aware that, while some hosting companies claim to be providing gigabit connections but in fact share this connection amongst users, we do not do operate in this manor and we provide genuine 1Gb connections.
  
  If you wish to upgrade to a 1Gb / 10Gb connection, please feel free to get in touch by raising a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you. If you are ordering a new server, both 1Gb and 10Gb connection options can be found through our MyServers Shop.
  
  If you are looking at upgrading to gigabit / ten gigabit connectivity, we would advise checking your current burst rate to see if you require in excess of 300Mbps / 3Gbps respectively, before upgrading, as you may also need to request an increase in the port policy of your device’s connection.
  
  If you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What is a 10Gb contended connection?
  
  The 10Gbps connections we offer are 10Gbps/Contended connections; which means we do not guaranty a constant speed of 10Gbps. The speed reached on a 10Gb connection is dependent on several factors, including the location you are trying to reach the server from and the top of the rack switch’s total usage amongst clients in the rack.
  
  If you do have a 10Gb device hosted with us, to make sure other clients within this rack do not impact your service by saturating the top of the rack switch, we operate a fare usage policy; meaning any client who does begin to saturate the switch’s bandwidth through unfair over usage, will have action taken against them, including suspension of service in serious cases.
  
  If you believe the speed of your server is very low, please feel free to run a speed test using third party software and then get in touch with the results in a support ticket. We will then be happy to investigate this issue for you.
  
  If you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
-- Firewalls [2]
- What dedicated firewalls are on offer?
  
  We offer a variety of different firewalls, to cater to a variety of clients’ needs. We currently offer both pfSense firewalls and multiple different Cisco ASA firewall models. We support both NAT’ed and Routed modes; however, you will need a private subnet on your account to have routed mode setup. Also, our firewalls are compatible with both 100Mbit connections and 1Gb connections.
  
  Once you order a new dedicated firewall, our standard package includes an initial configuration to bring the firewall online, then you can make any additional configurations changes you may require going further.
  
  If you have any more questions about firewalls, or if you need help deciding which firewall setup is best for you, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help. You can also purchase a new dedicated firewall through our MyServers shop.
- Can I have cPanel on my server that is behind a firewall?
  
  Yes, you are able to have cPanel on a server behind a firewall. Please be aware that most control panels prefer a routed mode setup on the firewall, however.
  
  If you would like more information on this, just get in touch and our team will be happy to assist.
-- IP Addresses [5]
- Can I have IPv6 addresses?
  
  Yes, we do support and provide IPv6 addresses.
  
  Before you can have an IPv6 address, however, you would need to have a private IPv4 subnet on your account and have IPs from this private subnet assigned to any server that your wish to have an IPv6 address assigned to. I am afraid we cannot supply IPv6 addresses to servers on one of our public subnet ranges.
  
  If you have a private IPv4 subnet and want IPv6, or if you want to order a private IPv4 subnet and then have IPv6 addresses assigned to your account, please get in touch in a ticket and we will discuss having this set up for you.
  
  If you have any more questions, please feel free to look through our FAQ section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
- How many IP addresses can I use with my server?
  
  We provide 1 IPv4 address with each dedicated server purchased through us, as standard, included in the cost of the server. Additional IPv4 addresses can be assigned to a device, either during the setup or added later at any time, for an additional cost.
  
  The maximum number of IPv4 addresses that can be assigned to a single device is dependent on whether the device has IP addresses assigned from a public or private subnet. If you have IP addresses assigned from a public subnet, the maximum amount of addresses that can be assigned is 30 addresses per device. There is no maximum limit per device if you are using IP addresses from a public subnet; you are just limited to the amount of IP addresses available in your subnet.
  
  If you wish to have additional IP addresses assigned to a new server you will be ordering with us, you can select how many address you want assigned to the new server through the MyServers Shop, when you order the server.
  
  If you require additional IP addresses assigned to an existing server, IP addresses are available from our shared subnet ranges for a fee. If you require additional IPv4 addresses assigned to your server from one of our shared subnet ranges, please feel free to get in touch through a support ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  Alternatively, you can have your own private range. We offer a variety of private subnet sizes, so if you want a larger amount of IPs assigned to your account and/or want control over which IPs are assigned where, this may be the better option for you. All subnet requests are subject to being approved and justified in line with RIPE usage guidelines. If you want to discuss ordering a private subnet, please feel free to get in touch through a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  If you already own an IPv4 private subnet range, you are able to assign the available IP addresses from this subnet, to any server on your account through the control panel without letting us know. If you require additional IP addresses, please feel free to get in touch and we will discuss what options are available to you.
  
  If you have any further questions, please look through this FAQ page or raise a ticket with us and we will be happy to help.
- How can I request more IP addresses?
  
  The easiest way to request additional IP addresses is to raise a support ticket through the MyServers control panel; containing how many additional IP addresses you require, which device(s) you would like the additional address(es) assigned to, and if you want an IP address from a public or private subnet.
  
  This way our team will be able to discuss any costs associated with additional IP addresses and ask any justification questions that are required.
  
  If you have any further questions, please look through this FAQ page or raise a ticket with us and we will be happy to help.
- Where can I find my package's IP Address Details / Subnet Details?
  
  You can find the details of your package's IP Address(es) or Subnet through your MyServers customer control panel.
  
  To do this, first login to the MyServers customer control panel, using your credentials.
  
  Once you are logged in, click on the ‘My Servers' tab, and then click on the name of the package you wish to check the details of.
  
  Now, click on ‘Network’ and then click on ‘IPv4 Addresses’.
  
  You will now be presented with the list of IPv4 Addresses assigned to this device, which port on the device they are assigned to, and you can even set some Reverse DNS settings. To find more details about about a specific IPv4 Address, click on the ‘View’ button. Here you can see the DNS servers addresses.
  If you have any more questions, please feel free to look through our FAQ section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
- Do we change the geo-location of our IP's?
  
  We don't change the Geo-Location of IPS, as this is down to the individual customer to do so.

-- Network Connection Problem Troubleshooting [10]

I think that my network connection on my device hosted with you is slow. What should I do?
If you believe that your server is experiencing a slow network connection, you should first consider and check the following:
- Is there anything on your server that may be causing this issue; e.g. a client on your device sending high volumes of traffic?
- Is your server trying to send or receive an abnormally large amount of data?
- Is your server’s connection speed and duplex settings configured correctly? Your server’s connection to our switch should always be set to full duplex and the speed setting should always match what our switch port is set to.
If you have considered and checked the above, and believe that none of these factors could be causing the slow network issue, then we would suggest hard power-cycling your machine to see if this fixes the issue. Please be aware that there is always a chance of data-loss when power-cycling a server, so we can only advise you to power-cycle your machine and the decision to do so must be your own.

If you have considered all the above, attempted to reboot the server, and this has not resolved the issue, please raise a support ticket with the following information and answers to the following questions, so that we can effectively troubleshoot this problem for you:
- Are you experiencing any complete outages or just high latency/delay to your service?
- When did you start to notice the interruption to the service?
- Is the interruption still ongoing? If not, when did it end?
- Can you please supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server from your remote machine (forward direction)?
- Can you please supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine from your hosted server (reverse direction)?
- Please confirm the public address you are using at the remote location; and also the IP address of the affected service hosted with us?
- Can you please confirm the geographical location you are trying to reach the server from?
- Have you have tried to re-boot your server?
- Can you please confirm the speed and duplex settings of this server?
Once you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.
I am experiencing packet loss on my server. What should I do?
If you believe that your server is experiencing packet loss, you should first consider and check the following:
- Is there anything on your server that may be causing this issue?
- Is your server trying to send or receive an abnormally large amount of data / packets? If so, can I resolve this?
- Is your server’s connection speed and duplex settings configured correctly? Your server’s connection(s) to our switch should always be set to full duplex and the speed setting should always match what our switch port is set to.
If you have considered and checked the above, and believe that none of these factors could be causing the slow network issue, then we would suggest hard power-cycling your machine to see if this fixes the issue. Please be aware that there is always a chance of data-loss when power-cycling a server, so we can only advise you to power-cycle your machine and the decision to do so must be your own.

If you have considered all the above, attempted to reboot the server, and this has not resolved the issue, please raise a support ticket with the following information and answers to the following questions, so that we can effectively troubleshoot this problem:
- Are you experiencing a complete outage or high latency/delay to your service?
- When did you start to notice the interruption to service?
- Is the interruption still ongoing? If not, when did it end?
- Can you confirm the speed/duplex setting for the interface with the issue?
- Can you supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server from your remote machine (forward direction)?
- Can you supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine from your hosted server (reverse direction)?
- Please confirm the public address you are using at the remote location; and also the IP address of the affected service hosted with us.
- Have you have tried to re-boot your server?
- Can you please confirm the speed and duplex settings of this server?
Once you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.
I cannot reach my device hosted with you from some external locations, but I can from others. What should I do?
If you have a problem accessing a device hosted with us from one location, but not another, before you get in touch you should consider the following:
- Could this be caused by a software problem on my external device? Does some software need updating?
- Is there a firewall rule on my hosted device or within my infrastructure that could be blocking this access?
If you have considered the above, but cannot find a resolution, please raise a support ticket with the following information:
- The device, IP address / Subnet that cannot be reached.
- The public IP address of the device that cannot reach the device in our DC.
- The geographical location of the device that cannot reach the device in our DC.
- Is this problem with more than one IP/Subnet and/or device, or just the one?
- The OS of the device that cannot be reached (please include the version).
- Is there any firewall rules that could be blocking the access to this device?
- The following Trace Routes:
  - A MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server from your remote machine (forward direction).
  - A MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine from your hosted server (reverse direction).
- The network configuration of the problem device (IP, subnet mask, default gateway, speed and duplex settings).
Once you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.
Two of my devices hosted with you cannot reach each other (routing issue). What should I do?
If you have a routing issue with devices hosted with us, before you get in touch you should consider the following:
- Is there a firewall rule on one of my hosted devices that could be blocking this access?
- Are both servers accessible, online and reachable externally?
If you have considered the above, but cannot find a resolution, please raise a support ticket with the following information:
- The IP address / Subnet that cannot be reached.
- The IP address / Subnet that you are trying to reach it from.
- Is this problem with more than one IP addresses/Subnets and/or device, or just the one?
- Can you reach both devices externally?
- The OS of the devices (please include the version).
- If there any Firewall rules that could be blocking the access to this device?
- Can you please supply bi-directional MTRs of 1000 cycles (from device A to device B; then from device B to device A).
- The network configuration of the problem devices (IP, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, Speed and Duplex settings).
Once you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.
What is an MTR?

MTR, or My Traceroute, is a free network diagnostic tool, designed to combine the functionality of traceroute and ping monitoring programs. A MTR works by sending around one packet per second from the host device to the destination device, while probing the routers along the route path and checking how many packets were lost between each hop.

The results of an MTR will show the host each packet passes through, how many packets have been sent, the percentage of packets lost between hops and the details surrounding the results of Pings on each host. MTRs are often used when there is suspected packet loss between two devices, or a routing issue, to determine if and where any issue may reside. If you suspect either of these two issues are occurring on a device hosted with us, we will require you to run an MTR to help diagnose where the issue is.

Please see our FAQ section for information on how to run MTRs. If you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

How do I run an MTR on a CentOS server?

To run a MTR from a CentOS device, you first need to install the MTR package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your CentOS device before, run the following install commands:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the install of MTR
Command	yum install mtr
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Press Y then enter to confirm you wish to install the MTR package
Command	y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

Once you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to begin the MTR.

When issuing the below command, you will need to enter the IP address of the destination device. What the destination device is depends on what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

Command 3
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.
Command	mtr [insert destination IP address]
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

The MTR will now start running and it should send roughly one packet per second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s IP, under the sent column. You must now leave the MTR running.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent, so the results are accurate.

If you are checking for packet loss, you can use the Loss% column to identify the percentage of packets lost within this hop, and you can use the Host column in line with the Loss% column to identify where the packet loss began. If you are checking for a routing issue, you can use the Host column to identify the path the route has taken.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table and paste it into a text document. If you do identify an issue, you will need these results later. To copy the table from a putty window, you simply need highlight the whole table. You can see an example of a copied table below.

		Packets		Pings
	Host	Loss%	Snt	Last	Avg	Best	Wrst	St	Dev
1	□8.□29.□50.□□	0.00%	1100	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.8	0
2	e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.7	0
	e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
3	e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.9	0
4	po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0
5	□7.□17.□11.□□	0.00%	1100	1.2	1.4	0.9	2.4	0.3
6	□3.□42.□28.□□	0.00%	1100	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.5	0

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the table, press Q to stop the MTR.

You should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table (reverse direction). If you do discover any issues that lie within our network, please supply both MTRs in a support ticket with the details of the problem you are experiencing, and our team will investigate this issue.

If you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

How do I run a MTR on an Ubuntu server?

To run a MTR from an Ubuntu device, you first need to install the MTR package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your Ubuntu device before, run the following install commands:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue the following command to update the list of available packages.
Command	apt-get update -y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the install of MTR
Command	apt install mtr
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command	As you can see in my example above, the MTR package has been replaced by the updated version MTR-Tiny package.

Once you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to begin the MTR.

Command 3
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.
Command	mtr [insert destination IP address]
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

The MTR will now start and it should send roughly one packet per second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s IP, under the sent column.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to make sure that the results are accurate.

		Packets		Pings
	Host	Loss%	Snt	Last	Avg	Best	Wrst	St	Dev
1	□8.□29.□50.□□	0.00%	1100	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.8	0
2	e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.7	0
	e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
3	e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.9	0
4	po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0
5	□7.□17.□11.□□	0.00%	1100	1.2	1.4	0.9	2.4	0.3
6	□3.□42.□28.□□	0.00%	1100	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.5	0

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the table, press Q to stop the MTR.

If you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

How do I run an MTR on a Debian server?

To run a MTR from a Debian device, you first need to install the MTR package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your Debian device before, run the following install commands:

Command 1
Command Description	Issue the following command to update the list of available packages.
Command	apt-get update
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 2
Command Description	Run the following command to install the MTR package.
Command	apt-get install mtr
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command
Command 3
Command Description	Press Y and then enter to confirm you want to download the software.
Command	y
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

Once you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to begin the MTR.

Command 4
Command Description	Issue the following command to start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.
Command	mtr [insert destination IP address]
Image of Command being Run
Image of a Successful Result of Command

The MTR will now have started and it should send roughly one packet per second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s IP, under the sent column.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to make sure the results are accurate.

		Packets		Pings
	Host	Loss%	Snt	Last	Avg	Best	Wrst	St	Dev
1	□8.□29.□50.□□	0.00%	1100	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.8	0
2	e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.7	0
	e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
3	e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.9	0
4	po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net	0.00%	1100	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0
5	□7.□17.□11.□□	0.00%	1100	1.2	1.4	0.9	2.4	0.3
6	□3.□42.□28.□□	0.00%	1100	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.5	0

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the table, press Q to stop the MTR.

You should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table. If you do discover any issues that lie within our network, please supply both MTRs in a support ticket along with details of the issue you are facing and our team will investigate this issue.

If you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

How do I run an MTR on a Windows server?

To run a MTR on a Windows device, you will first need to download a Windows compatible program, capable of running an MTR. The most common piece of software used to run an MTR on a Windows device is WinMTR; you can download this software from WinMTR’s website:

http://winmtr.net/download-winmtr/

Once you are on the WinMTR website, press download on the appropriate version of the software. A .zip file will now download; you will then need to extract all the files from this zip folder. Then locate the appropriate version of the software’s file (x32 Vs x64) and run the WinMTR.exe file. The WinMTR program will now launch.

You now need to enter the IP address of the destination device in the Host text box. Once you have entered the destination device’s IP address, press Start. What the destination device is depends on what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

The MTR should send roughly one packet per second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s IP, under the sent column.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to make sure the result are accurate.

Once the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table and paste it into a word document. If you do identify an issue, you will need these results later. To copy the table, simply press the Copy Text to clipboard button.

You can see an example of a copied table below.

\|	WinMTR statistics															\|
\|	Host	-	%	\|	Sent	\|	Recv	\|	Best	\|	Avrg	\|	Wrst	\|	Last	\|
\|																\|
\|	□0. □4. □. □□□	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	0	\|	4	\|	152	\|	0	\|
\|	593.core2.thn.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1136	\|	1136	\|	1	\|	7	\|	287	\|	9	\|
\|	300.asr2.dc2.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	1	\|	2	\|	59	\|	2	\|
\|	□0. □53. □. □□	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	1	\|	7	\|	238	\|	1	\|
\|	542.core1.dc2.as20860.net	-	2	\|	1086	\|	1073	\|	1	\|	9	\|	344	\|	2	\|
\|	303.asr2.dc2.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	4	\|	74	\|	3	\|
\|	300.core2.thn.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	10	\|	286	\|	4	\|
\|	593.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net	-	1	\|	1132	\|	1131	\|	2	\|	9	\|	145	\|	2	\|
\|	po2-30.bor2.dc5.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	4	\|	78	\|	3	\|
\|	e1-42.lea102.1uf.dc5.as20860.net	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	4	\|	76	\|	3	\|
\|	□8. □29. □18. □□	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	4	\|	76	\|	3	\|
\|	□8. □29. □18. □□	-	0	\|	1137	\|	1137	\|	2	\|	4	\|	78	\|	3	\|

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the table, press the Stop button or simply close the window.

If you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

What is storm control?

A broadcast storm is when we have an excessive amount of broadcast traffic on the network then all devices within the broadcast domain will suffer. The switch has to flood all broadcast frames to interfaces in the same VLAN, hosts within the VLAN might have to process these frames (ARP requests for example).

Too much broadcast traffic could be caused by malicious software but also by a malfunctioning NIC. To protect ourselves against this, Cisco switches offer the storm-control feature which automatically disables the switch port to protect against the switch CPU overheating and potentially taking down other devices in the rack. We configure a threshold on interfaces to set a limit to the number of broadcasts, multicast or unknown unicast traffic and an action when the threshold is exceeded.

