Acer AR360 F2 User manual

Smart Server Manager v1.2 – Best Practices
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Smart Server Manager v1.2
Best Practices Guide
Acer EPBU, July 2012

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Contents
A out this guide 3
Smart Server Manager overview 4
What’s new to Smart Server Manager 5
Required hardware and software 6
Network setup: suggestions, tips; requirements 6
Tips when configuring on Windows Server OS 9
Tips when configuring on Linux Server OS 10
Suggested configuration for setting hardware, software and performance alerts 12
Setting email alerts
Setting out-of- and (hardware) email alerts
Setting in- and (software/OS) email alerts
Setting VM performance alerts
Setting up RAID monitoring with LSI MegaRAID Storage Manager 21
Smart Server Manager v1.2 Report manager overview 27
Installing additional extensions 27
Running a networked firmware update 28
Additional power capping ena lement and use 33

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About this guide
This guide is intended to e a quick reference for successfully configuring a working Smart Server
Management environment across a network of Acer servers. Though it does not go into detail for all of the
availa le features in Smart Server Manager (SSM) v1.2, it offers tips and a rief how to for getting the
monitoring software working and setting up email alerts.

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Smart Server Manager overview
Smart Server Manager is a free serer system management solution for IT professionals to monitor and
receive proactive email alerts in the event of any system failure – e it hardware or software. This powerful
solution connects seamlessly to Acer servers via the on oard BMC chip availa le in most Acer server
systems.
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The BMC allows for hardware management of all on oard components, including temperature,
memory, CPU, power voltage, and more. Smart Server Manager can also e set to send email alerts to IT
administrators in the event any of these monitored components experience a technical issue.
In addition, Smart Server Manager includes operating system (OS) monitoring for Windows and/or Linux
platforms, and virtual machine performance monitoring. Within the OS monitoring users can view the status
and remotely trou le running processes and applications, as well as view the system resource status of the
hardware eing used y the given OS. In addition, users may set specific processes to e monitored and
send out an email alert in the event that application e interrupted for any reason.
Smart Server Manager monitors Virtual Machines (VMs) via its VM management function and supports
VMs from oth VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V. The management tool allows for the performance of the
VM hosts and guest OS to e monitored to the component level (CPU, memory, disks, system, and
network). Smart Server Manager can also e set to record the performance history and proactively send
alerts in the event that any component is ecoming a ottle neck, there y allowing IT administrators to
determine whether to allocate more hardware resources to the VM.
Smart Server Manager is 100% agentless, meaning that it only needs to e installed once on a core
system, and then all other Acer servers on the network can e monitored – no additional installation
required. The system can support up to 250 devices (including physical hardware, OS, and VMs) and is
perfect for small to medium-sized IT network management.
Acer Smart Server Manger UI
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Acer servers equip a standard BMC on all models except the AT110 F1 and F2 models.

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What’s new to Smart Server Manager v1.2?
Smart Server Manager v1.2 includes oth a more ro ust set of functions to previous versions, as well as a
more intuitive interface which streamlines important functions, such as email alert creation. The complete
feature comparison is included elow.
Features v1.0 v1.1 v1.2
We ased management console Y Y Y
Role ased user administration Y Y Y
LDAP integration Y Y Y
Communication security with SSL Y Y Y
Task-automation y Script Manager Y Y Y
Dash oard Y Y Y
Network Management Server (NMS) to receive traps Y Y Y
User defined server group support N Y Y
Auto discovery Y Y Y
Agentless management Y Y Y
Multilingual UI support N N Y
Mail notification testing N N Y
Mail group notification N N Y
Report Manager N N Y
Administration Console
Configura le SSM console port (HTTP & HTTPS) N N Y
System health monitoring Y Y Y
Event handling (alerting and actions) Y Y Y
System diagnostic with System Event Log (SEL) Y Y Y
Remote power control (on/off/reset) Y Y Y
Remote ID LED control (on/off/ link) Y Y Y
Acer Smart Console integration Y Y Y
Network Management Server (NMS) for trap receiving (PET & LSI RAID) Y Y Y
Sensor/SEL/FRU history reporting Y Y Y
BMC configuration Y Y Y
System Health
Management (OOB
Management)
Event log export to file N Y Y
OS and BIOS information N Y Y
Software inventory N Y Y
Hardware Inventory N Y Y
Resource threshold setting and monitoring (CPU, memory, network, storage) N Y Y
Processes control and monitoring N Y Y
System services control and monitoring N Y Y
Remote OS shutdown and re oot N Y Y
OS Host
Management (In-
and
management)
Process owner information N N Y
VM and VM host auto-grouping N Y Y
VM and VM host resource and performance monitoring and alerting N Y Y
Remote power on/off VM N Y Y
Remote desktop connection to VM N Y Y
VM and VM host performance and resource reporting N Y Y
Windows Hyper-V 2008 R2 support N Y Y
Windows Hyper-V 2008 R2 SP1 support N N Y
VMware ESXi 4.0 support N Y Y
VMware ESXi 4.1 support N Y Y
Virtual Machine
Management
VMware ESXi 5.0 support N N Y
ASSM Power Efficiency Management Extension v1.0 N N Y
ASSM Firmware Update Extension v1.0 N N Y
Exte
nsio
n
supp
ort
Acer Smart Client Manager Extension N N Y

