Users Guide

Component configuration information.
User name and password for RAID controller and BIOS.
Component certificates.
Licenses.
Signature to validate that the backup file is not tampered and generated by Lifecycle Controller.
The server profile backup image file does not contain:
Operating system or any data stored on hard-disk drives or virtual drives.
vFlash SD card partition information.
Lifecycle log.
Dell diagnostics.
Dell OS Driver Pack.
A Local Key Management (LKM) passphrase, if the LKM–based storage encryption is enabled.
However, you must provide the LKM passphrase after performing the restore operation.
Security
The contents of the backup image file cannot be accessed with any application, even if it is generated
without a passphrase. However, if the backup image file is created using a passphrase, Lifecycle
Controller uses the passphrase to encrypt the backup image file with 128-bit encryption.
Size
Based on the server configuration, the size of a backup image file can be a maximum of 384 MB.
Performance
Back up — The time taken to collect the required information and store the backup image file on a
vFlash SD card is 45 minutes (maximum).
Restore — The time taken to restore a server using a backup image file depends on the number of
components installed on the server. Most of the server components such as BIOS, NIC, RAID, and
other host bus adapters require multiple system restarts in order to restore the server to its previous
configuration. Each restart may take 1–15 minutes (for maximum system hardware configurations).
This restart time is in addition to the time taken for accessing the backup image file, which depends
on where it is stored (vFlash SD card, USB drive, or network share).
Supported components
The following table lists the server components that are supported by Lifecycle Controller while
performing a backup or restore operation.
Table 9. Supported Components
Component Firmware Configuration Security Information*
BIOS Yes Yes Yes
RAID Controller Yes Yes NA
NIC Yes Yes NA
iDRAC Yes Yes Yes
OS Driver Pack NA NA NA
Dell Diagnostics NA NA NA
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