As long as limits have been set and adhered, you shouldn’t get any issues with the port dropping.

-- Subnets [2]
- What is the difference between a Public and Private subnet?
  
  We supply IPv4 addresses from two different types of subnets; Public Subnets and Private Subnets.
  
  As standard, our dedicated devices are supplied with an IPv4 address from a public subnet and all additional IP addresses will come from this same public subnet. A public subnet’s IP addresses are shared amongst a multitude of clients; with several clients using addresses from the same subnet. The benefits of having IPv4 addresses from a public subnet is that it is generally cheaper than having a private subnet, per IP address. However, you are limited to 30 IP addresses per device from a shared subnet – so this is only an option for devices that require 30 or less IP addresses on each device, you cannot have IPv6 addresses while on a public subnet, and you cannot directly control which address is assigned to which device under your account.
  
  A private subnet is assigned to a single client; with this client having access to every usable IP addresses within this private subnet. A private subnet is leased through us as a separate product and is billed for monthly. The benefits of having a private subnet is that you have full control over which device each IP address is assigned to, with a private subnet you can also have IPv6 addresses, you can have more than 30 IPs assigned to a single device and only your devices will have access to the vLAN the subnet resides upon, providing greater security. With a private subnet, you are also less likely to be affected by NAC violations. Our private subnets come in a range of sizes, to suit a range of requirements.
  
  Please note, clients cannot have IP addresses assigned to a single device from both a public and a private subnet; it must be one or the other.
  
  If you have any further question or wish to purchase a private subnet, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- Do you provide private subnets?
  
  Yes, we provide both IPv4 and IPv6 private subnets.
  
  We offer private subnets in a variety of sizes; from a /27 to a /24 subnet; to cater to all our client’s needs. You can also have multiple subnets on your account, subject to justification. Our system also allow you to have multiple private subnets placed onto a single vLAN, if you require more ranges/IP within the same vLAN.
  
  All subnet applications are subject to full RIPE justification. Please be aware that you can only have an IPv6 private subnet, if you already have, or have also ordered a private IPv4 subnet.
  
  If you are interested in having a private subnet, please get in touch and we can work out what subnets would be best for you. Please also feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions.
-- vLANS [1]
- Do you provide private vLANs?
  
  Yes, we do offer private vLANs that will be assigned to your account, and can only utilised by devices on your account. Your devices can be attached to the private a vLAN, so traffic sent between these devices attached to this vLAN can be kept separate and secure from other traffic.
  
  VLAN connections can be provided for an additional monthly fee; which we put in place just to cover the costs of the utilised networking infrastructure. We offer both 100Mb and 1Gb vLAN connections; both of which have different pricing associated.
  
  We also allow clients to have multiple vLANs under their account; however, this is subject to justification review.
  
  If you want to add a vLAN connection to an existing device or if you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch, and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
Our Physical Infrastructure & Certification Information [11]
- What is our environmental standards and initiatives?
  
  Iomart are committed to maintaining high environmental standards with our operations and datacentres. We understand that we are not separate from the environment and actively work to improve our impact on the environment.
  
  We qualified for ISO 14001 in 2014. ISO 14001, which is the standard in Energy Management. This focuses on organisations having control in place to ensure energy use is audited and measures are in place to make energy use sustainable. Further information about the ISO can be found here: https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html
  
  Iomart also has a Rainforest concern project, which you can find out further information about here:
  
  https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/corporate-responsibility/rainforest-concern/
  
  Our energy initiatives and bulk power procurement allow for systems hosted with us to enjoy a more efficient and carbon sensitive energy environment, over hosting within a private home or office.
  
  https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html
-- Certificates & Compliance [7]
- What ISO certificates do you have?
  
  We take data and site security very seriously. As such, we routinely have external auditors ISO certify all our sites, with the relevant accreditations for the hosting environment.
  
  As part of the iomart Group, our ISO Accreditations are held under the company name of iomart. Iomart and all our sites are 9001 and 27001 certified. These certificates are recommended by the British government for hosting companies and guarantee that our site’s security, documentation, service standard and processes are all of a high standard, as expected of a data centre. Our ISO accreditations are held with the external auditing company ISOQAR.
  
  The 9001 and 27001 certifications are predominantly used in the UK, but these certificates are of an international standard and are internationally recognised. These ISOs cover data protection, security, compliance and quality of service.
  
  Our compliance with these standards is a continual process, with spot checks being performed by auditors as part of the compliance process, on a regular basis.
  
  If you require more information about our ISO accreditations, please visit iomart’s accreditations webpage, found here:
  
  https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/accreditations/
  
  If you wish to verify our certificates and see our continued compliance, you can do so independently by going through ISOQAR. Our certificate number is '7235'. Here is a link to ISOQAR’S website:
  
  https://www.alcumusgroup.com/isoqar/customer-area/validate-a-certificate
  
  If you have any further questions about our ISO accreditations, please feel free to get in touch.
- Do you offer PCI-compliant hosting?
  
  Yes we do. PCI compliance can be an onerous undertaking, both in regards to research and implementation, so if you are interested in finding out more, simply contact a member of our team who will be happy to help and discuss this with you.
  
  If you have any further questions, please feel free to look through our FAQ section, or feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
- Rapidswitch/iomart are GDPR Compliant?
  
  Rapidswitch/iomart are GDPR compliant
  
  GDPR compliance can’t actually be “certified” as there is no official certification process. However, you can rest assured that iomart fully satisfies all our obligations under the new regulations.
  
  As the UK’s most accredited provider of managed cloud services, we build data protection and data security into every aspect of our operations. We continue to incorporate our multiple ISO accreditations plus international guidelines and codes of practice into our management standards.
  
  Iomart (Our parent company) are ISO 9001 and 27001 certified.
  These ISOs cover data protection, security, compliance and quality of service.
  
  Iomart's ISO accreditations are held with Isoqar.
  
  To ensure our continued compliance, third parties can verify our ISO status by contacting Isoqar.
  
  Their contact details can be found on: https://www.alcumusgroup.com/certification-and-accreditation/
  
  Our certificate number is 7235 (Please use this to verify our ISO status when contacting Isoqar)
  
  What does this mean for iomart customers?
  
  GDPR splits organisations into Data Processors and Data Controllers. Data Controllers (i.e. our customers) determine the means and purposes of collecting personal data. Data Processors (i.e. iomart) is responsible for processing that data on behalf of the Data Controller.
  
  There are some specific obligations that relate to each type of organisation under GDPR. iomart has done everything required to ensure we meet the Data Processor obligations, but, while this does help our customers, it, unfortunately, doesn’t automatically mean that our customers meet all the requirements of being a Data Controller.
- Are your Datacentres PCI Compliant?
  
  As a business, we are PCI compliant and have our own DR and BC documentation.
  
  For our customers, we can also provide a PCI compliant platform and DR and BC plans. However, our customers are not able to use our PCI compliance to be compliant themselves, nor does us as the hosting provider having a DR or BC plan protect customers that do not have such plans in place.
- Do you have documents/reports for independant assurance certification, similar to ISAE?
  
  We do not have a SOC report to hand as iomart does not have a ISAE 3402 SOC report that it can be shared.
  
  As a UK company, the iomart Group is not required to be compliant with this standard. However, I believe iomart does meet the intricacies of this standard.
  
  Firstly, being listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since 2000, the iomart Group plc has to meet the stringent regulatory requirements of the stock market and is therefore independently audited every six months with reports and documents published at http://www.iomart.com/investors/
  
  Secondly, our accredited management systems which cover our operational sites in the UK include ISO 9001:2015 for quality assurance, ISO 27001:2013 for information security and ISO 20000-1:2011 for IT service.
  
  They are all independently assessed every 6 months by an assessor from ISOQAR, a UKAS accredited certifying body. The auditor determines the effectiveness of the service controls in place and conformity with these global standards.
-- Data Centre Site Information [3]
- What type of security do your data centre sites have?
  We maintain a high level of security across all of our data centre sites.
  
  Our security procedures and infrastructure include, but are not limited to:
  - 24x7, 365 days a year manned security and site monitoring.
  - Biometric access policies.
  - Smart Card access policies.
  - Internal and external CCTV systems, running and monitored 24x7, 365 days a year.
  - Security breach alarms.
  We also have strict procedures in place for any visitors coming to our data centre; including:
  - All visitors must have a genuine reason to visit a site.
  - All visitors must provide us with at least 24 hour notice before coming onto site.
  - All visitors must have a valid form of photo identification.
  - All visitors must have the access code, which was generated for this visit.
  - Once they arrive, all visitors will only have access to the section of the site they require access to.
  - We retain the right to deny access to anyone who breaks any of the terms above.
  Our site security policies are regularly audited, by a third party auditing company, as part of our security ISO certificates. To find out more, please read the FAQ section on “What ISO certificates do you have?”.
  
  If you have any further questions about our sites, please look through our FAQ section or feel free to get in touch, and we will be happy to help.
- What are your data centres like?
  We have several data centre sites spread across the UK and even some sites around the globe. Our data centres vary in size and setup; but all maintain high levels of security and quality of service.
  
  Our data centres have:
  - Strict security policies; including:
    - 24x7, 365 days a year manned security and monitoring
    - Smart card and/or biometric access policies
    - Internal and external CCTV systems
    - Security breach alarms.
  - Back-up power infrastructure; including:
    - Generators
    - UPS units
    - Dual independent power feeds.
  - 24x7, 365 days a year support; with our sites having Network Operations Centre engineers on site all year round, ready to help.
  - Stable environmental conditions; including:
    - 24x7 environmental monitoring systems
    - Constant evaluation and testing of all environmental control systems
    - N+1 redundant Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems
    - Fully redundant air handling units which provide constant fresh airflow
    - In-built fire suppression systems.
  - Network Interconnectivity; including:
    - Diverse fibre routing via multiple carriers
    - Cross connection to a number of Tier 1 carriers
    - Scalable architecture, including multiple redundant core switches and routers
  As part of the Iomart group, you can find more details about our data centre sites through iomart’s website:
  
  https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/uk-data-centres/
  
  If you have any further question which are not answered by our FAQ page or iomart’s webpage, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What is your Datacentre Infrastructure Tier
  Our Datacentre Infrastructure is Tier 3
  
  A Tier 3 data centre has multiple paths for power and cooling and systems in place to update and maintain it without taking it offline. It has an expected uptime of 99.982% (1.6 hours of downtime annually).
  
  Fundamentally, your applications should be hosted in at least a Tier 2 data centre but preferably Tiers 3 or 4. The Tier system is a guide for the datacentre infrastructure design
  
  As you move up each Tier you can expect more redundancy:
  - Tier 2 data centres: redundant capacity components
  - Tier 3 data centres: meet or exceed Tier 2 requirements; multiple independent distribution paths that serve IT equipment; hardware is dual powered
  - Tier 4 data centres: meet or exceed Tier 3 requirements; the facility is fault-tolerant through electrical, storage and distribution networks; cooling equipment is dual powered.
  The Tier system can be used as a rough indicator of how much downtime you can expect from your application’s data centre.
  
  As Tier level corresponds to cost, you need to decide what level of redundancy you can afford and potentially how much application downtime you can accept.
  
  Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 4, for example, will increase your hosting costs significantly.

Products & Services [75]

cPanel Licencing Prices

Dedi / Cloud	License	Number of websites	Monthly Cost
Physical Dedi	Premier	100	£34.50
Physical Dedi	Premier bulk	Every site over the first 100	£0.20 per additional website
Cloud	Premier	30 - 100	£34.50
Cloud	Premier bulk	Every site over the first 100	£0.20 per additional website
Cloud	Plus	31 - 50	£27
Cloud	Pro	6 - 30	£21.50
Cloud	Admin	2-5	£15
Cloud	Solo	1	£10

How long does it take for my server to be built?

At RapidSwitch/Redstation we allow 24/48 hours for a custom server to be built, however, if this is a pre-built system from our store, we aim to have the system deployed in under four hours.
Do we store collocated equipment?

The Client accepts full responsibility for the delivery and collection of their equipment to the data centre and shall ensure that it reaches us in working condition. RapidSwitch does not accept any liability for any loss or damage caused in transit to and from the data centre. When the server is delivered, the packaging it is delivered in will be disposed of. If the client wishes the packaging to be stored, they must explicitly inform us by writing in advance, and this will be charged at a standard rate of £35 per week, or part thereof.

The Client shall not be entitled to collect their server for maintenance or otherwise unless all unpaid fees for the Services are paid in full prior to such collection.

Where the Services are terminated, RapidSwitch will store the Client’s equipment without charge for 7 days but recommend it is collected as soon as practicable. If the equipment is stored beyond this period, there will be a storage charge of £35 per week per item of equipment.

RapidSwitch reserves the right to exercise a lien over the Client’s server(s) in respect of any unpaid fees and shall be entitled, but not obliged, to sell the server(s) if it is not collected after one (1) month from the termination date in order to recoup any unpaid fees. RapidSwitch reserves the right to dispose of any of the Client’s equipment, without any liability to the client, which has not been collected from the RapidSwitch premises after one (1) month from the termination date.

Physical Access To Colocated Servers

Physical access to shared racks used by more than one RapidSwitch client is not permitted under any circumstance. To gain physical access, the Client may request usage of the Build Room. This is subject to availability and is charged for at £30 per hour or part thereof. If available, RapidSwitch will remove the Client’s equipment to the Build Room, and allow the Client access to the equipment in the Build Room.

Insurance Of Collocated Equipment

RapidSwitch will ensure all servers and associated equipment against the risks of accidental damage (including fire and theft) for as long as such equipment is under RapidSwitch’s control and located at RapidSwitch’s data centre at Spectrum House, Clivemont Road, Maidenhead. RapidSwitch will not be responsible for any loss of data and/or software from any Client’s server or associated equipment. The insurance of any loss of data and/or software is not part of this Agreement. RapidSwitch does not insure its clients against loss of data and/or software or any consequential loss arising from a loss of data and/or software. All insurance arranged for clients’ servers and equipment will be subject to the terms and conditions of the insurance policy arranged by RapidSwitch at the time of any loss or damage.
Server alerts to personal devices?

1. Select My Servers tab and then select your IS-REF you wish to set alerts on.

2. Navigate over to the health dropdown and click on Alerts.

3. Add an Alert and then select your alert types in the dropdown and save.
How to cancel server?

Servers can be cancelled Via the Myservers Portal.

When requesting a cancellation please be aware you would need to provide us with a 30 days notice period.

The cancellation request can be found in the Server Page as shown in the diagram below:

General Tab - Cancel Server
How to request a recovery session (KVM)?

Recovery session allows you to directly connect to the server remotely and control rebooting, configuring BIOS, installing OS versions, General/network troubleshooting.

Please note, we offer 1 free KVM session every month, if you require more than this, this is chargeable of £20 per 4-hour session.

Navigate to the “MyServers” tab and your servers will be listed, then find the server that you would like to request the KVM on and click into it.

On the right-hand side press into the “Support” tab and a drop-down menu will appear.

This will then take you to the following page where you can request for a KVM to be attached.

Once the KVM has been requested, please allow around 30 minutes for the KVM to be attached during busy periods. Once the KVM has been activated, you will automatically receive credentials for logging in via VNC viewer

-- Cancelling Products & Services [1]
- What are the cancellation terms?
  
  Our standard cancellation terms is that our clients must provide a minimum of 30 days’ notice before a service can be cancelled. The 30 days’ notice period is outlined in our terms and conditions:
  
  "This Agreement shall come into effect upon the date of this Agreement and, subject to the provisions of this Agreement shall continue in force for an initial term of 1 month from the date the Services are available to the Client and indefinitely after that until terminated by either party giving not less than 30 days prior written notice to expire on or after the expiry date of the initial term."
  
  If you have a contract on your server or any bespoke agreements made with our Sales team, the standard 30 day cancellation terms may not apply to you.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
-- Cloud Hosting [3]
- Do you offer Cloud Hosting?
  
  We do offer cloud hosting. We offer and can provision any client with an Enterprise Cloud Server (Virtual Machine) on our shared platform (public cloud).
  
  Our Enterprise Cloud Servers are hosted on our CloudSure platform and can be provisioned in the time it takes to install the operating system.
  
  Alternately, you can use one of our dedicated servers to build your own cloud (private cloud); or you can even mix the two to create a Hybrid Cloud environment. Which option would be best for your requirements depends on how much storage space, memory capacity and processor power you require.
  
  Both options are available through our MyServers Shop; where you can see what specifications we offer and the applicable pricing.
  
  If you have any questions, or require more detail, please feel free to get in touch and one of our team members will be happy to help.
- Do you offer virtual shared storage space?
  
  We do indeed offer shared storage space. We have our own replicated SAN platform, which we can use to provide you with storage space that can be connected to your server, as a network drive.
  
  Our shared storage is hosted on SAN devices that are off-site, which means that your backed-up data would be protected from either network or power failures within the data-centre your server is hosted in
  
  Alternatively, you can take out your own dedicated SAN device or an additional dedicated server, which are more cost effective options when there is a larger storage requirements (above 2TB of storage space).
  
  If you are thinking about using shared storage as a back-up option, please see the section on “What back-up options do you offer?” to see what other back-up option we offer.
  
  Please be aware that our shared NAS option is currently only available at selected data centre sites within our infrastructure. If you are interested in a shared storage, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to advise if this is available within your server’s data centre, currently.
  
  Please contact us to discuss what your storage requirements are and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
- What platform do your Enterprise Cloud Servers use?
  
  Our latest Enterprise Cloud Servers are hosted within our CloudSure platform.
  
  Our CloudSure platform has been built with no single points of failure. It uses the latest generation server technology, runs on the latest version of Enterprise Plus licensed VMware ESXi, and uses only high-end Dell EMC SAN devices for storage.
  
  The Enterprise Cloud Servers utilises our Bare Metal rapid provisioning and set up service, allowing us to deploy you a new VM within a click of a button. Our CloudSure platform allow us to hand over the entire virtual server and its compute power to a single customer. With no virtualisation or hypervisor, you get full configurability to exactly meet your specifications. Our setup eliminates the potential for performance lag, sometimes experienced by virtualisation hypervisors, caused by sharing resources.
  