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Hardware and software dependencies
Minimum hardware requirements for SSM installation are as follows:
• System processor: 2 GHz
• System memory: 2 GB RAM
• Free disk space: 4 GB (May need more disk space depending on the nodes managed and the
amount of history information needed.)
• BMC chip for remote managea ility
Minimum software requirements for SSM installation are as follows:
• Windows Server 2003 R2SP2 x86 and x64
• Windows Server 2008 x86 and x64
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.4/6.0/6.1 x86 and x64
• SLES 11/11 SP1 x86 and x64
Prerequisites:
- Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistri uta le Package x86 efore starting to install SSM.
Only support following 3 versions of vcredist from the download link.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistri uta le - x86 9.0.30729.17
-http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5582
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistri uta le - x86 9.0.21022
-http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=29
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistri uta le - x86 9.0.30729.6161
-http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26368
Browsers*:
• Internet Explorer 7 and a ove
• Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and a ove
*Ado e flash player 10.1 and a ove
etworking tips and suggestions
Smart Server Manager should e run across a giga it Ethernet network dedicated to system management
and the first Ethernet port used y the operating systems deployed.
When wiring the systems it is recommended to route the OS connection from NIC 1 along with the BMC
port to ensure maximum andwidth and functionality. Alternatively, the BIOS of Acer servers can e set to

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route oth BMC and OS networking traffic through NIC 1. This method cuts down on the total num er of
ca les, ut can impact the networking performance of the first NIC.
Switch from dedicated to either on oard or failover to use NIC1 as oth the management and LAN network
jack.
ote: The core server with SSM installed must e connected to oth the dedicated management port and it
NIC1 to monitor itself.
In the BIOS it is important to also watch for the message ‘Update IPMI LAN configuration’. When setting the
IP of the BMC to the desired static IP, the user must change to ‘Yes’ to ensure the IP is changed as desired
when exiting the BIOS.
This item is only availa le on some of the newer servers eginning with the 2 socket F2 family (i.e. AT350
F2, AR380 F2 and AR360 F2).

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When setting up an SSM network, only a single machine needs to e dedicated as the core machine for
installing the software. This machine will than act as a central hu for receiving information on the status of
all the monitored server systems, VMs and operating systems, and can then forward alerts to IT
administration ased on the pooled data.
The SSM network is detailed in the elow diagram.
For remote management, a VPN server is recommended to ensure etter security to the internet and
ensure no non-administrators have access to the IT infrastructure.
TIP: Ensure that the management IPs are set to static for all monitored servers to ensure that IPs do not
change and need to e re-authenticated.
Administrator Web
Console
Managed
odes/Servers
VP Server
Acer Smart
Server Manager

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Tips for setting Windows Server OS
Windows Server OS is a supported OS in Smart Server Manager v1.2. However, though SSM does its est
to provide near seamless integration, some default settings of Windows Server should e modified to
ensure ideal monitoring.
Open Firewall connection
In Windows, the default firewall configuration locks SSM from receiving information a out the OS and its
ehavior. When setting up Windows please ensure to un lock the firewall ports for 443, 80 and 162 as
listed in the elow image. The window can e navigated to via Windows ‘Server Manager -> Windows
Firewall with Advanced security -> In ound Rules’.

