Dell PowerEdge 2161DS Installation manual

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Dell™ 2161DS Console Switch
Hardware and OSCAR®User’s
Guide
Model: 2161DS Console Switch

Notes, Notices, and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
___________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2004 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Avocent is a registered trademarks of Avocent Corporation. OSCAR is a registered trademark of Avocent
Corporation or its affiliates. Dell, PowerEdge, Powervault, PowerApp, and the DELL logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft, Windows,
and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products.
Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
Model: 2161DS Console Switch
July 2004

Contents 3
Contents
1 Product Overview
Features and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SIP Intelligent Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Interoperability with Avocent® AVRIQ Intelligent Cabling . . . . . . . . 9
Access Via Network Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Point and Click Control With the Remote Console Switch Software . . . 10
Interoperability with Avocent A1000R/A2000R Switches . . . . . . . . . 11
Safety Precautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Rack Mounting of Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
LAN Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 Installation
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Verification of Ethernet/Computer Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Setting Up Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Rack Mounting Your 2161DS Console Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Installing the 2161DS Console Switch Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Video Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Mouse Acceleration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting a SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Adding a PEM (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Adding a Cascade Switch (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Connecting to the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Installing Remote Console Switch Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Adding Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 Analog Port Operation
Controlling Your System at the Analog Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Viewing and Selecting Ports and Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4Contents
Selecting Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
OSCAR Navigation Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Configuring OSCAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Assigning Server Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Assigning Device Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Changing the Display Behavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Controlling the Status Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Setting Console Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Viewing and Disconnecting Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Preemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Running System Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Displaying Version Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Resetting a SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Resetting Your Keyboard and Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Scanning Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Broadcasting to Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4 Terminal Operations
Configuring the Terminal Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Network Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Firmware Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Enable Debug Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Set/Change Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Restore Factory Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Reset Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Display Diagnostic Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5 Appendices
Appendix A: Flash Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Upgrading the Dell™ 2161DS Console Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Upgrading the SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Upgrading Cascaded Dell 8-port and 16-port Console Switch . . . . . . 67

Contents 5
Appendix B: Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Appendix C: Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
USA Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Canadian Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Japanese Approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Taiwanese Approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Agency Approvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Limited Warranty for Dell-Branded Hardware Products (U.S. Only). . . . 73
Total Satisfaction Return Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Limited Warranty Terms for Dell-Branded Hardware Products (Canada Only) 76
Total Satisfaction Return Policy (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Dell Software and Peripherals (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
1-Year End-User Manufacturer Guarantee (Latin America and the Caribbean Only)
81
Intel®Warranty Statement for Pentium®and Celeron®Processors Only
(U.S. and Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Figures
Figure 1-1. Example 2161DS Console Switch Configuration . . . 12
Figure 1-2. 2161DS Console Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 2-3. OU Mounting Bracket Installation . . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 2-4. IU Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Figure 2-5. Basic 2161DS Console Switch Configuration . . . . 21
Figure 2-6. Network Configuration Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 2-7. 2161DS Console Switch Configuration With a PEM . 25
Figure 2-8. PEM Rack Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 2-9. 2161DS Console Switch With a Cascade Switch . . 27
Figure 2-10. 1U Cable Arm - Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Figure 2-11. 2U Cable Arm - Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Figure 2-12. 1U or 2U Cable Arm - Top View . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6Contents
Figure 2-13. Cable Management Arm - Side View . . . . . . . . 28
Figure 2-14. Cable Management Arm - Top View . . . . . . . . 29
Figure 3-15. Example of Configured Main Dialog Box . . . . . . 32
Figure 3-16. Setup Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Figure 3-17. Names Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Figure 3-18. Name Modify Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Figure 3-19. Devices Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Figure 3-20. Device Modify Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Figure 3-21. Menu Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Figure 3-22. Flag Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Figure 3-23. Position Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Figure 3-24. Security Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Figure 3-25. User Status Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure 3-26. Disconnect Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure 3-27. Preempt Dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Figure 3-28. Diagnostics Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Figure 3-29. Suspect SIPs Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Figure 3-30. Version Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Figure 3-31. Digital Version Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Figure 3-32. SIP Selection Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Figure 3-33. SIP Version Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Figure 3-34. Main Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure 3-35. Scan Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Figure 3-36. Command Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Figure 3-37. Broadcast Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure 3-38. Command Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 4-39. Terminal Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Figure 5-40. SIP Status Dialog Box.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Contents 7
Figure 5-41. SIP Load Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Figure 5-42. Version Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Figure 5-43. SIP Selection Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 5-44. SIP Version Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 5-45. SIP Load Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Tables
Table 3-1. OSCAR Status Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Table 3-2. Keyboard and Mouse Navigation . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 3-3. OSCAR Status Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Table 3-4. LAN Connection Test Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Table 3-5. Diagnostic Test Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Table 5-6. Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