  Increasing demands for greater processing power are being driven by the big data explosion; we offer an effective and powerful cloud option – providing you with root access and exclusive control.
  
  If you wish to discuss cloud platforms further, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
-- Colocation [2]
- What is Shared Colocation?
  
  One of the hosting packages we offer is ‘Shared Colocation’. You can find this package through our MyServers Shop.
  
  To understand what ‘Shared Colocation’ is, you must first understand what colocation hosting involves. Colocation differs from dedicated hosting, as colocated devices belong to the client, while dedicated devices belong to the hosting company and access to these devices are leased to our clients.
  
  Our shared colocation package involves a client buying their own hardware devices (e.g. a server) through a third party, configuring the devices with their own data and configuration, and then sending the device to one of our UK data-centres to be hosted. The hosting company, us, simply supply the necessary network and power connections.
  
  The benefits of colocated hosting is that you have more control over what hardware is used in your setup. However, unlike with dedicated servers, the hosting company is not responsible for the hardware of any colocated devices. With colocated devices, we are not responsible for replacing any faulty hardware; we are responsible for our infrastructure only. This also means that a client with a colocated device would need to have a greater understanding of hardware; as they would be responsible for their device’s maintenance.
  
  The ‘Shared’ part of our shared colocation package refers to the fact that the colocated devices would be hosted within a rack shared by multiple clients; opposed to a client being provided with an entire rack/part of a rack devoted to their equipment.
  
  If you have any further questions about our Shared Colocation package, or wish to discuss if a colocated or dedicated device would be better for you, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- Cancelling your colo server and arranging collection?
  Cancelling your colo server and arranging collection, we offer the below options:
  - We can de-rack server and have it ready for collection free of charge.
  - We can de-rack server, and safely package it. Please note Packaging is chargeable to £30 per box, if required we can also provide you with package dimensions. You will be required to arrange your own courier service/costs. We accept pre-paid postage stickers sent via tickets to be attached if needed
  We can only store equipment in our goods-out area for 7 days. If the equipment is stored for longer than 1 week, a fee of £25 per week, per device will be added to your account.
  
  Before collection please note and provide info:
  - Will, you (or another named individual) or a courier company be collecting the device. Photographic identification will be required for named individuals collecting.
  - You will be required to pay outstanding invoices/account balance before we can release any equipment as being part of our policy
  Site address & contact details can be found below:
  
  DC5
  
  RapidSwitch,IOMART
  Spectrum House
  Clivemont Road,
  Maidenhead,
  SL6 7FW
  
  Tel: 01753 471 040
  
  DC3
  
  iomart hosting
  
  2-6 Fishergate
  
  Nottingham
  
  NG1 1FY
  
  DC9
  
  Redstation Limited
  2 Frater Gate Business Park
  Gosport Hampshire,
  
  PO13 0GW
-- Customer Services & Support Team [1]
- What if I need help or want to speak to someone about an issue?
  
  We offer 24x7, all year round support and our teams are always happy to help with any issues or queries you may have.
  
  Our ticketing system is constantly monitored by multiple support teams, who will always promptly respond to any of your questions or support requests raised through our ticketing system. So if you have any issues or questions, which are not answered here in our FAQ section, please feel free to raise a support ticket through MyServers, and a member of our team will be happy to help you.
  
  We also have a support phone line which also operates 24x7, all year round. Our phone number can be found on our MyServers control panel. If the issue is urgent and/or you wish to talk to a member of our team on the phone, the please feel free to use our support line. We would always suggest raising a support ticket first, before phoning our support line, so we can use this ticket as a basis of any actions that need to be taken as a result of the call.
  
  We have a dedicated customer services team, which work Monday to Friday 9:00-17:00 (GMT/BST), who are always happy to assist with all manner of enquiries, from upgrades and support requests, to service migrations and pre-sales assistance.
  
  Outside of weekly office hours and at weekends you can escalate any urgent enquiries to a member of the support team via our ticketing system or phone line.
  
  The customer services team and our support teams are there to help, so please feel free to utilise them - our primary aim is your full satisfaction with our service.
-- Cutting Costs [2]
- How can I reduce the price of my service?
  
  There are two main ways to reduce the price of your service; without down-grading any of your products or services.
  
  The first is to enter into a contract term for the service - usually between 12 and 36 months. The price reduction will increase in correlation with contract term increases. This can be applied to both existing and new server orders.
  
  The second is to pay an upfront setup fee to reduce the on-going monthly price of the server. The larger the setup fee, the lower the on-going monthly fee. If you are trying to reduce the monthly cost of a server after the activation date, in some instances, you can still pay a ‘set-up’ fee to reduce the cost.
  
  If you are interested in either of these two options, please feel to raise a ticket through the MyServers control panel setting out the terms you would be interested in, and one of the members of our team will be in touch to discuss this with you.
- Can I pay the setup fee after ordering the server?
  
  It varies on a case by case basis, but it is usually possible to pay a setup fee or 'additional contribution', in order to reduce the on-going monthly fee of the server.
  
  This often occurs when a trial project turns into a longer term investment, or perhaps if your client is trailing your own services before committing to a longer term agreement.
  
  If you are interested in paying a setup fee for the server, please get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you.
-- Data Backups [3]
- Do you backup my server’s data?
  
  As a managed infrastructure provider, we do not backup the data on our customer’s servers by default. Taking back-ups of data and configuration is the responsibility of the client, but with this being said, we do have a number of backup solutions you can choose from.
  
  See below in the “What back-up options do you offer?” section for more details on what back-up options we currently offer; or please contact us with your requirements and we will assist with choosing the best backup solution.
  
  If you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- Should I back-up the data on my server?
  
  Yes, we strongly encourage all our clients to always back-up any important data or configuration that they would not want to lose, on a regular basis, to a device that is external from their primary server(s).
  
  Due to the nature of hardware, there is always an unavoidable possibility that a component of your set-up may become faulty; which may lead to data loss. We will always replace any faulty hardware that we are alerted to, however, we cannot recover any data that may be loss due to this hardware failure. As a managed infrastructure service provider, we are not responsible for any data loss; so it is our client’s responsibility to make sure any data of theirs is backed up in a manor that minimises the chances of their data being lost.
  
  If you have any questions about back-ups or need help with a back-up solution, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What back-up options do you offer?
  
  We offer a variety of back-up options, to cater to a variety of needs. Which one would be best for you, depends on your requirements. Please read through the following options, to see which one best meets your requirements:
  
  Additional server – One option would be to have an additional dedicated server set-up with us; working as a back-up / fail over server.
  
  Both your main server and your additional backup sever would have a VLAN connection, connecting the two servers together. The additional server would be entirely managed by yourselves; so it would be up to you to configure your new dedicated backup server to your requirements, and to setup and install any backups/failovers between the two servers.
  
  The benefits of having an additional server are that the additional server can have as much storage space as is required; if your primary server were to fail, you would have complete server redundancy, and you would always have access to your configuration and data through your secondary server (or vice versa); and you can have multiple servers connected to the back-up server, through the single VLAN, meaning you could have one back-up server for multiple devices.
  
  The pricing of this option would depend on the required hardware specifications of the additional server; but you can use our shop to judge pricing based on specification. Having an additional server set-up is often the most cost effective option and is one of the most popular options amongst our clients.
  
  Shared NAS Space – Another option would be to have space allocated from one of our shared NAS device platform; and have this space connected to your server as a network drive. This is only an option if 2TB or less of back-up space is required. Also, this option is currently only available at certain data centres within our infrastructure. If this is an option you may be interested in, please get in touch to see if this option is available at the data centre your server is hosted at.
  
  Our shared NAS devices are an off-site backup option, which is relatively affordable for low amounts of storage space (2TBs or less). The NAS space would be mapped to your server as a network drive; so it would be easy for you to access from your server. As the NAS device is off-site, your backed-up data would be protected from either network or power failures within the data-centre your server is hosted in. However, this can often be more expensive than taking out a second dedicated server with us when you need to backup multiple devices, as multiple servers cannot see the same shared NAS backup space; which means if you have multiple servers with us, each server would require its own NAS space.
  
  A Dedicates NAS Device – A third option would be to have a dedicated NAS device hosted within our data-centre.
  
  A dedicated NAS unit would be a storage device, independent from your main server, which has a large amount of scalable storage space. This option is best for client’s who require a very large amount of data to be stored; but is one of our more expensive options. It is often more cost effective to have an additional dedicated server set-up with us; with large amount of storage space. If you would prefer a dedicated NAS device, please let us know and a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  The benefits of having a dedicated NAS device are that multiple devices can be attached to the NAS device through a vLAN, it has the largest amount of storage capacity out of all our back-up options and the amount storage space within the NAS unit is continually scalable, as most NAS chassis allow for expansion units to be attached.
  
  Avamar Backup Solution – Our last backup option is our Bare Metal Restore (BMR) RapidStore Avamar backup package.
  
  The Avamar backup package is our complete enterprise level backup solution. It takes off-site backups, so your backed-up data would be protected from either network or power failures within the data-centre your server is hosted in; allows multiple servers to be backed-up to the same RapidStore account; puts you (the client) in control of the back-ups, allowing you to manage your own back-up account, take any back-ups or restores that are required, on-demand; it works quickly; and can store as much or as little data as you want. The storage amount is set by a monthly allowance, but you can go above your monthly allocated storage allowance if required; however, overage charges will be allocated when this occurs. This option is best for client’s who require less than 2TB of data stored and require an easy-to-use solution; but, due to its nature, is a more expensive option. Please note, Avamar is not compatible with Debian or Ubuntu operating systems.
  
  Please contact us with your requirements and any questions you may have about our back-up options, and we will assist with choosing the best backup solution.
-- Domains [4]
- Can I transfer domains in/out from yourselves?
  
  Yes, certainly. The transfer method depends on the type of domain, so is handled manually by a member of our team. If you want to transfer a domain in/out, please raise a support ticket through your MyServers control panel and we will be happy to help.
  
  Simply let us know what domain you wish to transfer to us and we will explain the relevant process.
  
  We do not charge for transferring domains out. Domains transferred in may incur a mandatory renewal fee on transfer, which is outside of our control and applicable to all registrars.
  
  If you wish to transfer any domains or have any questions about the transferal process, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
- How do I renew my domain?
  
  All domain renewals can be carried out via the MyServers control panel. Unless you have chosen not to, you will receive a notice to say that the domain is going to expire and it’s up to you whether you would like to renew the domain or not.
  
  In some cases you can setup your domain to auto renew in the MyServers control panel. If, for some reason, the auto-renewal option is not available to you, please let us know which domain you are looking to renew in a support ticket and we will setup the domain to auto-renew for you.
  
  If you have any questions, please get in touch via a ticket and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- Do you offer DNS hosting?
  
  We do offer DNS hosting.
  
  We can provide DNS-only hosting for customers with domains registered elsewhere for a fee; or customers who have a domain registered through us can use our free DNS hosting service.
  
  Please note that our 100% uptime guarantee isn't applicable to our DNS hosting platform.
  
  If you are interested in DNS hosting with us or if you have any further questions, please raise a ticket through your MyServers control panel, and a member of our team will be in touch.
- How to purchase a domain?
  
  1. Click “My Domains”
  
  2. Click “Register Domains”
  
  3. Enter a name and select the top-level domain (TLD) in the dropdown menu.
  
  4. Click “Check Availability”
  
  5. Select the domain(s) you would like to purchase.
  
  6. Click “Choose Domains”
-- New Dedicated Server Post-Purchase Questions [2]
- I have just ordered a new server; how soon will my server be ready?
  
  We always aim to deploy new server orders as quickly as possible; as we know how crucial it can be for our client’s to have their new devices up and running as soon as possible. The specific ETA for your new device is dependent on whether the device ordered was a pre-built device, a customer order or a large deployment.
  
  Our dedicated systems infrastructure is largely automated - as it resides within our Bare Metal system - and is designed in a way which allows us to deploy systems with as little human intervention as possible. With this in mind, our servers are pre-built to set specifications, which are designed to match the configurations listed on our MyServers shop. We refer to these as pre-built chassis. If you have ordered a new ‘Pre-Built Chassis’ or ‘Dedicated Server’ through our MyServers shop, or if you have purchased a pre-built chassis listed by a member of our customer service/sales team, your server will use one of these pre-built chassis and will allow us to use our automated system to its full potential. Due to this, these server will be ready within 42 hours of the order being received; however, most of these types of servers are deployed within 4 hours of the order being place.
  
  Our Enterprise Cloud Servers also utilise our automated Bare Metal systems; thus have the same deployment window as our pre-built chassis of 42 hours, however, are normally deployed within 4 hours.
  
  If you have ordered a custom dedicated server, through our sales or customer services teams, we will still aim to get the server deployed within 42 hours; however, due to the ‘custom’ aspect of the order, these deployments often take longer to deploy than pre-built server.
  
  If you have ordered a large or complicated deployment through us (multiple servers, firewalls, SANs, etc), as this is a larger and/or more complex deployment, the deployment will more than likely take longer to provision. If you need an ETA for a larger deployment, please feel free to get in touch, and we will try provide you with an ETA as accurately as possible.
  
  If you have any questions about an order you have placed, feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- How do I access my new server?
  
  There are several different ways of accessing a server remotely. How you access your server depends on what operating system has been installed onto your server and if you were provided with any OOB remote management access to your device.
  
  Credentials for any operating system, control panel and/or OOB remote management installed onto your server can be found on the IS/VS page of your new server. As soon as your server has been deployed and activated, full instructions on how to access your server will be sent to you via email and through our MyServers portal.
  
  Below are some examples of ways in which you can access your new server, depending on the configuration of the device.
  
  Windows Server Operating System - If you have ordered a server with the Windows Server operating system installed onto it, you will be able to access your server through the Remote Desktop Connection Windows software, or through a similar piece of RDP software, remotely.
  
  If you decide to use Remote Desktop Connection to access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new server, which can be found under the My Servers tab on MyServers. You now need to take a note of the default IP address of your server, which you can find by clicking on Show All in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default IP address is the one with a green tick in the Def column.
  
  You then need to open Remote Desktop Connection and enter the server’s default external IP address into the Computer text box and then press Connect.
  
  You now need to enter the credentials for the server’s operating system. To find the credentials for the Windows OS, return to the IS/VS page of the server and locate RDP within the Credentials table, then press the button. Then enter these credentials into the Remote Desktop Connection software username and password fields and press Ok. You may need to press ‘Use another account’ before you are able to enter a username.
  
  You should now have accessed the server’s operating system. If this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the server’s operating system will be automatically removed from MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days).
  
  If you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.
  
  Linux Operating System (CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian) - If you have ordered a server with a Linux operating system installed (e.g. CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu), you will be able to access your server through a SSH client, such as PuTTY.
  
  If you decide to use PuTTY to access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new server, which can be found under the My Servers tab of MyServers. You now need to take a note of the default IP address of your server, which you can find by clicking on Show All in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default IP address is the one with a green tick in the Def column.
  
  You then simply need to open PuTTY and enter the server’s default external IP address into the Host Name text box. After entering the IP address, make sure that SSH is selected in the below radius boxes and enter the access port number in the Port box. For all our Linux OS installs, the default port number of 22 is used. Then press Open.
  
  You will have now accessed the server’s Linux Operating System. Now you need to enter the credentials for the server’s operating system. To find the credentials for the Linux OS, return to the IS/VS page of the server and locate SSH within the Credentials table, then press the button. Now enter the username into the PuTTY shell and press Enter; then enter the password and press Enter. Please note, as you enter the password, no characters will appear to show that you are typing.
  
  You should now have logged into the server’s operating system. If this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the server’s operating system will be automatically removed from MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days).
  
  If you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.
  
  VMware ESXI - If you have ordered a server with VMware ESXI installed, you will be able to remotely access your server through a compatible web-browser.
  
  To access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new server, which can be found under the My Servers tab. You now need to take a note of the default IP address of your server, which you can find by clicking on Show All in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default IP address is the one with a green tick in the Def column.
  
  You then need to open a compatible web-browser and enter the server’s default external IP address into the URL box (most popular web-browsers should be compatible).
  
  You will have now accessed the server’s login screen. You now need to enter the credentials for the server’s operating system. To find the credentials for the ESXI OS, return to the IS/VS page of the server and locate SSH within the Credentials table, then press the button. Now enter the username and password in the VMware control panel.
  
  You should now have logged into the server’s operating system. If this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the server’s operating system will be automatically removed from MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days).
  
  If you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.
  
  OOB Remote Management - If you have ordered a server with OOB Remote Management (e.g. iDRAC, iLO, IPMI), you will be able to access your server through a compatible web-browser.
  
  To remotely access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new server, which can be found under the My Servers tab of MyServers. You now need to take a note of the remote management’s IP address/URL and credentials. Locate LOM/HTTPs within the Credentials table and then pressing the button to see the credentials and the IP address/URL (shown as location) for the remote management software.
  
  You then need to open a compatible web-browser and enter the remote management’s IP address/web-address into the URL box (most popular web-browsers should be compatible).
  
  You will have now accessed the remote management’s login screen (please note, you may need advance beyond some privacy warnings). You now need to enter the credentials. Please note, depending on the make and model of your server, the below may look different from what your remote management’s software looks like.
  
  You should now have logged into the server’s remote management system. If this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the server’s remote management will be automatically removed from MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days).
  
  If you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.
-- Operating Systems & Additional Software [4]
- Can I have an Operating System not available on your MyServers Shop installed on my server?
  
  You are more than welcome to have any operating system you wish running our dedicated servers; however, I am afraid that the only operating systems we are able to install are the ones available through our MyServers Shop. If you do want an operating system running on your server that is not available through our shop, we do offer the option for you to install any operating system you wish onto a server.
  
  If you do want to install your own OS onto a new server you are ordering, you are able to select the ‘Install Your Own OS’ option on the MyServers Shop, under the OS option.
  