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Tips for setting Linux Server OS
Acer servers certify major enterprise Linux OS SUSE and RedHat. Smart Server Manager is guaranteed to
support either, and is programmed to support other Linux solutions, ut not certified to do so.
When setting up a Linux OS, some good tips to follow are listed elow.
For Linux there are some dependencies which need to e installed. The process is detailed in greater detail
in the User Guide, and the related dependencies for Windows and Linux are listed elow.
Installation File Supported OS for Installation
Windows Server 2008 SP1/SP2 32- it/64- it,
acer.ssm-1.2.91346-win32-x86.msi Windows Server 2008 R2/R2 SP1 64- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.rhel5.i386.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.rhel5.i386.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-91347.rhel5.i386.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.rhel5.i386.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.rhel5.i386.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4/5.6 32- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-91347.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4/5.6 64- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.rhel6.i686.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.rhel6.i686.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-91347.rhel6.i686.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.rhel6.i686.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.rhel6.i686.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6/6.1 32- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.rhel6.x68_64.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.rhel6.x68_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-91347.rhel6.x68_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.rhel6.x68_64.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.rhel6.x68_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6/6.1 64- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.sles11.i586.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.sles11.i586.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-91347.sles11.i586.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.sles11.i586.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.sles11.i586.rpm
SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 11/11.1 32- it
acer.ssm.hx-1.2-91347.sles11.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.sx-1.2-91347.sles11.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxhlite-1.2-
91347.sles11.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm.vxlite-1.2-91347.sles11.x86_64.rpm
acer.ssm-1.2-91347.sles11.x86_64.rpm
SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 11/11.1 64- it
Open Linux firewall settings
Like Windows, Linux systems also need to open their default firewall settings. The same as windows, e
sure to add ‘TCP 443’, ‘TCP 80’, ‘UDP 162’, and ‘ICMPv4 echo request for SSM discovery’.

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Suggested configuration for setting hardware, software and VM performance alerts
Smart Server Manager’s email alert system is a powerful tool for IT administrators to ensure they have up-
to-the-minute status updates a out there hardware and software across their network. This free
management tool can also e easily set for an entire network within a out an hour across existing Acer
hardware, and roughly an afternoon for a new setup.
Once Smart Server Manager is installed on a host machine, and the networks for oth the operating
systems (connected via NIC 1 or others) and the server hardware (dedicated BMC management port), IT
administration may egin monitoring the devices.
To enter SSM v1.2, simply enter the IP address of the core server into the rowser followed y “/XMS.html”
as shown elow. /XMS.html is not necessary as the system should add it automatically.
The default user name and password are “admin” and “password”, respectively.
Once logged in, the user will see the “Open Discovery Range” utton. Click it to set a series of IP ranges
for which SSM v1.2 can detect either availa le OS, server hardware and/or virtual machines.

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Alternatively, the user can access the same discovery configuration window via the “Discovery” hotkey
located at the ottom of the left-hand side task ar.
In the discovery range menu, the user may set multiple IP ranges from which SSM v1.2 will search. This is
particularly useful in case the BMC management network (out-of- and) and OS network (in- and) are
separate.

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Once set and the OS, servers are detected they must e authenticated in order for SSM v1.2 to provide
status updates and forward email alerts.
Single devices may e authenticated one at a time y entering in the user name and password for each
system. For Acer server hardware, the default user name and password is “root” and “superuser”.
For multiple systems with identical user name and password, the user may select a group of machines y
holding down “ctrl” or “shift” when selecting from the left menu, and then performing the same function as
a ove. Alternatively, the administrator can use ‘glo al user account’ function for each extension if all
systems are configured alike.