8Contents

Product Overview 9
1
Product Overview
Features and Benefits
The Dell™ 2161DS Digital Console Switch combines analog and digital technology to provide
flexible, centralized, control of data center servers. This solution delivers a significant reduction in
cable volume, as well as secure digital access, and flexible server management from anywhere at any
time.
The 2161DS Console Switch consists of a rack mountable keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM)
switch, configurable for analog or digital connectivity. Each 2161DS Console Switch has 16 ARI
(Analog Rack Interface) ports, used to connect devices, and operates over standard LAN
connections.
For KVM connectivity and administration, users can remotely access servers across a 10/100BaseT
Ethernet connection, or locally through an analog port on the 2161DS Console Switch. Users
connecting with a SIP can achieve server video resolution of up to 1280x1024 with a cable length
of up to 32 feet (10 meters).
For digital connections between the 2161DS Console Switch and the server, users can achieve
video resolution of up 1280 x 1024 with a cable length of up to 32 feet (10 meters).
SIP Intelligent Cabling
Server Interface Pod (SIP), designed to utilize 10/100 BaseT CAT 5 cabling, dramatically reduces
cable clutter, while providing optimal digital display resolution and video settings. The built-in
memory of the SIP simplifies configuration by assigning and retaining unique server identification
codes for each attached server. This integrated intelligence enhances security and prevents
unauthorized access to a server through cable manipulation. The SIP is powered directly from the
server and provides Keep Alive functionality even if the 2161DS Console Switch unit is not
powered. PS/2 and USB options are available.
Interoperability with Avocent ® AVRIQ Intelligent Cabling
Avocent AVRIQ intelligent cable may also be used to connect servers to the 2161DS Console
Switch. PS/2, USB, Sun, and serial cabling options are available. Please refer to the Avocent
AutoView 1000R/2000R Installer/User Guide
for more information.

10 Product Overview
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Access Via Network Connection
No special software or drivers are required on the attached computers. Users access the 2161DS
Console Switch unit and all attached systems via Ethernet from a PC running the Remote Console
Switch Software application. This software resides on the user PC only. User PCs can be located
anywhere a valid network connection exists. The 2161DS Console Switch unit can be configured
on a separate network from your data network, allowing access to your servers even if your
applications network is down.
Figure 1-1. Example 2161DS Console Switch Configuration
Point and Click Control With the Remote Console Switch Software
The Remote Console Switch Software is a cross-platform management application that allows you
to view and control the 2161DS Console Switch and all attached servers. The Remote Console
Switch Software provides secure appliance-based authentication, data transfers, and
username/password storage. By utilizing an Explorer-like interface for navigation with an intuitive
split-screen interface, this software provides you with a single point of access for your entire system.
From here, you can manage the 2161DS Console Switch, install a new 2161DS Console Switch
unit or launch a video session to a system server. Multiple servers can be accessed by one user. Each
additional computer's video will appear in a separate program window.