  If you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What Operating Systems Support cPanel?
  
  The only Operating System which we would install onto a dedicated server, which supports cPanel is CentOS. If you would like to have a system with cPanel installed, we would need to install CentOS on this system first.
  
  If you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What are the iomart developed programs / tools on my Dedicated Server used for?
  
  Some software that we (iomart) have developed is installed on any Dedicated Server which we install an Operating System on, but they are nothing to be concerned about,
  
  These tools are installed to work with our automated system and allow us to automate some of our support tasks; allowing us to more effectively host your platform and provide support. Going forward, they will also allow you to make changes to your Dedicated Server, through our MyServers panel, at a touch of a button.
  
  Any tools and software installed on your system would have been deployed during our OS build process.
  These tools are installed to work with our automated system and allow us to automate some of our support tasks; allowing us to more effectively host your platform and provide continuous support.
  
  Since GDPR regulations our system automatically removes credentials from the control panel, forcing us to make sure customers are taking note of these when builds are handed over.
  Please rest assured our policy is very security-driven and at no point would we ever access your server at any point.
  
  One example of software we installed is called Octopus; which is an SPLA tool we developed. For more details on this specific piece of software, please search Octopus on our FAQ.
-- Purchasing a New Dedicated Server [5]
- I have seen the same server with another provider elsewhere for less. Will you match the price?
  
  We do have a UK price-match policy against any competitors with a comparable service level, subject to a review by our sales team.
  
  If you'd like us to price match a server simply contact us with the specifications and supplier, and we will take it from there. If you can also provide us with a link to where this device is advertised, this can also help speed up the process.
  
  Due to the significant difference in operating costs in Europe and other continents, we cannot price match non-UK suppliers.
- What is the difference between your Value, Plus and Premium range?
  
  We offer three main ranges of dedicated servers on a permanent basis; Value, Plus and Premium. These packages differ in regards to the minimum and maximum specifications of the server hardware provided within these packages and the cost associated with the devices. Which package would be best for you, depends on your requirements, what you plan to use your server for and your budget.
  
  Our Value range provides you with a dedicated server that represents exceptional value for money. You will get access to your own dedicated server that can have up to 64GB of RAM, dual or quad core processors, and up to four hard drives or SSDs. They provide the upgraded performance of dedicated hardware, if you are migrating from a VPS. Our value range of dedicated servers are ideally suited for website hosting, application development, and small e-commerce sites.
  
  The Plus range represents high-performing, latest-generation hardware, without moving into enterprise level grade attributes and features. The plus ranges’ dedicated servers are dual 20 core processor systems, with 128GB of RAM as standard (which can be upgraded up to 1TB of RAM), and can support large amounts of storage. These systems are our most popular package, as they offer performance and scalability without significant cost. Ideal for any application requiring additional resources and performance beyond the value range.
  
  Finally, the Premium range is the pinnacle of hardware choice. The premium range servers come with enterprise-grade features such as flash-cache RAID cards and fibre-channel card support, they support up to 1.5TB of RAM, have quad 56 / 64 processors, redundant power supplies and support up to 24 drives. These systems are ideal for clients who require the highest level of performance for the systems they will be running.
  
  In addition to the Value, Plus and Premium packages, we also regularly offer special deals through our MyServers portal Shop, under the Dedicated Servers section, including servers that have a lower specification and price then our Value range. We also have a new ‘Pre-Built chassis’ section on our MyServers Shop. This section lists set specification of server with set prices. With this in mind, please check our shop for our latest full range of servers that we are currently providing.
  
  If you wish to discuss alternative specification dedicated servers, or have any questions about the packages / servers we offer, please feel free to raise a ticket through our MyServers control panel and a member of our team will be happy to help.
- Can I get a different specification of server to the one on your website?
  
  Of course! As well as the set server specifications listed on our MyServer Shop, we also can also provision servers with customer specified specifications, to provide a tailored product to our client’s needs. This allows our customers to have more control over the configuration of their new devices, beyond the options available through the shop.
  
  The specifications on our MyServers shop are our ‘pre-built’ servers; which means they are already built to the correct specifications and just require small configuration changes and an operating system installed. We also offer ‘custom build’ servers, which offer a wider variety in specifications then the ones listed on our website, and can be used to tailor a system to your specific needs. Please note, however, custom build servers incur additional fees and can require more build time, compared to our pre-built servers.
  
  Simply contact us with a custom configuration you have in mind and our sales team will be happy to help. Also, if you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch.
- Can I install my own operating system?
  
  Certainly - we can either provide you with a KVMoIP session, or you can use an OOB remote console session (if your server has OOB remote management setup) to install your own operating system remotely onto the server.
  
  You can either mount an ISO file through your OOB remote management software onto your server, or you can provide us with a link to a downloadable ISO file and we will attach this to your server using a bootable USB drive. Please note that attaching an ISO file through a USB drive incur a fee.
  
  When ordering a new dedicated server through our shop, just select Install Your Own OS as the OS option, and once the server is ready we will hand it over to you, so that you can install your OS.
  
  If you want to install your own OS onto an existing dedicated server on which we originally installed an OS, you’re more than welcome to do so, but please get in touch so that we can update our notes.
  
  If you have any questions about installing an operating system, please feel free to get in touch.
- How many drives do I need for each RAID option?
  
  How many drives do I need for each RAID option?
  See below how many drives you need for each RAID configuration we offer:
  
  No RAID / JBOD - if you order No RAID, will we configure every drive in the server as its own volume. The amount of drives ordered does not matter.
  
  RAID 0 – If you select RAID 0 in our shop, every drive in the server will be put into a single RAID 0 Virtual Disk. Any number of drives can be put into a RAID 0; but not multiple types (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs). Please note, the more drives in a RAID 0, the greater chance of data loss.
  
  RAID 1 – For a single RAID 1 configuration, you will need to choose a chassis with 2 drives.
  
  RAID 5 – 3 to 16 drives can be put into a single RAID 5.
  
  RAID 6 – 4 to 32 drives can be put into a single RAID 6.
  
  RAID 10 – You need 4 drives for a RAID 10 or any even quantity of drives above 4 (4x drives, 6x drives, 8x drives, etc.).
  
  RAID 0 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 2 drives to select this option. If you choose this option with only one type of drive, the drives will be split equally between the two RAID 0s. If you choose this option with two types of drives (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), each type of drive will be added to its own RAID 0.
  
  RAID 5 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 6 drives for 2x RAID 5 arrays. If you are ordering a chassis with more than one type of drive (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), you will need at least 3 of each type of drive.
  
  RAID 6 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 8 drives for 2x RAID 6 arrays. If you are ordering a chassis with more than one type of drive (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), you will need at least 4 of each type of drive.
  
  RAID 10 (2 Arrays) – You need 8 drives for 2x RAID10 arrays or any even quantity of drives above 8 (8x drives, 10x drives, 12x drives, etc.).
  
  RAID 1 + RAID 10 – You will need at least 6 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (6x drives, 8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1.
  
  RAID 1 + RAID 1 + RAID 10 - You will need at least 8 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into the first RAID1, then another 2 drives into the second RAID 1, and then the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the first RAID 1.
  
  RAID 10 + RAID 1 - You will need at least 6 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (6x drives, 8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 10.
  
  RAID 1 + RAID 5 – You will need at least 5 drives. 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 5. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1.
  
  RAID 1 + RAID 6 – You will need at least 6 drives. 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 6. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1.
-- Remote Management (OOB / LOM) [5]
- What is Remote Management?
  
  Remote management (also known as OOB or LOM) is a device on a server’s motherboard that allows you to remotely access your server, independently from the server’s operating system, and provides functionality that helps you deploy (if you want to install your own OS), update, monitor and maintain your server.
  
  Key features include power management, virtual media access, hardware monitoring and remote console capabilities; all available through an OOB remote management control panel, accessible through a supported web browser. It provides our customers with the ability to configure and work on a server as if they were on site, with a screen, keyboard and mouse attached to the server.
  
  We encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server, as it allows the device’s administrator (our client’s) to check the status of their hardware, as it can be used to identify hardware related issues and can be used to identify the necessary information to have any faulty hardware replaced. It also allows the device’s administrator to be able to start a virtual console at any time; providing the user greater control over their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices.
  
  The version and generation of OOB remote management provisioned on a device will depend on the manufacturer, generation and model of the server that you are provided. Examples include iDRAC for Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and iLO for HPE ProLiant servers. All our OOBs come with the necessary licenses; as an example, iDRACs will have the Enterprise license installed.
  
  We offer both dedicated and shared OOB connections. See the “What is the difference between Shared and Dedicated OOB Remote Management?” section of the FAQ, for more details on this.
  
  When ordering a dedicated server, you are able to choose OOB (out-of-bounds) Remote Management (shared or dedicated) as a specification option with most of our server packages. We can also provide OOB remote management to most live servers, but this will involve a short amount of downtime on the server, for our technicians to configure the connection. If you want OOB remote management added to your server, please feel free to get in touch through a support ticket, and a member of our team will be happy to help.
  
  If you have any question, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- How do I get Remote Management configured on my Server?
  
  If you wish for Remote Management (e.g. iDRAC, iLO or IPMI) to be configured on a new server you are ordering with us, you simply need to request Remote Management through the MyServers Shop when ordering the server, or request for remote management to be installed when discussing the server specifications with a member of our team. If you wish for the Remote Management to be configured on an existing device, please feel free to raise a support ticket requesting Remote Management to be installed, and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  Configuring a server’s iDRAC/iLO/IPMI consists of powering down the server and configuring the remote management software within the system’s setup/BIOS menu. If a dedicated Remote Management connection is required, the set up process also consist of connecting a new network cable, and configuring our networking infrastructure.
  
  Please note that the iDRAC component is unique to Dell servers, the iLO component is unique to HP servers and IPMI is unique to SuperMicro servers; so iDRAC, iLO or IPMI are only available on our Dell PowerEdge, HP Proloiant and SuperMicro servers respectively.
  
  When ordering/requesting remote management for your server, you will be supplied with two options, dedicated remote management or shared remote management. Please see our section on what is the difference between shared and dedicated remote management, for more details.
  
  If you have any further questions about Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- What is the difference between Shared and Dedicated OOB Remote Management?
  
  We offer two types of OOB remote management: ‘Shared’ and ‘Dedicated’ remote management. The main difference between the two is the network cable and connection which is used to provide this service.
  
  A dedicated OOB will have its own network cable running from a dedicated switch port to a dedicated OOB port on the server. The benefits of the dedicated connection is that it means your OOB connection will be independent of the server’s other connections; meaning that if there is a hardware failure with the switch port, network cable or NIC port which causes your server to go offline, you would still have access to your server through the OOB connection. It also means that traffic would not be shared between this connection’s primary purpose and the OOB management connection.
  
  A shared connection will share the network cable, switch port and a port on the server with one of your server’s other connections; usually the server’s primary external connection. The benefit of a shared connection is that it is cheaper; due to the fact that it shares the infrastructure and hardware of the server’s other connections.
  
  If you are interesting in upgrading your package so that it includes OOB remote management, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
  
  If ordering a new server, you can select an OOB connection under Remote Management.
  
  If you have any question, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What are OOB Sessions and how do they work?
  
  An OOB Session will give you temporary access to your server’s OOB (also know as LOM, iDRAC, or IMPI). For more information on what OOB is, please read “What is Remote Management”.
  
  If your server has a Dedicated OOB connection configured and is connected to one of our switches (known as our Remote Management service), the connection will be left disabled as default.
  
  We do this as OOBs left enabled and open to the internet can leave the server open to being compromised. So, as a security measure, we disable the connected switch port to remove its network access; meaning that no one can use it to access the server.
  
  Booking an OOB session will temporarily enable the switch port and allow you to access the server’s OOB, then automatically disable itself after a set amount of time. You can also turn all your OOB connections On or Off using the MyServers control panel (see “How do I enable or disable all my OOB connections?” for instructions on how to do this).
  
  To request a temporary OOB session on a single server, which has a Dedicated OOB connection, follow these steps:
  
  1. Log into your MyServers control panel.
  
  2. Click on the My Servers tab along the top (or within the burger menu on the mobile version).
  
  3. Click on the package reference of the server you want to enable the OOB on.
  
  Then on the right-hand side (or the bottom of the page on the mobile version), click on Support and then OOB Request.
  
  4. You can now configure the OOB session. Start off by choosing whether the session should start immediately or at a specific date and time; then choose how long the session will last.
  
  5. Then press Save.
  
  Either at the selected start time or within a couple of seconds, the switch port attached to your Dedicated OOB port will enable and your OOB session will be accessible. Then, after the selected duration, the switch port will automatically disable and your OOB will no longer be accessible.
  
  If you have any issues accessing your OOB, please raise a support ticket and our engineers will be happy to help.
- How do I enable or disable all my OOB connections on my servers?
  
  If your servers have a Dedicated OOB connections configured and they are connected to our switches (either because you order Remote Management with your server, or because we supplied it free of charge), the connection will be left disabled as default.
  
  We do this as OOBs left enabled and open to the internet can leave the server open to being compromised. So, as a security measure, we disable the connected switch port to remove its network access; meaning that no one can use it to access the server.
  
  You can turn all your OOB connections On or Off using the MyServers control panel.
  
  Please note that turning on the OOB ports of your servers permanently can be considered a security risk for your devices. If you plan on leaving them all on, we recommend putting some security measures in place to secure the OOB.
  
  To either turn your OOB connections all On or Off, follow these instructions:
  
  1. Log into your MyServers control panel.
  
  2. Click on the My Servers tab along the top (or within the burger menu on the mobile version).
  
  3. Now click on My OOB Devices
  
  5. You will now see a list of servers with a Dedicated OOB connection, attached to our top of the rack switches. You will also be able to see the current status of each OOB connection. To enable all the OOB connections, click on Enable All OOB Ports. To Disable all OOB connections, click on Disable all OOB Ports.
  
  6. All the switch ports attached to your server’s OOB ports will now either enable or disable. Please not that this process can take a while if you have a large number of servers.

-- Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - iDRAC [19]

I receive an error when trying to access my iDRAC’s Remote Console; how can I fix this?

Due to recent Java updates, there is now compatibility issues between some versions of the iDRAC remote console tool and some versions of Java, which causes an error to show when trying to start a remote console session.

Please make sure you are running a supported Java version on your home / work computer. This may involve updating / rolling back the version of Java that is currently installed on your computer.

You will be able to find which version of Java will work with your server’s iDRAC online. Simply search the version of iDRAC your server uses (e.g. iDRAC8), which you can find through the iDRAC’s control panel, along with “what Java version works with”. Due to continuing Java updates, I am afraid we are not able to keep an updated list of what versions of Java works with what versions of iDRAC.

Please also make sure you apply the relevant security acceptations to your Java software. You can add the security exceptions with the following method:

Open "Configure Java”.

Select the "Security" tab. Then press "Edit Site List" under "Exception Site List".

You now need to add the URL for the iDRAC to the exception site list. To do this, first press “Add”. Then type in the URL of your iDRAC, which will be the iDRAC’s IP address proceeded by “https://” (e.g. https://1.1.1.1).

Once you have done this, you should also add the iDRAC’s URL again, however, this time with the http protocol (opposed to https); by pressing “Add” and then entering the iDRAC’s IP address proceeded by “http://” (e.g. http://1.1.1.1). When adding an http address, it will bring up a security message as this is a less secure protocol, so you will need to press Continue to proceed.

Once you have entered both exceptions, press OK on the Exception list and then on the Java Control Panel.

You should now be able to start a remote console through your iDRAC control panel.

If you are still experiencing problems once you have applied the above, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
What is an Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)?

Dell EMC’s Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is the Dell PowerEdge version of a ‘Remote Management’ tool. Remote management tools have been developed to enable their users to have greater administrative control over their devices remotely.

Dell’s iDRAC is a hardware and software component which exist on most Dell EMC 11^th generation or newer PowerEdge servers. It can also be added to older Dell PowerEdge servers; but our ability to provide this is limited. If you request to have Remote Management installed on your server, and your server is a Dell EMC PowerEdge, your server will be configured with iDRAC.

When iDRAC is configured on a Dell server, the user can access the iDRAC remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4 address configured on the iDRAC. Once you have accessed and logged in to a server’s iDRAC control panel, you can use the iDRAC portal to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run operations/tasks on your server, and to start a remote Virtual Console.

We encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server (thus iDRAC with a Dell server), as it allows the device’s administrator to check the status of their hardware, as it can be used to identify hardware related issues and can be used to identify the necessary information to have any faulty hardware replaced. Dell EMC’s iDRAC also allows the device’s administrator to be able to start a virtual console at any time; providing the user greater control over their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices.

The iDRAC’s available functionality is based on licensing. To access all of the iDRAC’s functions, your server must be configured with an iDRAC Enterprise license. If you purchase remote management through us, your server will be configured with an iDRAC Enterprise license as part of the package.

Please note that the iDRAC component is unique to Dell servers, so iDRAC is only available on our Dell PowerEdge servers. Servers manufactured by other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to iDRAC. Some other examples include iLO for HPE ProLiant servers and IPMI for SuperMicro servers. This means that the form of remote management provided depends on the make and model of the server.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I Access iDRAC?

When an Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is configured on a Dell PowerEdge server, the iDRAC is accessed through any compatible web-browser (most popular web-browsers should be compatible), using the iDRAC’s configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no firewall rules associated with the iDRAC’s connection or IPv4 address, or as long as the firewall rules are configured to allow you to access the iDRAC from your remote device, you should be able to access the iDRAC remotely on your home/work computer, or on another device configured within the same network as the server. Simply enter the iDRAC’s configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s URL box.

If you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to proceed beyond them, to access the iDRAC’s login screen. You should now be presented with the Dell iDRAC control panel login screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the iDRAC, and then press Submit. If the iDRAC connection has recently been configured on your device by a technician, you will be able to find the credentials of the iDRAC in the MyServers panel, in the Credentials section of the IS page for the server, under the name of LOM/https.