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Virtual machines can e automatically detected and authenticated for user defined IPs and authentication
information. To do so, the user should go to “Extensions” in the upper right-hand corner, and select either
the Hyper-V or ESX extension configuration ta (currently SSM v1.2 can only read information from these
two hypervisors).
ote: users must set “glo al user account” for auto authentication.
Once complete, a full list of availa le Acer servers, monitored OS ( oth Linux and Windows) and the
monitored VMs should e shown in the left-hand menu, as elow.
Should there e any difficulties in finding any of the OS, servers or VMs, try checking that the appropriate
IPs for all networks are linked and read into the system and that the authentication information is correct.
Once authenticated the IT administrator can view the status of the server hardware, read sensor reports,
view and download event logs, see processes and services running on all availa le OS and view the
performance history for any VM. A more detailed overview of all the functions availa le can e found in the
Smart Server Manager v1.2 User guide.

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Setting email alerts
The process for setting up email alerts varies slightly depending on the email alert type which the user
wishes to create.
Regardless of the alert type, the system must have access to an email server in order to relay any alert to
an email target. To set the email server, simply click under “SSM tools” -> “SSM alerting”.
Once selected, the elow window will pop up. Click on the “Email server” ta and enter the IP address for
the email server on the network. If the email server is password protected, also enter the user name and
password to ensure the email alerts can e relayed out.
* ote: Companies who do not have their own email server will have to create one in either a Windows or
Linux environment for the alert functions. Once created, the server will e a le to send emails to external
email accounts, such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. Some suggested mail servers include Postfix
(http://www.postfix.org/), and Microsoft em edded email functions.

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Should there e any issues receiving the alerts and all the settings appear correct in SSM v1.2, also ensure
that the email server is not eing locked y any firewall settings in the network.
To set an out-of- ound email alert, the est practice is to use the default “Health Alert” settings which will
send a notification in the event of any sensor warning. PEF traps are more appropriate for remote
trou leshooting, ut also much more difficult and time consuming to configure. Both methods are detailed
in the SSM v1.2 user guide.
To set an alert for one or multiple servers, simply select the “Out-of- and management alert” ta from the
“SSM Alerting” window, select the desired machines to e monitored, and enter the destination email and
severity.
TIP: Set oth “Non-recovera le” and “Good” alerts to ensure IT administration has up-to-the-minute
information a out any status change.
When setting an in- ound alert, it is important to first set specific processes to e monitored. The default
health alerts are ased on the process for which the admin defines to e monitored. If no processes are
selected to e monitored, any failed or interrupted process will not send out an email alert.
First select a monitored OS and go to “information” -> “software inventory” -> “process list” to view the
availa le processes running on the system.

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In the process information page, the user can set view all availa le process, kill/stop certain processes and
select which process(es) he/she would like to monitor. Again, holding “ctrl” or “shift” will allow the user to
select multiple processes at once.
Once added, should any process e interrupted the default health settings will trigger an email alert to the
destination mail(s) of the user’s choice. The user can again go to “Tools” -> “SSM Alerting”, click on the “In-
and management” ta , select which OS to monitor, and enter the destination email and alert severity.

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TIP: It is a good idea to select oth critical and good when creating the alerts so that any processes which
automatically restart themselves, the IT administration will also know if the restart happened or not.
Setting performance alerts for monitored virtual machines
Setting performance alerts for virtual machines is a powerful tool that ena les active monitoring for the
loading on the components assigned to any virtual device. Once esta lished, these alert rules ena le IT
administration to receive email alerts in the event any virtual machine egins to reach performance
ottlenecks so the administration may take immediate corrective action.
Before an e-mail alert can e set for a virtual machine performance alert (regardless of whether the VM
hypervisor is VMware ESX or Windows Hyper-V) the performance rules must e set.
Click under the monitored VM – Information – Performance. To egin monitoring a specific component’s
performance, click on the ‘historical data’ check ox next to the desired component.
After selecting all of the desired components to e monitored, an alert can e set for the desired VM and
component type. To set the alert, again go to ‘SSM Tools – SSM alerting’ and select the appropriate virtual
machine ta (either VMware ESX or Windows Hyper-V).

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After selecting the appropriate ta , a performance alert can e set y clicking on ‘Performance Alerts –
Add’. The elow screen will appear, and the user can select for which VM host or VM the alert should
monitor, and which counter (monitored component) to monitor. The percentage used can also e set y the
user, allowing for complete control of the severity.