Restore Servers

[xoopa]

Hi folks,
I am running 5 Dell Poweredge 2650 servers w/builtin Remote Access Controller (era). Ive already setup the era.
Id like to know if its possible to do an OS reinstall remotely. I would also like being able to choose which OS to remotely install. I plan on offering dedicated hosting to my clients and would need to be able to install whatever OS the client requests remotely since my COLO is 2 hrs away. If anyone has any suggestions, id really appreciate it. I see that some big dedicated host providers offer OS restores with a push of a button. I would like to set that up as well.


Thanks in advanced,
Calvin C

 

[mbrooks]

KVM over IP.

M. Brooks

http://mbrooks.info

 

[xoopa]

Hi,
Thanx, but the KVM over IP that I have found that is capable of doing this is the ones that has Virtual Media. And they cost over $7,000. I am willing to spend up $1,500.
But I dont see any others.
Thanks,
Calvin

 

[xoopa]

Update, I just ordered the Dell 2161ds KVM over IP.
It was a steal on ebay for $699 new. I also picked up the 16 SIPs for $590. Total cost $1,289 plus shipping.
It doesnt seem to have virtual media, but i might try the pxe boot option during boot.
Anyone know how to pxe boot?
Calvin

 

[LawnBoy]

Yep. You must have a pxe server somewhere, with a prepped image ready to download. Set the blank machine to boot to pxe in BIOS, and stand back.

PXE does present a security risk. Anybody can create a pxe server (I have one running on a laptop), and theoretically could load whatever image they wanted by getting the target machine to reboot. Intel (who created pxe) thought of this and included in the specs a process called Boot Integrity Services wherein a public/private key sceme is used to authenticate the image host.

However, I have yet to find a pxe server package that employs BIS. So I disable pxe in BIOS after the image is loaded.

hth

 

[xoopa]

Hi Lawnboy,
Thanx for the help.
What OS does the pxe server need to be? Can it be a win2k3 box? Here is my goal. I have a few servers at my colo which is 2 hrs away. I need to be able to basically reformat and reinstall any OS remotely (CentOS 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and Win2k, Win2k3...etc)
Normally, I stick in the CentOS disk or win2k3 disk. But Im trying to figure out how to do this remotely.
I would like to store the images of either OS on the pxe server (btw, what software do I need to use to create the images for these OS)?

Anyway, since I will be using KVM over IP, i can access the bios and stuff remotely. (btw, should i be accessing the kvm over ip thru local connections or public)?
I guess if locally, i would need to remote into a public server and then open the internet connection to a local server on that network).


Anyway,
This is a new concept to me so i apologize if i am soundiding lame since i dont quite understand how to pxe...etc

btw, yeah, i would also disable pxe AFTE the installation is done.

If you have a better suggestion on installing any OS, please let me know.

Thanks in advanced,
Calvin

 

[xoopa]

Wait, quick question. Is this an image copy or will i be going thru an OS installation process.
Thanks,
Calvin

 

[LawnBoy]

I believe you can get a pxe server on about any OS. I use the pxe server included with Novell Zenworks, and I have it running on Netware 6.5.

It is an Image copy. The pxe environment is fairly small, no room for most GUIs.

I've not used a KVM over IP, and am not familiar with the security scheme, sorry.