Once you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be presented with the iDRAC’s control panel home page. You can now use the iDRAC to check the health of your server and the device’s hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a virtual console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the control panel and the configuration of the server once you have logged into it for the first time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the iDRAC application.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use iDRAC to check my server’s hardware?

One of the main benefits of an iDRAC is that it allows you to check the current health of your server and allows you to check the current status of your server’s hardware.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply to these older versions. For support with older versions of iDRAC, if the below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s support website or please feel free to raise a support ticket through your MyServers control panel, and we will be happy to help.

When you first login to the iDRAC portal, you will be you will be presented with the current health status of the server. If there are currently any errors with the server’s health, they will be displayed here. Please note, the health of the server’s storage and several other main components (e.g. CPU, memory) are not shown here, so you will need to check this separately later; which is outlined further down.

As you can see from my example above, all the listed components/items have a green tick next to them, which indicates that there are currently no errors with the server’s health in relation to these items. The status of each component is represented by an icon. There are four statuses within the iDRAC portal:

Icon	Status	Description
	OK	The component is working as normal and is healthy.
	Non-Critical Warning	These errors normally indicate a problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt attention.
	Failed / Critical Warning	The component has either failed or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, the error must be addressed as soon as possible.
	Unknown Status	The status of this component is unknown.

If an error does appear within the system’s health in this section, how you go about identifying the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Click on the name of the monitored item to find out more details about this device and its error.

Please use our FAQ to see how to check for/investigate errors relating to storage, processors and memory, using iDRAC. For investigating errors with pieces of hardware not outlined within this FAQ, information on this can be found through Dell EMC’s support website, or you can raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

Once you have finished checking the server’s health, you should also check the ‘Recent Logged Events’ section, for any errors that may have occurred recently. It is good practice to check the error log, as errors that have occurred historically but then cleared will not show in the server health section. The log is towards the bottom of the main iDRAC control panel home page (Overview).

Any errors which have recently occurred with your server will be present here. In my example above, you can see that Drive 3 was removed.

If an error does appear within the recent logged event, how you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error.

Please see below how to investigate some specific pieces of hardware. For investigating errors with pieces of hardware not outlined within this FAQ, information on this can be found through Dell EMC’s support website, or you can raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

How do I use iDRAC to check the Storage Status of my Server?

Due to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the status of the storage of your devices, to make sure no errors have occurred with the server’s virtual or physical drives. If you identify that an error has occurred with the storage of your Dell PowerEdge server, you can use your iDRAC to identify which piece of hardware has an error, and use this information to decide on what action you wish to take next.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you login to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply. For support with older versions of iDRAC, if the below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s support website or please feel free to raise a support ticket through your MyServers control panel, and we will be happy to help.

To check for errors relating to storage, click on Storage in the left hand side panel of the iDRAC, after you have logged in.

You will now be presented with the status of the Physical Disks within the server in a diagram. You can use this to identify if all your drives are online or if any of them have encountered an error. In my example below, you can see that 1 disk has been removed and 3 drives are online.

To find out more details about your physical drives, click on Physical Disks under Summary of Disks. Here you will be able to see a list of all the physical drives configured with the chassis, their details and their status. In my example below you can see that 3 drives are online, but the fourth drive has been removed.

If an error has occurred, you can use this information to help inform your decision on what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using iDRAC, for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced using the information on iDRAC.

Now you can check the status of the Virtual Disks. To do this, return to Storage and then click on Virtual Disks.

You will now be presented with all the Virtual Disks (or RAID arrays) configured within the server, their details and their status. In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with an error and one that is operating normally.

If an error has occurred with a Virtual Disk, this is normally caused by a physical drive having an error or failing, which you should have been able to identify on the physical disk page. You can use this information to help you decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using iDRAC, for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced using the information found on the iDRAC portal.

Using the information outlined above you should now know the status of the storage within your server. If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use iDRAC to check a Server’s Memory & CPU?

Due to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the components of servers, especially the server’s memory and CPU, to make sure no errors have occurred. The iDRAC control panel allows you to check the status of the system’s memory and CPU(s). If you do identify that an error has occurred with your server, you can use your iDRAC to identify which piece of hardware has an error, and use this information to decide what action you wish to be taken next. See below how to use iDRAC to check the status of the memory and CPU(s) within the chassis.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply. For support with older versions of iDRAC, if the below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s support website or please feel free to raise a support ticket through your MyServers control panel, and we will be happy to help.

Memory - The memory component refers to all the RAM (also referred to as memory) configured within the chassis. First, to check for errors relating to memory, click on Hardware in the left hand side panel and then click on Memory.

You will now be presented with the details of the system’s memory; including the memory’s attributes, a list of the individual RAM sticks present, the RAM stick’s details and their status. Here you should be able to identify if there is any errors with any of the RAM sticks currently configured within the server. If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here, unless it becomes completely faulty and no longer shows on this page.

If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within the Individual Memory Details section, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using iDRAC for more details.

CPU – The CPU (or processor) page lists all the processors within the server, their details, and their current status. To check the status of the CPU(s) within the chassis, click on hardware in the left hand side panel and then CPU.

You will now be presented with the list of CPU(s) within the server. If you wish to find out more details about a processor you can click on the button in-line with it. If an error does ever occur with a processor, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us with the faulty CPU’s name (e.g. CPU 1), so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using iDRAC.
How do I use iDRAC to identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced?
If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible about the failed drive, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:
1. The failed drive’s Serial Number
2. Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)
3. Capacity
4. Product ID
5. Physical Drive Bay Number
This information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply.

You can use the iDRAC control panel to locate the required information above. To do this, you must first access the iDRAC control panel and log in. Once you have logged in, click on storage in the left hand side panel and then physical disks.

You will now be presented with a list of physically drives configured within the server. Once you have found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click the button to find more details about this drive, including the details required by our technicians to physically locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information from the details of a physical drive:

You can supply the above information in a support ticket, requesting for this faulty drive to be replaced, and the technician should be able to identify the drive which needs to be replaced. You can also supply a screenshot similar to the one above for your failed drive; as the technician can use this information to better locate the failed drive.

In addition to providing the information above, the iDRAC control panel on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the physical disk, click on Identify. Then tick the box for the drive you wish to blink, which would be the faulty drive, and then press blink. This will then make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink.

If you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not allow you to perform this action. If you cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a non-hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the ‘un-blink’ button, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this may lead to some confusion.

Once you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), the local technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive.

If the drive is missing from the iDRAC control panel monitoring completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still present on the iDRAC portal and their details, so that by process of illumination the technicians can replace the missing drive.

Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use iDRAC to identify a failed RAM stick’s details and have it replaced?
If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM) and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:
1. The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)
2. The failed RAM stick’s size
3. The failed RAM stick’s type
This information will aid our technician in locating the failed RAM stick and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply.

You can use the iDRAC control panel find the above required information. After logging in to iDRAC, click on Hardware in the left hand side panel, and then click on Memory.

Here you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the motherboard, their status, their connector names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to simply need to supply all the information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that the technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able to find the information above on the failed RAM stick to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM sticks that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of the Individual Memory Details section.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use iDRAC to identify a faulty CPU’s details and have it replaced?
If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible to allow our technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:
1. The failed CPU’s name (i.e. the Connector Name/ Slot Number)
2. The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand information)
If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU.

Please note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the below may not apply.

You can use the iDRAC control panel to find the above necessary information. To do this, once you are logged in to the iDRAC, press Hardware in the left hand side panel and then press CPU.

Here you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their connector name and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can correctly identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use iDRAC to start a Virtual Console?

One of the main benefits of having an iDRAC configured on your server is that it allows you to stat a Virtual Console. To start a virtual console through iDRAC, first log in to the control panel, and then press Launch within the Virtual Console Preview Section.

A jnlp file will now be download.

Please note that some older version of iDRAC will name the file “viewer.jnlp([iDRAC’s IP address]@0@idrac…)”; if this is the case, you will have to rename the file to remove everything within the brackets, so the file is just called “viewer.jnlp”.

Now open up the viewer.jnlp file.

The iDRAC virtual console uses the Java application to work. What happens now depends on your Java version and the Java setup on the PC you are accessing the iDRAC on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. Then a couple of options to run the application may appear; press Run until the virtual console starts.

The virtual console should now start. You can now use this Virtual Console to perform tasks such as troubleshooting, the operating system installs and system configuration.

Due to recent Java updates, there is compatibility issues between iDRAC remote console sessions and some versions of Java, which can cause an error to show when trying to start a remote console session. If this is the case, please use the “I receive an error when trying to access my iDRAC’s Remote Console; how can I fix this?” section of our FAQ to see how to address this issue.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How do I use iDRAC to attach an Operating System ISO (Virtual Media)?

Another advance of an iDRAC is that it allows the user to attach media remotely. Once example of when this would be used is to upload an operating system ISO file, so that the user can install an operating system onto the server.

To attach remote media to a server through iDRAC, first log in to the iDRAC’s control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to perform these actions. Now click Attached Media at the top of the virtual console screen. Then click on Connect Virtual Media.

The virtual media function will then take a couple of seconds to initialise. How you proceed now depends on the type of media you are remotely attaching to the server. Click Virtual Media again, and this time click either ‘Map Removable Disk’ or ‘Map CD/DVD’, depending on the type of media you wish to attach. One of the main reasons for attaching virtual media through iDRAC is to allow the user to attach an OS ISO to the server, to install an OS. If this is why you are using the iDRAC to attach virtual media, you should select Map CD/DVD.

You will now be able to use the window that appears to browser for the file you wish to attach. Press Browse, then select the appropriate file and then pressing Open. Once this has been done, press Map Device.

You have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be able to access this content through the server. If you have attached an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to access this media through the boot menu.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Batteries?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu.

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. This option will show what current battery components are present and actively working.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Cooling - Fans - Temperatures?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu.

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Cooling" tab shown below, you will see options to check "Fans" & "Temperatures"
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - CPU'S

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu.

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "CPU's" tab shown below, you will see options to check CPU processor information & processor cache information.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Memory?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu.

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Memory" tab shown below, you will see options to check Memory DIMM SLOT information, including the total amount of RAM and if any sticks faulty etc.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Network Devices?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu.

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Network Devices" tab shown below, you can see NIC connections and check what type of network card is installed and MAC address.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Blink Physical Disks?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Storage" and select "Physical Disks Tab" in the dropdown menu.

2. As shown in the diagram above you can see all the individual disks and all useful information related to them, of which is the blink drive function which allows technicians to identify faulty drives and replace via hot-swapping.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to Powerdown/Restart?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Configuration" tab and select "Power" dropdown menu shown below. You can now see the options to power off, power-cycle etc.
How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to Import/Delete/Export iDRAC License?

1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Configuration" and select "licensing options" in the dropdown menu.

-- Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - iLO [10]
- What is Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)?
  
  Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) is the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) version of ‘Remote Management’. If you purchase Remote Management with your server or request to have Remote Management installed on your server, and your server is a HPE ProLiant server, your server will be configured with iLO.
  
  HPE’s iLO is a hardware component, which exist on most HPE ProLiant servers, which allow the user to have greater administrative control over their devices remotely. When iLO is configured on a HPE server, you can access the iLO remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4 address configured on the iLO. Once you have accessed and logged in to a server’s iLO, you can use the iLO portal to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run operations/tasks on your server, and to start a Remote Console.
  
  We encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server (thus iLO with a HPE server), as it allows the user to check the status of their hardware, which means that it can be used to identify hardware related issues and provide the necessary information to have this hardware replaced. HPE’s iLO also allows our clients to be able to start a remote console at any time; meaning that they do not have to wait for a KVMoIP to setup and providing the user greater control, 24/7.
  
  Please note that the iLO component is unique to HPE servers, so iLO is only available on our HPE ProLiant servers. Servers manufactured by other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to iLO. Some other examples include iDRAC for Dell PowerEdge servers and IPMI for SuperMicro servers. This means that the form of remote management provided depends on the make and model of the server.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I Access iLO?
  
  If Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) is configured on a HP ProLiant server, you can access the iLO through any compatible web-browser, using the iLO’s configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no firewall rules associated with the iLO’s connection, or as long as the firewall rules are configured to allow you to do so, you should be able to access the iLO remotely, on your home/work computer or on another device within this network. Simply enter the iLO’s configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s URL box.
  
  If you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to proceed beyond on them. You should now be presented with the HPE iLO login screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the iLO; then press Submit. If the iLO connection has recently been configured by our technicians, you will be able to find the credentials of the iLO in the MyServers panel, in the Credentials section of the IS page for the server, with the name of LOM/https.
  
  Once you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be presented with the iLO’s control panel. You can now use the iLO to check the health of your server and its hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a remote console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the control panel and the configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the application.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to check hardware?
  
  One of the main benefits of iLO is that it allows you to check the current health of your server and allows you to check the current status of your server’s hardware.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  When you first login to the iLO portal, you will be you will be presented with the current health status of the server. If there are currently any errors with the server’s health, an error will appear next to System Health.
  
  To find out more specific information about the health of the system you can click on System Health, which will bring up a list of monitored components within the server. Here you will be able to see the current status of each monitored sub-system.
  
  If an error does appear within the system’s health in this section, how you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Click on the name of the monitored item to find out more details. For investigating errors with pieces of hardware not outlined within this FAQ, information can be found through HPE’s support website, or you can raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to check the storage status of my server?
  
  Due to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the storage of your servers, to make sure no errors have occurred with the server’s virtual or physical drives. If you identify that an error has occurred with the storage of your server, you can use your iLO to identify which specific piece of hardware has an error, and use this information to decide on what action you wish to take next.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  To check for errors relating to storage, click on System Information on the left hand side of the iLO control pane and then click on Storage.
  
  You will now be presented with the status of any Logical Drives (or RAID arrays) and any Physical Drives within the server; as well as the status and details of the RAID Controller. You will also be able to see all the details of the Logical and Physical Drives. Use can this information to identify the current status of the storage of your server.
  
  In my example below, you can see that my server has two Logical Drives, four physical drives, and the drives are split so that there is two drives configured within each logical drive. You can also see that the Physical Drive in bay 4 has degraded, which has cause the status of Logical Drive 2 to also be degraded.
  
  If an error has occurred, you can use this information to help you decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using iLO, for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced using the information found through the iLO portal.
  
  Using the above information you should now know the status of the storage of your server. If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to check my server’s memory & CPU status?
  
  Due to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the components of the server, especially the memory and CPU, to make sure no errors have occurred. iLO allows you check the status of the system’s memory and CPU(s), through the control panel. If you identify that an error has occurred with the memory or with a CPU of your server, you can use your iLO to identify which piece of hardware has an error, and use this information to decide on what action you wish to take next. See below how to use iLO to check the status of the memory and CPU(s) within the chassis.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  Memory - The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. First, to check for errors relating to memory, click on System Information in the left hand side panel and then click on Memory.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the system’s memory; including a list of the individual RAM sticks, the RAM stick’s details and their status. Here you should be able to identify if there is any errors with any of the RAM sticks currently configured within the server. If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here, unless it becomes completely faulty and no longer shows on this page.
  
  If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within the Memory Details section, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details.
  
  CPU – The CPU (or processor) page, lists all the processors within the server, their details, and their current status. To check the status of the CPU(s) within the chassis, click on System Information and then Processors.
  
  You will now be presented with the list of CPU(s) within the server, their details and their current status. If an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide the processor’s number in a support ticket (e.g. Processor 1), so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using iLO.
- How do I use iLO to Identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced?
  If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible about the failed drive, to allow the technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:
  1. Serial number
  2. Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)
  3. Capacity
  4. Model
  5. Physical Drive Bay Number
  This information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use the iLO control panel to locate the required information above.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  To do use iLO to find this information, you must first access the iLO control panel and log in. Once you have logged in, click on System Information and then Storage.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of physically drives configured within the server. Once you have found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to find see the details required by our technicians to physically locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information from the details of a physical drive:
  
  You can supply the above information in a support ticket requesting for this faulty drive to be replaced. The technician should then be able to identify the drive which needs to be replaced. You can also supply a screenshot of the above; as the technician can also use this.
  
  Once you provide all this information in a support ticket, the local technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive for you.
  
  If the drive is missing from the iLO control panel monitoring completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still present on the iLO control panel and their details, so that by process of illumination our technicians can identify and replace the missing drive.
  
  Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to identify a failed RAM Stick’s details and have it replaced?
  If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:
  1. The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Memory Location + Socket)
  2. The failed RAM stick’s size
  3. The failed RAM stick’s type
  This information will aid the technician in locating the failed RAM stick and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use the iLO control panel find the above required information.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  To locate the required information above, after logging in to iLO, click on System Information and then Memory.
  
  Here you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the motherboard, their status, their location and socket number, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to simply need to supply all the information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.
  
  Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 32GB RAM sticks (or 128Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 32GB RAM sticks are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able to find the information above on the failed RAM stick to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM sticks that are present without errors, so the technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.
  
  Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to identify a faulty CPU’s details and have it replaced?
  If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information as possible to allow our technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:
  1. The failed CPU’s number (e.g. Processor 1)
  2. The failed CPU’s name (i.e. the Make and Model)
  If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace a CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.
  
  If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid the technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU. You can use the iLO control panel to find the above necessary information.
  
  Please note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ; so the below may not apply to these older versions.
  
  To use iLO to locate this information, once you are logged in to the iLO, first click System Information and then Processors
  
  Here you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their identification number and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table and the processor number, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.
  
  Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so the technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.
  
  Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use iLO to start an Integrated Remote Console?
  
  One of the main benefits of having iLO configured on your server is that it allows you to stat an Integrated Remote Console. The remote console provides you with the same controls you would have if you were stood at the server, with a keyboard, mouse and monitor attached.
  
  To start a remote console through iLO, first log in to the control panel and then press Java Web Start in-line Integrated Remote Console. A jnlp file will now download.
  
  Now open up the viewer.jnlp file.
  
  The Java Web Start iLO remote console uses the Java application to work. What happens now depends on your Java version and your Java setup on the PC you are accessing the iLO on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. You may also be asked if you want to run the Java application. If so, press run.
  
  The virtual console will window should now start.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I Use iLO to Remotely Attach an ISO File?
  
  Another advantage of having iLO configured on your server is that it allows the user to attach media remotely. One example of when this would be used is to upload an operating system ISO file; so the user can use this to install an operating system remotely.
  
  To attach an ISO file to a server through iLO, first login to the iLO’s control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to perform these actions. Now click Virtual Drives at the top of the virtual console screen. Then click on ‘Image File CD/DVD-ROM’
  
  A window will now appear allowing you to navigate your computer’s files. Select your ISO file and press Open.
  
  You have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be able to access this content through the server. If you have attached an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to access this media through the boot menu.
  
  If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
-- Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - IPMI [5]
- What is an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)?
  
  SuperMicro’s Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is SuperMicro’s version of a ‘Remote Management’ tool. Remote management tools have been developed to enable their users to have greater administrative control over their devices remotely.
  
  SuperMicro’s IPMI is a hardware and software component which exist on most SuperMicro rack-mount servers. If you request to have Remote Management installed on your server, and your server is a SuperMicro server, it will be configured with IPMI.
  
  When IPMI is configured on a SuperMicro, the user can access the IPMI remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4 address configured on the IPMI. Once you have accessed and logged in to a server’s IPMI control panel, you can use the IPMI portal to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run operations/tasks on your server, and to start a Remote Console.
  
  We encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server (thus IMPI with a SuperMicro server), as it allows the device’s administrator to check the status of their hardware and as it can be used to identify hardware related issues. SuperMicro’s IPMI also allows the device’s administrator to be able to start a remote console at any time; providing the user greater control over their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices.
  
  Please note that the IPMI component is unique to SuperMicro servers, so IPMI is only available on our SuperMicro servers. Servers manufactured by other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to IMPI. Some other examples include iLO for HPE ProLiant servers and iDRAC for Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. This means that the form of remote management provided depends on the make and model of the server.
  
  If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I access IPMI?
  
  When an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is configured on a SuperMicro server, the IPMI is accessed through any compatible web-browser, using the IPMI’s dedicated configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no firewall rules associated with the IPMI’s connection or IPv4 address, or as long as the firewall rules are configured to allow you to access the IPMI from your device, you should be able to access the IPMI remotely on your home/work computer, or on another device configured within the same network as the server. Simply enter the IPMI’s configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s URL box.
  
  If you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to proceed beyond them. You should now be presented with the SuperMicro IPMI control panel login screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the IPMI, and then press Submit. If the IPMI connection has recently been configured on your device by one of our technicians, you will be able to find the credentials of the IPMI in the MyServers panel, in the Credentials section of the IS page for the server, under the name of LOM/https.
  
  Once you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be presented with the IPMI’s control panel home page. You can now use the IPMI to check the health of your server and the device’s hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a virtual console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the control panel and the configuration of the server, once you have logged in to it for the first time, so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the IPMI application.
  
  If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use IPMI to check my server’s hardware?
  
  One of the main benefits of IPMI is that it allows you to check the current health of your server and allows you to check the current status of your server’s hardware.
  
  Once you have logged into the IPMI portal, to navigate to the section regarding the server’s current status, click on Server Health. You will now see on the left hand side that Sensor Readings, Event Log, and Power Consumption appears. You can use the Sensor Readings and Event Log pages to evaluate the current status of the server and to check for historical issues. First, click on Sensor Readings.
  
  You will now be presents with a list of all the components/services monitored by the system, their status and their readings. You will be able to use the information in this table to determine if any of the components currently have any errors. Please note that the server’s sensor reading page may not always be able to detect the status of the drives within the chassis. In my example below, you can see that the HDD Status reading is Not Present and its status is N/A.
  
  Once you have checked the server’s current health, you should also check the event log of the server. It is good practice to check the event log, as errors that have occurred historically but then cleared will not show in the server health section. To do this, click on Event Log.
  
  You will now be presented with a table that lists all the events, picked up by the server’s sensors, since the server was first powered on or since the event log was last cleared. You should be able to use this table to ascertain whether any components/services have recently developed any errors. Please note that if a component/service is not monitored by the server (e.g. as shown in my earlier example, the server’s drive status was not shown), it will most likely also not be shown in the server’s Event Log.
  
  If an error does appear within either the Server Health or within the Event Log, please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help. You can also supply us with a screenshot of where the error appears within IPMI, as this may help our team troubleshoot this issue.
  
  If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I use IPMI to Start a Virtual Console?
  
  One of the main benefits of having an IPMI configured on your server is that it allows you to stat a Remote Console.
  
  To start a remote console through IPMI, first log in to the control panel. Then press Remote Control, then Console Redirection and then press Launch Console.
  
  A jnlp file will now download. Open the jnlp file.
  
  The IPMI console uses the Java application to work. What happens now depends on your Java version and your Java setup on the PC you are accessing the IPMI on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. Then an option to run the application may appear; press Run until the remote console starts, accepting any security risks.
  
  The remote console should now start.
  
  If you encountered any security errors, which meant that you could not start the remote console, you may have to add the IPMI’s IP to the list of excepted sites. To do this, follow these instructions:
  
  Open "Configure Java”.
  
  Select the "Security" tab. Then press "Edit Site List" under "Exception Site List".
  
  You now need to add the URL for the IPMI to the exception site list. To do this, first press “Add”. Then type in the URL of your IPMI, which will be the IPMI’s IP address proceeded by “https://” (e.g. https://1.1.1.1).
  
  Once you have done this, you should also add the IPMI’s URL again, however, this time with the http protocol (opposed to https); by pressing “Add” and then entering the IPMI’s IP address proceeded by “http://” (e.g. http://1.1.1.1). When adding an http address, it will bring up a security message as this is a less secure protocol, so you will need to press Continue to proceed.
  
  Once you have entered both exceptions, press OK on the Exception list and then on the Java Control Panel.
  
  If you are still experiencing problems once you have applied the above, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
  
  If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I Use IPMI to Remotely Attach an ISO File?
  
  Another advantage of having IPMI configured on your server is that it allows the user to attach media remotely. One example of when this would be used is to upload an operating system ISO file, to install an operating system remotely, through the IPMI.
  
  To attach an ISO file through IMPI, first login to the IPMI’s control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to perform these actions. Now click Virtual Media at the top of the remote console’s screen. Then click on Virtual Storage.
  
  A Virtual Storage window will now appear. To attach an ISO file you now click on CDROM&ISO and then select the ISO File in Logical Drive Type (you can also select Web ISO if you are installing an ISO directly from a website; however, this guide will show you how to upload an ISO file locally stored on your PC).
  
  Now press Open Image. You will now be able to use the Open window to select the ISO file you wish to attach. Navigate through your home/work computer’s files, select the ISO file, and then press Open.
  
  The file’s name and location will now appear under Image File Name and Full Path. Next, press Plug in to attach the file.
  
  You should now see a message appear under connection status history, which shows as “Plug-In OK!!”. You can now press OK.
  
  You have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be able to access this content through the server. If you have attached an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to access this media through the boot menu.
  
  If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
-- SSL Certificates [1]
- What SSL certificates do you offer?
  
  We have a wide range of SSL certificates from multiple providers that we can provide for domain, organisation, and extended validation certificates.
  
  Contact us to discuss your requirements and we will provide the relevant options and prices for you. Please also feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions.
-- Upgrading my Products & Services [2]
- Can I upgrade the specifications of my server?
  
  Absolutely. As our client’s businesses grow, so do their requirements for their dedicated server devices, so we are always happy to facilitate an upgrade to any dedicated device.
  
  Some, indeed most of clients opt to take out additional dedicated servers with us. However, if you wish to upgrade the components of your current live server, a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you and quote you the cost of any upgrade. If your current device is not capable of the increased specification you require, our support team will happily provide you with options available for you to upgrade and migrate to a higher specification of server.
  
  Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be able to work out an upgrade option and process which best suites your needs; and discuss any associated cost.
- How can I add more storage space to my server?
  
  There are several options available for someone who wishes to add storage to their server. Which one would be best for your server depends on your requirements, the current specification of your server, and the model of your dedicated server.
  
  If you are looking to upgrade the storage space of your server as you wish to use this additional space for backups, please look at our “What back-up options do you offer?” section within the FAQ, as this will provide you with more details tailored to this scenario.
  
  If you want to upgrade the storage of your server for other reasons, please see below for some examples of options you that we would suggest, dependent on your current server’s setup. Please also feel free to get in touch through a ticket and we will be happy to discuss what options are available to you.
  
  One option would be to add additional drives of the required size to your server, in one or more of any available drive bays. This is the simplest and often the cheapest solution; however, your server must have available drive bays for this to be possible, the server and any RAID controller present must be compatible with the increased storage size and this also depends on how many drives / how much storage you wish to add.
  
  A second option, which is often used when the above is not possible, would be to replace the drives that are currently in your server with larger drives. If this option is possible is dependent on how many drives you require, how much storage you wish to add, and the model of your server. This option is also a relatively cheap; however, replacing the drives of your server with larger drives would mean data loss; so you would need to re-build your server’s configuration and data from back-ups taken on an external device.
  
  If the two options above are not feasible for one reason or another, another option that would be open to you would be to migrate to a new, higher specification server, which would be an upgrade on your current device and have a higher storage capacity.
  
  Another option would be to have space from one of our shared NAS devices assigned to your server as a network drive. The benefit of this solution is that there are less restrictions caused by hardware and it means the data will be stored on a device which is separate to your server, within a geographically different site, protecting it from any hardware, network or power failure linked to your device. However, this option is only available for relatively smaller amounts of storage space, of 2TBs of less, and is currently only an available option within certain data centres within our hosting infrastructure.
  
  If you require a large amount of storage space added to you server, another option would be to have a dedicated NAS device deployed and hosted with us, and attached to you server as an external storage device. This is one of the more expensive options; but benefits include having data on an external device within a different rack to your server, making it less likely to be effected by network, power and hardware failures which affect your main server; and NAS devices are scalable solutions which would allow you to upgrade the storage space the device in future, when required. You can also attach a single NAS storage unit to multiple servers; meaning you can use it as a storage unit for multiple servers.
  
  A more cost effective way to increase storage space compared to a dedicated NAS device, when large amounts of storage is required, is to order an additional dedicated server. The benefit of this method is that you can order as much storage space as you require, your servers can be connected via a private VLAN and your data can be spread across multiple devices.
  
  If you are interested in any of the above solutions, or if you wish to discuss an alternative solution, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
Support [45]
- How to add credentials to MyServers?
  
  Credentials can be added to any server on your account, however this section is only visible for contacts with Technical privileges. Credentials must be added via this portal and not handed over in plain text for security purposes.
  Please see below instructions to change contact privileges.
  -To add credentials to a server on your account, ensure you are logged into your MyServers account.
  -Once logged in, please click into the My Servers section near the top of the screen, which will bring you to your Server list.
  -Choose the appropriate reference of the server you would like to add credentials to on the left hand side of the screen, under Name.
  -Once you are on the server page, click on the Add Credentials button in the centre of the screen and fill in the appropriate information, including type of credentials (e.g. SSH, RDP) and the amount of time you would like to credentials to be displayed on your account.
  -Click on the Add Credential box on the right hand side of the screen to finish this process. The credentials will then be visible on the server page.
  -Please note, these options are not linked to your physical server and this will not affect your server credentials. This is simply a reference for both other contacts on your account and members of staff that will be able to view the credentials through the server page.
- Do we wipe disks for clients?
  
  General Drive-wipe
  
  This is a standardised process we use throughout our server recycle process, this includes a SMART test.
  
  Active KillDisk (HMG IS5 Enhanced)
  
  When you erase data with Active@ KillDisk, you destroy data permanently by conforming to any one of more than twenty international data sanitizing standards or using your own custom settings at the end of each drive-wipe you will be provided with a certificate which clarifies serial numbers, date, time etc.
  
  During the Killdisk process we select the (3 passes) option where the write head passes over each sector three times, writing zeroes (0x00), then 0xFF, and finally random characters.
  
  Killdisk is chargeable per disk wiped.
  
  DBAN
  
  DBAN – This is another option that can be used to wipe drives, this can be attached to the server via an ISO and KVM or alternatively, if you’re server has a LOM/iDRAC installed this can run this way. Please note we do charge additionally if you require us to DBAN drives locally otherwise its non-chargeable if taking the ISO/KVM root.
  
  Drive Destruction
  
  Drives that come to end of life, we use S2S a 3RD party drive destruction company who come onsite. This service is only for internal use and for making customers aware of methods we take with the end of life stock.
- Adding a cPanel licence in the control panel?
  - Click “My Servers”
  - Click “Licences”
  - Click “Add” and you can select the type of licence, the server and the IP to assign it to.
  When adding a licence you may have to run the following script in the OS to renew the licence:
  
  usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt
- How to change contact privileges within MS control Panel?
  
  1. To change a customer’s privileges on MyServers you will need to navigate to the “My Account” page and then “Contact”.
  
  2. From here you can click on the user that you would like to change the privileges of, this will then lead you to the following page:
  
  3. From here, press the “Edit Contact” button and you can change the privileges of users on the account.
- How do I mount access to shared NAS in Windows?
  
  1. Open File Explorer
  
  2. Right-click on the 'network' tab and select 'map network drive'.
  
  3. Enter the NAS share location via the ‘browse’ option as highlighted below. This information can be found on the associated server's IS page in MyServers.
  
  4. Please make sure you select “Reconnect at logon".
  
  5. Select 'Finish'
  
  6. Enter the Username/Password associated with the NAS share. This information can be found by selecting 'show password' on the share within the associated server's IS page in MyServers.
  
  7. Select 'Remember my password'.
  
  8. Select 'Finish'.
  
  9. The newly mounted share should appear within the 'Computer' section of Windows.
- How to add a contact to your MS account?
  
  To add a contact to your account, you will first need to navigate to the MyServers control panel.
  
  From here you need to press “My Account”
  
  From here click on the “Contacts” link and you will be greeted by the following page:
  
  To add a new contact, press the “Add Contact” button and fill in the details for the new contact.
- How to create a support ticket in MS?
  
  1. When on the homepage for Myservers Navigate to My Servers tab
  
  2. Select the server IS you wish to raise a ticket with, in some cases, you will have more than 1 server.
  
  3. Navigate to Create a ticket
  
  4. Enter a Subject title and select relevant Please specify details of issue or question you have regarding your account. If needed you can Attach files when sending documents or screenshots. Under the Affected Servers column, you have options to speak about multiple IS’s If needed by selecting the Tick Box and Create Ticket
- How to set-up or change security question?
  
  Firstly, click onto the “Contacts” tab on the MyServers Control Panel
  
  Then click on the Contact’s name and navigate to the “Edit Contact” button in the right-hand corner.
  
  From here scroll to the “Security Details” section, this is where you can set-up or change the security question for this contact.
  
  You have now added or changed a security question for a contact.
- Do we support 3rd Party software downloaded by the client?
  
  RapidSwitch does not provide any software support for software package either purchased through us or a 3rd party.
  
  Should you require software support, you will need to contact the vendor of the software.
  
  If you require a managed solution, we can look at putting you in touch with one of our sister companies that provide such a package.
- Does Rapidswitch clone drives, for data retrieval?
  
  As an unmanaged IaaS provider, RapidSwitch does not offer a drive cloning service or data migration.
- How do I mount access to shared NAS in Linux?
  1. Run the following command to bring up the interface associated with the NAS share (Replace the * with the associated interface number)
  - ifup eth*
  2. Make a NAS directory by issuing the following command:
  - mkdir /nas
  3. Run the following command. This will install a service that helps to communicate with Windows-based filesystems:
  - yum install samba-client
  4. Run the following command and enter the appropriate details to have the NAS mount on boot:
  - nano /etc/fstab
  Please see the image below as an example for what information to put in this file:
  
  Make sure the format is the same as above and replace the 'nas-share' 'nas-username' and 'nas-password' is changed to the clients NAS account details.
  
  5. You should now be able to run the following command to mount the clients NAS share:
  - mount /nas
  Please note:
  
  if you have already run the command:
  
  mount -t cifs -o username=nas-username,password=nas-password //10.0.5./nas-share /your-mount-point*
- How to set the primary billing/technical contact?
  
  1. When on “My Accounts”, navigate over to the “Billing Details Tab”.
  
  2. Select preferred “Billing Contact/Technical Contact/Emergency Contact” if required.
  
  3. “Save”
- Do we allow drives out of the data centres?
  
  Due to strict GDPR regulations, our standard procedures do not allow any leased hardware to leave our premises which have had past/current confidential data written.
  
  We do offer alternative services onsite which delete all data, with no possibility of future recovery.
  
  Please check the FAQ link below for more information on this.
  
  https://myservers.rapidswitch.com/FAQ/Default.aspx?s=50&q=238
- How do I resolve email bounce backs?
  1. Check MX tool box https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx. To make sure IPS’s are not blacklisted. If your IP is blacklisted, please contact the relevant blacklist to have it removed
  
  2. Please use the below links to assist you.
  - MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/supportrequestform/8ad563e3-288e-2a61-8122-3ba03d6b8d75
  - Office 365 - https://sender.office.com/
  - Yahoo - http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/postmaster/bulkv2.html
  - Gmail - https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/2696779?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=7280460
  3. You can also try the mail tester linked below, to resolve any issues before contacting us.
  - Mail Tester - https://www.mail-tester.com
  If you’re unable to resolve using the above methods, please raise a ticket and send us the full email bounce back, so that we can investigate further.
- MyServer API Documentation
  
  Customer API - Allows customers to do most of the operations they can do directly through MyServers.
  
  1. When logged into your Myservers account, Navigate over to the API tab shown in the diagram below.
  
  2. Then Select Documentation.
  
  3. When on the API documentation page, select the "View Documentation Online"
  
  4. This page will show you the Rapidswitch.MyserversAPI functions are avaliable.
-- Access [1]
- Access request?
  
  Physical Access to the datacentre is only granted if the client has collocated equipment or has a meeting organised with a member of staff. Physical access to shared racks used by more than one client is not permitted under any circumstance. To gain physical access, the Client may request usage of the Build Room. This is subject to availability, and charged at £30 per hour or part thereof. If available datacentre staff will remove the Clients equipment to the Build Room, and allow the Client access to the equipment in the Build Room. To raise an access request you can do this in your control panel by logging in:
  
  1) Go to the “My Tickets Section”
  
  2) Underneath click “Access Requests”
  
  3) Click “Create”
-- Getting Support [4]
- How can I receive support?
  
  Support is available 24x7, 365 days a year, via our MyServers customer portal ticketing system and through our telephone support line. All urgent quires will be answered by a member of our team, no matter the time of day or night, nor what day of the year it is.
  
  If you need support or have any general queries, which are not answered by our FAQ section, please raise a ticket through you MyServers account. If the support you require is urgent and / or if you want to speak to a member of our team over the phone, please feel free to call our support line, and a member of team will always be happy to help. Please note, we would suggest raising a ticket first and then phoning, as this allows us to use this ticket as a basis for any work/actions that may need to be taken. This will also allow our team to respond and process your request / query quicker and easier.
  
  Tickets can be raised through your MyServers control panel account and our telephone number can also be found on MyServers.
  
  If you have any more questions about support, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- What support do you provide?
  
  As a managed infrastructure service provider, our standard support package includes a fully managed hardware package, which covers replacement of any failed hardware provided to you.
  
  We also provide 24x7 monitoring of your dedicated devices, with unlimited free e-mail and SMS alerts, including ping monitoring, switch port monitoring, OS access service monitoring (e.g. RDP), and several other monitoring services. These are all controlled through your MyServers portal and can be added / edited by yourselves at any time. Please note, not all of these monitoring systems are applied as standard.
  
  We also provide support with any issue or query related to our infrastructure; in regards to networking, power and environmental infrastructure.
  
  As well as our standard managed infrastructure service package, we also offer other managed packages and products. We can also provide installation and initial configuration services for more complex deployments if required. If you are interested in a fully-outsourced IT platform and service, with bespoke management options, we are also able to discuss these with you.
  
  If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch.
- Do you charge for support?
  
  We will not charge for any support within our standard package.
  
  If you have a dedicated device with us, we will not charge for the replacement of any faulty hardware, nor for investigating any issues that may lay within our infrastructure.
  
  Any support requested that falls outside of your packages will not be performed or charged for without prior consent. The relevant team will liaise with you on any work that may be required, compile a full schedule of work to be performed and an upfront quotation for the work.
  
  If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch.
- What details do I need to provide when phoning you?
  
  Our support team operate 24x7, 365 days a year, and they are always happy to take your call. If you do need to call our support line for anything related to your account or to your services, we will first need to identify your account and then you will need to pass our phone-call security process, as outlined below.
  
  To identify your account, we will simply need either the account name, an IS number assigned to your account or an invoice number. Once we have located your account on our system, we will then check your name against the list of people named on your account. Please note, you must be named on the account’s contacts to phone our support line.
  
  To ensure that all our clients’ details and accounts are secure, when a person phones our support line with a request or query related to their account, we will require them to pass the security question listed against their name before we can proceed. This policy is in place to leave you safe in the knowledge that no unauthorised persons can phone our support line and make changes to your account or services.
  
  To pass our security question, you must be a person named on your company’s / personal MyServers account, you must have a security question setup against your name on the MyServers account and you must know the answer to this security questions when asked over the phone.
  
  If you are not a named person on the MyServers client account, either you or someone with access to the MyServers account control panel must add you as a contact to the account, before you can phone our support line and pass security.
  
  If you have access to the MyServers portal, to check who is currently listed on the account and can phone our support line, login to your MyServers account and then under the My Account tab click on the Contacts. You will now be able to see a list of the people named on the account and their permissions. These people will be able to phone our support line, as long as they know the answer to their security question.
  
  If you need to add a new contact to the account, first press Add Contact. You will now need to fill in all the details of the new contact. Please make sure that these details are added correctly, as we will use this information to contact this person, if the need ever arises. After filling in the new contact’s details, you now need to set a password and security question for the new contact. We would suggest asking the new contact to fill in this information; as they will need to use the password to log in to their MyServers account and they will need to know the answer to the security question if they ever wish to phone our support line. Finally, you should set the roles of the new contact. The roles selected will limit the access this new person has to the MyServers account and limits the information we can provide over the phone, so please set these correctly. Once you have finished filling in all these details, press Save to add the new contact.
  
  Once this has been completed, the person that has been added to the account is free to phone our support line whenever they have a question or query.
  
  If you are a named person on the MyServers account, but you cannot remember the answer to the security question or you have not set an answer to any security question, you can also login to the MyServers control panel and reset/set the answer to a security question. To do this, login to your MyServers account using your own login and click on Personal Details under the My Account tab. Now select a Security Question and then input your answer to this security question. Then press Save.
  
  You will now be able to use the answer to this security question to pass our phone-call security question.
  
  Please note, before phoning our support line, we would always advise our clients to raise a support ticket with all the details, so we can use this as a basis to reply to you and perform any work after the phone call.
  
  Once you know the answer to your security question, please phone our support line any time you wish to speak to a member of our team or escalate an urgent issue.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
-- Hands On Assistance [1]
- Scheduling in hands on assistance with our technicians?
  
  Datacentre technicians are available 24/7, however, we do not schedule in advance any manual work during the hours between 06:00 - 08:00 and 18:00 and 20:00. If you would like to schedule in any necessary work you would need to open up a ticket advising us what work needs to be carried out along with the date and time you would like for us to carry it out. If you have any further question or wish to schedule in work, please feel free to get in touch via our ticketing system, and a member of our team will be happy to help.
-- How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the RAID BIOS? [11]
- How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the RAID BIOS?
  
  Sadly, on occasion, errors can occur with the storage components of a server. As we know how frustrating this can be, this FAQ section has been created to help our client’s investigate their server’s storage through their server’s RAID BIOS.
  
  If you believe an error has occurred with either a server’s RAID array or with a server’s physical drives, when a RAID controller is present within the server, one way you can check the status of a server’s storage is through the server’s RAID BIOS menu. You can use the server’s RAID BIOS to identify any failed drives and identify the details required to have them replaced.
  
  Checking a server’s RAID BIOS involves rebooting a server while accessing it through either a KVMoIP device or while having a remote management’s virtual/remote console open, then accessing the RAID controller’s BIOS menu while the server goes through POST. This does require the server and anything the server is hosting to be offline during the entire process. Due to this, it is normally preferable for clients to use either Remote Management software or monitoring tools configured on the server’s operating system to identify any issues with a server’s storage; however, if this not possible then you may have to use the server’s RAID BIOS.
  
  How to boot into a server’s RAID controller’s BIOS menu and check the drives’ and arrays’ health depends on the model of your server and the model of the RAID controller it is using. Below, you will see some examples of how to check the RAID BIOS for some of our combinations of RAID controllers and server models. If your server and RAID controller are not listed below, you can either find material online to help you perform this action, or raise a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss what we can do to help.
  
  If you are un-sure what model your server and RAID controller is, please see below how to use MyServers to identify this.
- How do I identify what the make and model of my dedicated server and RAID controller is, using MyServers?
  
  If you have a dedicated server hosted with us, you will be able to identify the make and model of your device through our MyServers control panel, on the IS page of the device.
  
  First, log in to the MyServers control panel and then navigate to the IS page of the server you wish to check the model of. A list of servers can be found by clicking on the My Servers tab. Once you are on the IS page of the server, you will be able to find the make and model of the server within the Service Description box, in line with the IS number. In my example below, you can see that the make of my server is a Dell, while the model of the server is a PowerEdge R210 II.
  
  Within the Service Description, you should also be able to see the model of the RAID Controller. If no RAID controller is present in this box, it may mean that either no RAID controller exists in the chassis, the RAID controller is built into the chassis’ motherboard (integrated), or that this device was deployed before we added RAID controllers to this box for every server. If the RAID controller is not present in this box, you can either identify what RAID controller the server is configured during the server’s POST screens, or please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
  
  You should now know what the make and model of your server and RAID controller is. If you have any more questions about your server’s RAID controller, please look through our FAQ for more information. Alternatively, or if you have not been able to identify this information, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 13^th Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_30) with a H730 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a 13^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a H730 raid controller installed (this includes multiple variations, including H730Ps and H730P Minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the server’s System Setup menu.
  
  The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow keys, Esc key and Enter key.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID arrays) configured in this server. You will also see some of the Virtual Disks’ details, including their statuses. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one has a status of Degraded, meaning that there is an error with the RAID array. Click on a Virtual Disks to find more information on the array. You should do this if you identify a Virtual Drive with an error.
  
  Here you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk and can select operations to perform. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now select View Associated Physical Disks to see the status of the drives configured within this array.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their statuses; which you can use to identify if there are any errors with any drives. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can use this window to view the details of the physical drive. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)
  2. Capacity (i.e. Size)
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing our technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, set the Operation drop-down box to ‘Blink’ and then press Go. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except setting the drop-down box to ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. You should do this to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking, as this may lead to some confusion if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any issues with the Virtual Disks, you can also check the status of all the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, and then select Physical Disk Management.
  
  You will now see a list of Physical Disks present in the server, along with their current status. In my example, you can see that there are four drives, three are online and one is currently offline. To find out more information about a drive, simply click on it/select it.
  
  You will now be on the physical drive’s page, which lists all of the drive’s details, allows you to run operations (or tasks) on the drive and shows you the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- RAID BIOS of my 12^th Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_20) with a H710 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a 12^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H710 raid controller installed (this includes other variations, including H710Ps and H710 minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP session or how to open an iDRAC remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVMoIP session or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.
  
  The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or use the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, we will check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Offline, meaning that there is currently an error.
  
  Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you check the properties of this drive, by ticking the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and then pressing View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)
  2. Capacity (i.e. Size)
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.
  
  You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to do this, because if you need other drives replacing in future, leaving this drive by blinking may cause some confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks menu, you can also check the status of the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management, and then select View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than drive is present within this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.
  
  To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a faulty drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 12^th Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_20) with a H310 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a 12^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.
  
  The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error.
  
  Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more information about the physical drive.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)
  2. Capacity (i.e. size)
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.
  
  You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.
  
  To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 11^th Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_10) with a H310 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a 12^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.
  
  The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.
  
  Now select the RAID controller.
  
  You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error.
  
  Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks.
  
  You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more information about the physical drive.
  
  You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)
  2. Capacity (i.e. size)
  3. Model Number
  4. Serial number
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.
  
  You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View Physical Disk Properties.
  
  You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.
  
  To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.
  
  Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 11^th Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_10) with a H200 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an 11^th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H200 RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the RAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+R to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  The RAID BIOS configuration menu will now appear. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should first select the RAID controller and then select RAID properties. If more than one RAID controller is configured in your server, you will need to repeat this process outlined below for every RAID controller. To navigate through this RAID BIOS, you need to use the arrow keys, the Enter key and the Esc key, as well as the keys shown at the bottom of the window. Select the RAID controller and then RAID properties.
  
  If your server’s RAID array has already been configured, you will now be presented with the first RAID array’s (or volumes) details, a list of drives configured within this array, their details, their status and the details of the RAID array configured on the server. If you have more than one RAID array configured on the server, you can use the keys Alt+N to navigate between the volumes.
  
  Along the top of the page, you will be able to see the details of the RAID array currently selected (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page), including its current status.
  
  Below the RAID array’s details you will be able to see a list of the physical drives configured within the currently select array (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page); including the drives’ details and their current statuses.
  
  You can use the details and statuses shown on the pages described above to identify whether or not there is currently an error with the storage of your server, by checking if there are any errors with either the RAID arrays (or volumes) or the Physical Drives.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type (i.e. Device + Identifier)
  3. Capacity (i.e. Size)
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my SuperMicro server with a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP session or how to open an IPMI remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the LSI MegRAID configuration menu to appear. Then press Ctrl+H to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  After you press Ctrl+H, you will be presented with a list of adapters configured on the server. You should now enter the first RAID adapter configured on the server. Most servers will only have one adapter installed, but if your server has more than one controller, you should repeat the below process for every adapter. You can navigate through this menu either using a mouse, or the Tab, Enter, Esc and arrow keys.
  
  You will now be on the WebBIOS page for this RAID controller. On the right hand side panel of this WebBIOS, within the Logical View, you will be able to see a list of Virtual Drives (or RAID arrays) and Physical Drives configured within the controller and their current status. You can use this screen to identify if any of either the Virtual Drives or Physical Drives attached to this controller has any errors. In my example below, you can see that the only Virtual Drive is degraded and one Physical Drive is Offline.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type
  3. Capacity
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my SuperMicro server with an Adaptec 2405 / 5405 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has an Adaptec RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an IPMI remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the Adaptec RAID Configuration menu to appear. Then press Ctrl+A to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below. Also, the below uses a 5405 RAID controller; however, the RAID BIOS for a 2405 controller is very similar, so the steps set out below should also apply to the 2405 card.
  
  You will now be presented with the RAID controller’s configuration utility. You should now select Array Configuration Utility. To navigate through this utility, use the Enter, Esc and arrow keys, as well as the keys listed at the bottom of the window.
  
  To check the current status of the storage within the server, you should first check the current status of all the RAID arrays configured on the server. Do this by first selecting Manage Arrays. You will then be presented with a list of arrays.
  
  To check the status of the RAID array, press Enter while it is highlighted. You will now be presented with the RAID array’s details, it status, and a list of drives within the array. In my example below you can see the RAID1 array is currently degraded. You can also see the second drive in this array (Dev01) is greyed out; which indicates that it currently has an error.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Slot Number
  2. Drive Type
  3. Capacity
  You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the Identify Drive function. Turning on the Identify Drive will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. Please note, using the Identify Drive function through this RAID configuration utility will require the server to remain within the Adaptec Utility menu, to keep the drive bay blinking. This means that your server will have to remain offline while the drive bay blinks. To do this, keep pressing Esc until you reach the options menu, then select Disk Utilities.
  
  It will now take a while to load the list of drives. You now need to highlight the drive you wish to set the LEDs to blink and then press enter.
  
  Then select Identify Drive and press Enter.
  
  The caddy’s LED for this drive will now start flashing. To stop the LEDs from flashing, you simply need to press any key. If you have set the drive bay’s LED to flash, please let the support team know in the ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  You should repeat the above mentioned process, checking every RAID array configured on this server.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check the RAID BIOS of my HPE ProLiant G9 server with a HPE Smart Array P440 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G9 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL160 G9), when it has a HPE Smart Array P440 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVMoIP or remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.
  
  Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  After the Systems Utilities menu appears, select System Configuration, then select the Smart Array P440 Controller option, then finally select the Exit and launch HP Smart Storage Administrator (HPSSA) option.
  
  The HPE Smart Storage Administrator will now load; this can take a couple of minutes. Once it has loaded, you can use this menu to check the current status of the server’s storage. When checking the status of a server’s storage, you should check the status of the server’s Arrays and the Physical Drives.
  
  First, select the RAID controller of your server within the left hand side panel. In my example below, you can see that I have two controllers. One is the on-board, integrated RAID controller - the Dynamic Smart Array B140i RAID - and the other is a PCI-e RAID controller - the Smart Array P440. The storage of my server is currently only utilising the PCI-e RAID controller; which will be the case of most servers which display both; however, you should check every controller present for arrays and drives.
  
  Once you have clicked onto the RAID controller, press Configure.
  
  Now press Logical Devices on the left hand side panel.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of Arrays configured on this controller and a list of the drives configured within this array. You can use this page to identify the current status of your server’s storage.
  
  If there are any errors with either an array or with a drive, there will be one of two warning symbols next to the device’s symbol. There are two warning symbols within the HPESSA; the symbol represents a critical error which needs urgent attention, while the symbol represents a less crucial error which you should address as soon as possible. In my example below, you can see that one array and one drive within this array have errors.
  
  If you do encounter an error, you can click on the device and then press View more Details, to identify what the error is and to see more details about this device.
  
  The device details will now appear at the top of the window appears, while the Status Message appears at the bottom of this window. This will provide you with more information on the error.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Capacity (Size)
  2. Drive Type
  3. Drive Model
  4. Drive Serial Number
  You can use the ‘View more details’ page to identify this information; as demonstrated below.
  
  If you wish for a drive to be replaced you can also turn on the Identify Device function. Turning on the Identify Device will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, click close on the ‘View more details’ window and then click Identify Device while the drive you wish to be swapped is still selected under the list of devices.
  
  Then select how long you wish for the drive bay to blink for or when you wish for it to turn off. We would suggest setting the LED to stop blinking after 4 hours. Then press OK and then Finish.
  
  If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
- How do I check I check the RAID BIOS of my HP ProLiant G7 server with a HP Smart Array P410 RAID controller?
  To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G7 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL360 G7), when it has a HP Smart Array P410 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP request or how to open an iLO remote console.
  
  Once you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear. Then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
  
  You now need to make sure that Power-On Logo is disabled; as this allow you to see more options during POST, including the one for entering the RAID menu. First select Advanced Options. You can use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys to navigate through the BIOS menu.
  
  Then select Advances System ROM Options.
  
  Now select Power-On Logo and make sure it is set to Disabled.
  
  Once you have set the Power-On Logo to disabled, you can now exit the BIOS menu by pressing Esc multiple times and then pressing F10 to Confirm Exit Utility. The server will now start to reboot. When the option to enter the HP Smart Array P410 controller appears, you should now press F8, to enter the controller’s utility menu.
  
  You will now be in the main menu for the RAID controller’s utility. To check the current status of your server’s storage, you should check each array configured on your server’s status and the status of each physical drive configured within these arrays. To do this, first select View Logical Drive.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of Logical Drives (or arrays) configured on the server. You will be able to see their details and their statuses. In my example below you can see that I have two RAID Arrays; one with a status of OK and one with a status of Degraded. Once you have checked the status of the RAID arrays, you should now check the status of the Physical Drives within these arrays, especially if there is an error with a RAID array. To do this, highlight an array and press Enter.
  
  You will now be presented with a list of Physical Drives configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status and their details. In my example below you can see that one drive has a status of OK and one drive is degraded.
  
  If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:
  1. Bay Number
  2. Capacity
  3. Drive Type
  You can use this current page to identify this information, as demonstrated below. You can also supply a screenshot of this page in a support ticket.
  
  Once you have supplied the above information in a ticket, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.
  
  If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
-- I Need Support Due to Hardware Failure or an Offline Product [3]
- Some hardware has failed in my dedicated server; what shall I do?
  
  Hardware components on our dedicated servers are fully managed. This means we will happily replace any failed component for you, free of charge, if and when you have identified a failed component.
  
  Hardware failures can happen and we know how frustrating it can be when they do. As a result of the impact they can have upon your service, we will liaise with you to try and select the option of least disruption to you, to try and get your services back online and running to their full capacity.
  
  If you do encounter a piece of faulty hardware and you wish for it to be replaced, please identify the specific piece of hardware that has failed and then raise a ticket through your MyServers panel asking for the failing hardware replaced. A member of our support team will then be in touch, to lease with you about the replacement of the faulty hardware.
  
  When identifying the failed hardware, we will require you to give us enough information to locate the specific piece of hardware that has failed. As an example, if a drive has failed in a server with multiple drives, we would need information such as the drive’s serial number and physical bay number, so that we can correctly identify which drive will need replacing. To aid you in identifying which specific piece of hardware has failed, we have added advice on how to do so in our FAQ section. Please look through our FAQ section for help on this.
  
  Please note, if it is not feasible to replace the faulty hardware or if it is impossible to accurately identify the faulty component, we will provision you with a different chassis (with the same specifications) to migrate over to, free of charge.
  
  If you are looking to minimise downtime when architecting your solution, we can help with solutions in order to maximise the uptime and availability of the service and reduce the time to restore services in the event of a failure.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
- Some hardware has failed in my colocated server; what shall I do?
  
  If hardware has failed on a collocated server, how and when the hardware is replaced will be up to you to dictate, within our standard processes.
  
  There are two options. The first is to raise an access request ticket, so that you can come to the site and replace the faulty hardware yourself, while bringing your own replacement hardware. If your device is hosted within one of our ‘shared’ colocated racks, we would need to de-rack the device for you, so that you could perform this work in one of our build rooms. If you require access to one of your colocated devices / racks, please raise an access ticket through your MyServers control panel.
  
  The second option would be to raise a remote hands request and have one of our technicians replace the faulty hardware for you. As we do not manage your hardware this work may be chargeable. If the work is chargeable, we would discuss this with you and agree on the cost before any work is carried out. We would also require you to send the replacement components to our data centre; to use to replace the faulty hardware. If you would like us to perform a remote hands task for you, please raise a ticket through your MyServers control panel, and we will happily discuss this process with you.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
- My dedicated server has gone offline; what should I do?
  
  If you can no longer access your server remotely, we would first suggest power-cycling your server, effectively turning your server off and on again.
  
  Power-cycling a server can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first troubleshooting option we would suggest; however, please be aware that power cycling a machine that has not been shut down or reset gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged. As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible for any data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be your own.
  
  If you wish for your server to be power-cycled, you can raise a power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel, on the IS page, under the support section.
  
  If a power-cycle does not bring your server back-online, we would then suggest checking the status of your server through a remote console (started through the OOB remote management panel) or through a KVMoIP. If you do not have OOB remote management with your server, you can raise a KVMoIP request through our MyServers control panel. You can use the remote console/KVMoIP session to check for the cause of the server going offline; to check for things such as a crashed operating system or hardware errors.
  
  If you cannot identify why the server has gone offline or if you have identified an issue with the server you require help with, please feel free to raise a support ticket through our MyServers control panel, and a member of team will be happy to help. When raising a ticket, please confirm all the troubleshooting steps you have already performed; so we know not to suggest these troubleshooting actions.
  
  Please also feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions and we will be happy to help.

-- KVMoIP Sessions & Power cycles [7]

What is a KVMoIP session?

We offer our client’s a KVMoIP session (often referred to as a KVM or virtual KVM) as a way of remotely accessing their servers; in a way which is independent of their hardware and software.

Our KVM devices act as a virtual Keyboard, mouse and monitor. The devices are attached to the USB and VGA ports of your server, as well as a switch port on one of our top of the rack switches, and replicate the access you would have if you were in the Data Centre, with a keyboard, mouse and monitor attached to the server.

KVMs are normally used as the first way in which clients can troubleshoot a server that is inaccessible. They can also be used to install your own operating system onto a server; or to perform work on a server which involves the server becoming inaccessible remotely. KVMs can be used to access an OS, which is not directly remotely accessible through the operating system, so that it and its configuration can be troubleshooted by the client. KVMs can also be used to confirm the current status of a server; to check for any hardware related issues or errors.

You can raise a KVMoIP request through your MyServers control panel; through the IS page, under support. Each client is allocated a certain amount of free KVMoIP sessions. If you run out of free sessions, KVMoIP sessions may be chargeable. Please see the section on requesting KVMoIP sessions for more details on this.

If you have any further questions about KVMoIP that is not answered by our FAQ page, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
How do I request a KVMoIP session?

A KVMoIP session can be easily requested through your MyServers account.

To request a KVMoIP sessions, first log in to your account on the MyServers control panel. Once on your account, click on the My Servers tab.

Then click on the IS number of the server you wish to have the KVM attached to.

Now you are on the IS page for the device. Click on Support and then KVMoIP Request, on the right hand side of the page.

You will now be taken to the KVM request page. Here, you will see how many free KVM sessions you have left, how many other clients are currently waiting for a KVM, and the estimated time it will take for the session to be ready for you to access. If you have no free KVM sessions available, you will be charged a one of fee for this session. Once you are ready, press Request KVM Session.

The KVM request will now be sent to the local technicians to action.

You will receive an email once the KVM device has been setup and is ready for you to use. KVMs are normally set-up within half an hour of the request being made; however, it can sometimes take longer, based on our technicians work load, how many KVM devices are currently available at this site and how many other clients are in the queue. Please wait for the email saying your KVM is activated. Please also make sure you check your junk folder for this email. You can also keep an eye on the KVM request from the MyServers IS page.

If you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a member of team will be happy to help.

Please be aware that we also offer remote management access packages (OOB access; such as iDRAC, IPMI and iLO) on most of our dedicated servers. These remote management systems provide you with permanent remote access, similar to our KVM sessions, which you can use at any time. It can also be used to monitor the health of your server. Please get in touch, via a ticket, if you wish to know more.
How do I access a KVM device?

Once you have requested a KVM session (or we have done this on your behalf) and the local technicians have set-up the KVM device, you will receive an email to the email address associated with your account, which will contain the KVM’s access details. Please make sure you check your Junk folder for this email. You can also find the KVM’s access details for the KVM session on the server’s IS page.

Please note that once the KVM has been activated, the standard length of a KVM session is 4 hours. You now have 4 hours to use the KVM.

To access our KVM devices, you will first have to have VNC viewer downloaded and installed onto your home/work computer. You can find a link to the latest version of the VNC viewer software at the following address: http://95.154.206.51/

Open up the software once you have downloaded and installed VNC viewer. Now take the IP address for the KVM device, supplied in the email and on the IS page, and enter it into the search box/IP address box of VNC viewer and press enter.

Please note that the appearance of your version of the VNC viewer may differ from the version used in the screenshots above and below; however, the principles outlined in the steps in this FAQ are the same. Also, both the username and password change and are randomly generate each time a KVM session is setup, automatically. So the credentials in the images above and below no longer apply to any of our KVM devices.

You now should be presented with a window where you can enter the login details. Enter the Username and Password from the email into the window. Then press OK / Enter.

You will now be presented with a remote console window. In my example below, my remote console shows that my server (which has a Windows Operating System) is sat at the lock screen, as I would expect.

Please note that if there is something wrong with your server (such as a hardware error), you may be presented with BIOS or OS error messages. If there is a problem with your server that has caused it to completely crash, the KVM and server may not be responsive. If this is the case, you may need to raise a power-cycle request.

You can now use the KVM until the session expires (normally 4 hours after the session is activated). If you need longer, please get in touch and we can discuss extending the KVMoIP session for you. Please note, this may incur a fee.

If you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a member of team will be happy to help.

How do I use one of your KVM devices?

Once the KVM device has been set-up and once you have logged into the KVM session using VNC viewer, you are able to use the VNC viewer window to control the KVM device. Our KVM devices replicate the access you would have to the server if you were at the server, with a monitor, keyboard and mouse attached. You can now use the KVM to work on your server.

While clicked onto the KVM’s VNC Viewer window, you can use your mouse and keyboard to issue commands, like you would on a normal computer. The only difference is that certain key commands may not work over KVM (like Ctrl+Alt+Delete), as these affect the computer you will be using VNC viewer on. When this is the case, you can use the command buttons on the VNC viewer window to issue these commands.

There are also some controls at the top of the window. The below table shows you what these controls do:

Button	What is does
	Use this button to re-sync your computer’s cursor with the cursor on the server/KVM.
	Use this button to calibrate the remote console (video, keyboard, etc.).
	This is the Ctrl+Alt+Delete button. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on your keyboard will not work on the remote console; it will instead affect the system you are using the VNC viewer on. Use this button to issue this command to the server instead.
	If you press the controls button, it brings up a list of some extra controls. You can use these controls to change the session’s settings and add Virtual Media.
	Pressing the arrows here will switch the KVM user between Shared and Private mode. In shared mode, multiple people can access that session, if they know the username, password and the IP address of the KVM. In private, only the person on the KVM session at the time will have access to the KVM.

Please note that if there is a hardware or software error that has caused the server to crash, the KVM may not be responsive. You can raise a power-cycle request in MyServers to reboot the system, in an attempt to make the KVM and server responsive again. If you believe you need some hardware replaced or a re-install, please raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

The KVM session will automatically become un-available after the session expires; typically after four hours. If you have finished using the KVM, the user and its credentials will be deleted after the session expires. If you require more time, you can either raise another KVM request after the session has ended, or you can raise a ticket on your MyServers account asking for the window to be extended. Please note, having a KVM session extended may incur a fee.

If you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a member of team will be happy to help.

What is a power-cycle?

A power-cycle involves your device being hard powered off and then powered back on.

When a power-cycle request is raised against a device, one of our technicians or our automated system will remove the power going to your server; then, after a short period of time, the power will be restored to your server.

Power-cycles can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first troubleshooting option we would suggest if you encounter a problem with your device.

However, please be aware that power cycling a machine that has not been shut down or reset gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged. As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible for any data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be your own.

You can raise a power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel, under the device’s IS page, under the support section. Please see the “How can I get my server power-cycled?” section of the FAQ for more details.

If your device is a colocated device and there is a specific method for troubleshooting your server (e.g. do not hold the power button), please raise a ticket through the control panel, rather than requesting a power-cycle.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
How can I get my server power-cycled?

You can raise a power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel.

Once you have logged in to your account, locate the device’s IS page. A list of IS numbers can be found under the My Servers tab.

Once you are on the IS page, click Support and then Power Cycle on the right hand side of the page.

What the screen looks like now will depend on whether or not your device is hosted within our automated Bare Metal system or not. If it is, you will be presented with the option to Soft or Hard reboot your server. A hard reboot will completely remove the power to your server and then power it back on; while the soft reboot option will attempt to send a command to the device to reboot without powering off. If you server has crashed or is not responsive, we would suggest using a hard reboot. Click on the reboot type you require. If your server is not in our automated Bare Metal system, you can simply press Request Power Cycle.

Either a technician or our automated Bare Metal system will now power-cycle your machine; by removing the power going to your server; then, after a short period of time, restoring the power to your server (unless you requested a soft reboot). Please note that if your server is not hosted within the automated Bare Metal system, the power-cycle will completed when the next text becomes available.

If your device is a colocated device and there is a specific method for troubleshooting your server (e.g. do not hold the power button), please raise a ticket through the control panel, rather than requesting a power-cycle.

This can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first troubleshooting option we would suggest if your server has encounter an issue.

However, please be aware that power cycling a machine that has not been shut down or reset gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged. As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible for any data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be your own.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
My Enterprise Cloud Server has encounter a problem; what should I do?

If your Enterprise Cloud Server has encountered a problem, we would first suggest stopping and then starting the Virtual Machine, through our MyServers control panel.

This option can be found on the VS page. A list of VS/IS numbers belonging to your account can be found under the My Servers tab.

Once you are on the VS page, you will see the current status of the VM (e.g. Running and Halted) and the option to Stop/Start the VM. If you have encountered a problem with the VM, you can now press the Stop VM button, wait a minute or two for the VM to successfully stop, and then press Start VM to affectively power-cycle the VM.

Please note that there is always a risk of data-loss when stopping and restarting a VM. As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible for any data-loss and the choice to start and stop the virtual machine must be your own.

If you are still experiencing issues after you have restarted the VM, please raise a ticket through the MyServers control panel, and a member of our team will be happy to help.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

-- Operating System Re-Installs [3]
- Can you re-install my Operating System?
  
  Yes; if you have encountered an issue with your server’s operating system and you wish for it to be reinstalled, we can perform this action for you.
  
  If the server’s operating system was previously installed by us and you want the same operating system installed, we can perform the operating system re-install for a one of fee. Please raise a ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  Please be aware that the server will not be available to you for the duration of the reinstall and the reinstall will lead to total data loss on the server. Also, we no longer install certain older version of operating systems (e.g. Windows Server 2008); so, if you do have one of these legacy operating systems, we may need to install a newer version of the operating system instead. If this is the case, we will discuss this with you before proceeding.
  
  If the server’s operating system was previously installed by us but you now wish to change to a different operating system (which we do provide), or if we have not previously installed the operating system on this server before, we can still certainly perform this task for you.
  
  However, there will be a one of fee for the work and there may be a change in the monthly cost of the server, depending on what OS you are changing to and from. If you request for a different operating system to be installed on your server than before, or if is this the first time we are installing an OS on this server, we will discuss and agree to the associated costs with you before taking any actions. Please raise a ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
  
  If you have any further questions, please let us know and we will be happy to help.
- Can you attach an ISO file to my server?
  
  Yes, we are able to attach ISO files to your server for you, using a boot-able USB drive.
  
  Please note, depending on the situation and your package, this may be chargeable work.
  
  We would require you to provide us with a link to an ISO file for us to download, we would then download the file, and attach it to you server.
  
  Alternatively, if you have OOB remote access to your server (e.g. iDRAC), you can use this to mount an ISO file onto your server without our intervention. Or you can ask us to install a default image of one of our supported operating systems onto your server. This would be chargeable work, however.
  
  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
- Can you upgrade existing OS versions?
  
  RapidSwitch does not offer OS upgrades. OS upgrades are managed by the client, due to the unmanaged provider status of RapidSwitch.
  
  We can, however, provide you with a KVM to allow you to do this, or attach an ISO you may require along with it providing you supply a direct link to the ISO software.
  
  If you require a reinstall of your OS we can perform this for you at a rate of £30 per reinstall. This method will also wipe all of your existing data, so please ensure you have all the data you require backed-up.

Choose a section or question on the left.

Need to know more - Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us or call 0800 987 5640.

MyServers FAQ

Abuse Reports [4]

-- How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report? [1]

How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report?

-- What is an Abuse Report? [1]

What is an Abuse Report?

Accounts & Billing [18]

What payment methods do you accept?

How does your billing cycle work?

How do I add a new card to my account?

How do I remove a credit card / debit card from my MyServers Account?

How can I reclaim overspends on my account after I cancel?

Do you store my card details?

Can you split up my invoice into multiple separate invoices?

How can I see my invoices?

How does the billing system work once I cancel off one of my services?

How credit notes work?

Can we change the date for automated card payments?

ECS - Cloud Storage [34]

-- Accounts & Billing [3]

How does the lifetime pricing work?

Do you have any reporting available around usage and cost per bucket?

Whats the monthly usage billing?

-- Features [6]

Load balancing considerations?

What’s the product configurations?

Whats the product overview?

What is the ECS platform?

What is the Portal feature in ECS?

Namespaces feature?

-- Product & Services [15]

Can you set up test accounts?

Does Object storage support Veeam backup repository?

What API is used for the Object Storage?

How many data-centres is the data stored in for redundacy?

Can Co-located servers using ftp/sftp, be replaced with S3 equivalent?

Can this service be mounted to existing servers as a datastore ie. NFS/GLUSTER?

Does the file system grow with demand?

Can we still increase our disk space in the future at the same price if we transfer from Amazon?

Will there be a feature much like IAM users?

Are you able to set bucket policies?

What protocol can be used to access the storage from the application servers?

Could you please elaborate on the multi-region redundancy?

SLA's?

Currently which sites offer this service?

-- Security & Networking [5]

ECS network?

How is the data protected with ECS?

Will this be able to handle multiple auth tokens for access to different buckets?

Does ECS support encrypted storage?

Is ECS Storage ISO Regulated?

-- Support [5]

Can we extend archive platform using NFS?

Can Object Storage be mounted to Windows, as shared storage?

Do you have any documantation on object storage?

Managed Infrastructure Services & Other Manged Services [5]

-- Managed Infrastructure Services [2]

What is your standard management package?

What is Managed Infrastructure Services?

-- Other Management Options [3]

What management options do you offer?

How much do your additional management services cost?

Can you perform OS updates?

Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status [58]

How to check server bandwidth?

What is RAID and the different levels?

RAID is no substitute for back-up!

RAID level 0 – Striping

Advantages

Disadvantages

RAID level 1 – Mirroring

Advantages

Disadvantages

RAID level 5

Advantages

Disadvantages

RAID level 6 – Striping with double parity

Advantages

Disadvantages

RAID level 10 – combining RAID 1 & RAID 0